MySpace.com Subject of Sex Assault Probe

[MacNut]

MySpace.com Subject of Sex Assault Probe
AP
HARTFORD, Conn. (Feb. 3) - Connecticut authorities are investigating whether as many as seven girls have been sexually assaulted by men they met through a popular Web site.

MySpace.com allows users to create profiles that can include photos, personal information and even cell-phone numbers.

As one police officer puts it, "It is a predator's dream come true." The state attorney general says the site is a "parent's worst nightmare."

Middletown detectives are investigating several sexual assaults that might be linked to the site. The girls range in age from 12 to 16.

MySpace.com says it's committed to providing a safe environment for its users. Anyone younger than 14 is prohibited from using the site, but the company says it's not always possible to check the ages of users.

This has been big news this week on the local news in Connecticut and after watching a story on Dateline tonight seems that this is becoming a very big problem.

 

[Dr. Dastardly]

I remember years ago when I was in the eighth grade (this was when the internet was not even close to what you see it today) they said DO NOT give any solid info online in chat rooms such as your full name or the town you live in. Now people put up their entire auto-biography by the time they are 13.

 

[bousozoku]

They mean that it's impossible to check ages but I'm not sure it really matters.

I'm not sure why, but everyone imaginable is on MySpace. It's truly bizaare. There are plenty of legitimate users and musicians and artists and teens just looking for friends but there are more fakers than can be imagined.

It's sad to see that people have been attacked. I know of one teen in Texas who had many people so crazy about him that they were contacting him on AIM and phoning his friends who had their phone numbers listed. Nut cases.

I've mentioned to everyone I know there to be careful...just because someone says that they're 16 doesn't mean that they are.

 

[MacNut]

The problem is that kids these days don't know a time without the internet so they feel comfortable with it and have a lulled sense about the dangers. Remember the good old days when you wanted to talk to your friends you had to call them on a corded phone from your house.

 

[rickvanr]

The problem is that kids these days don't know a time without the internet so they feel comfortable with it and have a lulled sense about the dangers. Remember the good old days when you wanted to talk to your friends you had to call them on a corded phone from your house.

.. the good old days.

This type of story isn't new, but the way it was initiated was. A girl I went to school in elementary had something similar to this happen to her, but then again, she was up for it.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

But where are the parents?

I know that parents can't be everywhere at all times, but there needs to be communication between the two. Expectations need to be set, and punishment from the parents when their desires/expectations are not met.

Maybe too much is given to teens today IMO. I never had my own telephone (we didn't have cells phones "back then"). The first TV I had was one that I bought between by 16th and 17th year from a part-time job. It was only when I was going off to college that my parents "relented" and bought me a car of my own - a two year old Dodge Colt. Never mind that the Mustang and the Cabrio were the "must have" cars.

It was also a different time in that my parents weren't working 45+ hours a week to try and keep up with the Jones either. They didn't live in fear that their jobs could be sent to India, or that because they were over 40 yo that they were "redundant".

 

[26139]

Wtf?

Goddamnit, this is NOT the fault of MySpace, it's the idiot kids (and possibly their parents) for allowing it to happen.

People get abducted from malls, girls get picked up at bar and raped by guys, etc...

I agree that it's horrible, but not the fault of MySpace any more than it's the bar's fault.

 

[dornoforpyros]

As one police officer puts it, "It is a predator's dream come true." The state attorney general says the site is a "parent's worst nightmare."

Shocking the easily shocked again I see

Yes I do remember the days when everyone was told "don't put personal information on the web" and it definitely makes sense for teenagers to heed this warning. But in all actuality its still up to each individual to use basic common sense in their online dealings. Heck I'm pretty damned easy to track down online, but I also don't get making plans with strangers I spent 10 mins talking to online.

 

[Abstract]

I practice safe cyber sex.

 

[bousozoku]

Goddamnit, this is NOT the fault of MySpace, it's the idiot kids (and possibly their parents) for allowing it to happen.

People get abducted from malls, girls get picked up at bar and raped by guys, etc...

I agree that it's horrible, but not the fault of MySpace any more than it's the bar's fault.

Didn't you know? Lately, in the U.S.A., it's someone else's fault. No one should take personal responsibility for themselves or for their children. Maybe, that's just an Orlando, FL thing but it seems to be all over the place.

I would guess that, if the parents had explained life as it went along, none of those attacked would have gotten into the danger but parents don't seem to take time that often or they take too much time and alienate their children.

