Parents: Be Aware of MySpace.com
Eastern Connecticut parents 'fear' Web site By JESSICA DURKIN Norwich Bulletin When Lori Malstrom discovered her 11-year-old daughter, Taylor, had a personal profile posted on MySpace.com, one of the most popular online social networking sites, the shocked Brooklyn mom deleted the online account, then gave her daughter a tour of the state sex offender's Web site. "I pulled up every sex offender in Brooklyn. That was my wake-up call to her," Malstrom said. "That's my fear: people living locally. He's not in New York City. He lives locally." The social networking trend has spurred parents and educators into action. They say the sites potentially expose children to graphic material and dangerous online solicitations. MySpace started three years ago as a free option for anybody to create a personal Web page. There are options for posting a written profile and up to 12 photos. There also is e-mailing and blogging with any of the 53 million users of the site. Other similar, frequently visited sites include Friendster.com, Xanga.com and Facebook. com. It's the detail of the profiles and the browsing ability that poses the threat of online stalking, authorities say. Users can type in search criteria based on relationship status, age, location, school, e-mail address and interests to browse profiles that often contain specific information about a person. "The predators can essentially troll through these sites and review the blogs, review the children's lives as they put it out for everyone to read and essentially pick their victim," said John Shehan, Cybertipline program manager with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "The child believes they are meeting someone positive online, but in reality the predator wants something totally different." The center reports that one in five children younger than age 18 receive unwanted solicitations online. In Middletown, police are investigating whether as many as seven girls, ages 12-16, have been sexually assaulted by men they met through MySpace. The girls told police they were fondled or had consensual sex with men who turned out to be older than they claimed on MySpace. MySpace officials said in an e-mailed statement they are committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all of their users. "MySpace is firmly committed to working to address concerns regarding Internet safety, and to continue our comprehensive efforts to protect our younger users," the statement said. "Since its inception, MySpace has developed a series of initiatives designed to protect our users against inappropriate conduct and content, including specific measures to protect our younger users." Taylor Malstrom, a Brooklyn Middle School sixth-grader, said mild peer pressure led her to sign up for MySpace, as she knew a lot of her friends were on it. She used a false age to create a profile, since the minimum age allowed is 14, posted a little information about herself, some pictures and checked the site periodically for activity. "I would post comments to my friends," Taylor said. "But a lot of people put a lot of bad words on there." Taylor also had listed the sports she was involved with and where she went to dance class, information anyone could use. She said she was contacted once on the site by an unknown user -- a band -- but didn't pursue the message. Brooklyn Middle School Principal Matthew Carroll has responded to the social networking pitfalls by communicating with parents. In January, he sent a letter home with students that alerted parents and guardians of the MySpace popularity and Internet safety in general. "The most important thing is that the conversation occurs between the parents and children," Carroll said. "Because it expands from MySpace to general boundaries of protection itself." Carroll made sure a firewall was installed on the school's computer network to block any social networking site use by students. Brooklyn school administrators also have invited social workers from the Brooklyn Correctional Center to speak to students this month about predatory behavior. In Norwich, about 100 parents of children in the Norwich Public School System attended a presentation in September on online safety given by school administrators and the Norwich Police Department. "Oftentimes, when it comes to technology, the students are ahead of the parents in the family, and we have to stay ahead of the curve," Superintendent Pamela Aubin said. "We wanted to just build awareness among parents of how children were using the Internet at home." Meanwhile, the rising tide of parental concern, along with recent reports of arrests related to child predators who use the site, have gotten the attention of state law officials. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Thursday he is investigating the legality of the pornography he said has appeared on MySpace. "My office investigated and confirmed that children can readily view not only inappropriate material, but also obscene images through the site's free and publicly accessible areas," Blumenthal said. "The site posts no warnings that pornography and adult content are present and obscene material." Other Brooklyn adolescents either have steered clear of the site or, like the Malstroms, canceled their accounts. Rochelle Graveline, 13, said she was contacted once by an unfamiliar teenager before deleting her MySpace profile. "My mom and I had a talk about it. She wondered if it was really worth it, to have my information on it," Graveline said. "And I said 'no.' " Josh Emerson, 14, who, like all his friends regularly uses instant messenger services, stopped short of creating a MySpace profile. "The stuff was really personal -- your name, where you live, your picture," Emerson said. "All the things people need to find you." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Jessica Durkin at 774-5563 or jdurkin@norwich bulletin.com http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060204/NEWS01/602040307/1002