 

[Abstract]

But where are the parents?

I know that parents can't be everywhere at all times, but there needs to be communication between the two. Expectations need to be set, and punishment from the parents when their desires/expectations are not met.

I know it's easy for the parents to blame MySpace, but it's also easy for you and I to blame the parents. Sometimes, **** happens. What I can tell you is this: as a 25 year old who did grow up with the internet, I don't believe there is a thing my parents could have really done to stop me from visiting whatever site I wanted. They don't even know what's out there online. I've been using the net for years and they still don't know where I visit, including this place. Honest. My mum is still amazed that she can see me through a webcam.

They're not going to know where I visit on the internet, and they don't even know that it's dangerous. One time (like in 1998 or something when chatrooms were the craze) my mum did tell me to be careful because she heard news reports similar to this MySpace business, but I just told her that the people who fall for this are stupid and give out personal info, and she said, "Oh, okay. Just be careful."

Sometimes parents put a lot of trust in their kids to make the right decision, and sometimes those kids screw up. I don't think anyone is to blame. Just chalk another one to general wackiness of the world.

 

[Deepdale]

MySpace.com allows users to create profiles that can include photos, personal information and even cell-phone numbers.

It is clearly not the right road to travel down, but there are parents who allow the internet to be the diversion that keeps their children independently occupied. I was on the way home from work last week and overheard a conversation between two women that went like this:

"Are you planning to attend the meeting Monday night at the community center? I would like to be there, but am having a problem getting a sitter on short notice since it will last several hours."

"I also do not have a sitter scheduled. Lucky for me, my son has no problem keeping himself entertained by chatting with friends and using the computer for hours on end. Sometimes he even skips dinner when he is online."

"Do you monitor the places he visits and know who he chats with?"

"At this time, I am not familiar with how to do that. Maybe I will get around to that when I have some extra time."

 

[iSaint]

~snip, this is NOT the fault of MySpace, it's the idiot kids (and possibly their parents) for allowing it to happen.

People get abducted from malls, girls get picked up at bar and raped by guys, etc...

I agree that it's horrible, but not the fault of MySpace any more than it's the bar's fault.

As a father of a 12 year old girl, I monitor her web use constantly. She uses an old IBM laptop for AIM Express and some web surfing. I check the explorer history all the time.

Last fall she and a friend had profiles on one of the blog sites, but I forgot which one. I deleted hers, and called her friend's mom. The mom was clueless, but her husband knew enough to delete the account.

Just today I was checking the history on the IBM, and found one of her friend's myspace accounts. The girl is 12, so I called the parents. The dad was clueless, but at least knows enough to realize it's not a good thing at all. He deleted her account. I also advised him to see what friends she had on there and get on the phone to their parents.

I AM the web nazi!

 

[devilot]

I sort of grew up w/ the internet. Sure, my friends and I weren't always the 'safest' but we had backup plans. We NEVER gave out our numbers, used separate email accounts tied to falsified locations, etc. etc. The only 'strangers' I ever agreed to meet up with were people who I verified with friends that they weren't axe murderers and whatnot (they attended the same school, had similar friends, etc.) and we never went anywhere alone. Always with a group of people (both males and females) and always in a public and busy place.

I feel like parents have some responsibility but it is really overwhelming to have to keep on top of all the latest fads. Not to mention, kids have so many resources for the internet-- home machines, school machines, libraries, friends' homes, cell phones, PDAs, etc.

I don't really blame MySpace and other such structures.

I do feel like the children themselves need to exercise more caution.

 

[MacNut]

A lot of the kids know more about the internet then the parents do and a lot of parents ask there kids how to do things, How can parents watch the kids when the kids end up watching the parents.

 

[yippy]

I am not surprised with the popularity of MySpace that they could make this connection. That said it isn't there fault at all.

What happened to the good old days when you blamed the assailant for a sexual assault?

 

[GaelDesign]

Look, I'm 23 years old and only went to MySpace for like 10 seconds a while back (social networking sites never interested me). I don't remember seeing anything weird.

But now with all this MySpace news out there, I decided I'd pop on over and see what the fuss was about. Whoa. Within another 10 seconds of going to myspace.com, I was looking at girls in underwear, pages with porn-style nude pinups, people talking about sex and weird stuff. This is ridiculous -- this should be in an off-limits, protected, adult portion of the site, not easily visible by kids. Argh.

The news reports are right.

Jared

 

[CompUser]

Last night I watched the dateline special on sexual prediters. The news pretends to be a kid, they send the sexual preditors pics of employees of the station when they were 13, and they tell the people where they live. They film the people coimg into the house where they find the news anchor. Then they leave and are arrested. This is the 3rd time they have done this on DateLine and they cought 54 people.

Truely amazing how many perverted people are out there.

At school in advisory the teachers talked about us about myspace.com and similar sites.

My mom is all scared about me now, haha.

 

[whocares]

As a father of a 12 year old girl, I monitor her web use constantly. She uses an old IBM laptop for AIM Express and some web surfing. I check the explorer history all the time.

Last fall she and a friend had profiles on one of the blog sites, but I forgot which one. I deleted hers, and called her friend's mom. The mom was clueless, but her husband knew enough to delete the account.

Just today I was checking the history on the IBM, and found one of her friend's myspace accounts. The girl is 12, so I called the parents. The dad was clueless, but at least knows enough to realize it's not a good thing at all. He deleted her account. I also advised him to see what friends she had on there and get on the phone to their parents.

I AM the web nazi!

I would like to congratulate a responsible parent under one condition: does your daughter know that you're "spying" on her "internet life"? No disrespect intended, just curious

Trust and dialog go much further than spying...

 

[solvs]

This is ridiculous -- this should be in an off-limits, protected, adult portion of the site, not easily visible by kids.

There may be some that are bad, but some of us just use it to keep in touch with friends and business associates, especially when we live in different areas. Not to mention bands and other kids. I don't blame the clueless parents completely, although I have seen enough out there to know some kids should be watched when they're doing this stuff (thinking back to everything I did when I was a latchkey), but I definitely don't blame MySpace anymore than I'd blame Craigslist, or the local news even. The kids should know better. I know teens and preteens do some weird things, I know I did, but this is just stupid.

 

[iSaint]

I would like to congratulate a responsible parent under one condition: does your daughter know that you're "spying" on her "internet life"? No disrespect intended, just curious

Trust and dialog go much further than spying...

Oh, yeah, she knows! I ask her questions about emails and stuff. I've never found anything illicit or potentially lecherous on her email account, AIM account, or her web history. We talk about stuff, but she's going to be curious about myspace and other similar sites. A lot of the time we joke about the things she does...like the overdramatization of being a 12 year old.

And she did ask about having her own myspace account. I said no, and checked her history today to find her friend's account.

We have a pretty good relationship so far...

 

[whocares]

We have a pretty good relationship so far...

Pleased to hear that!

 

[unfaded]

Wait... you mean if you give your personal information out on the internet, people may abuse it?

You DON'T say.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

It is clearly not the right road to travel down, but there are parents who allow the internet to be the diversion that keeps their children independently occupied. I was on the way home from work last week and overheard a conversation between two women that went like this:

"Are you planning to attend the meeting Monday night at the community center? I would like to be there, but am having a problem getting a sitter on short notice since it will last several hours."

"I also do not have a sitter scheduled. Lucky for me, my son has no problem keeping himself entertained by chatting with friends and using the computer for hours on end. Sometimes he even skips dinner when he is online."

"Do you monitor the places he visits and know who he chats with?"

"At this time, I am not familiar with how to do that. Maybe I will get around to that when I have some extra time."

"DANGER WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!"

What are parents thinking of now a days? Pre-internet days, my parents knew what books I was reading. They knew of the people I hung out with - down to having the phone numbers of their parents.

If I wanted a TV in my room, I had to pay for it myself. As to paying for my own phone, forget it. To quote my Dad, "if you want a telephone line in your room, then you need to be paying for part of the mortgage and the phone bill".

They allowed me the space to make mistakes. December 7th, 1974 - a date that will live in infamy.

Montgomery Wards Xmas Party at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Southern PG County. It was BYOB. I looked older than my 16 years, at least over 18 (the legal age at the time). Scored a bottle of Lancers wine. Knew nothing about not mixing your alcohol. So a little Lancers, a little whiskey, a little tequila, a little rum, and what ever else was being passed around.

Lucky for me my parents did not let me have the car that night. Even better was a HS bud that worked with me was a "straight arrow" (maybe that was the reason my parents agreed to let me go in hindsight) and drove us both there and back. Let's just say many years later my Mom said she wished she had a video camera to show me coming home that night. And she showed no mercy the next morning. Waking me up bright and early for a scrambled egg and kielbasa before the family going off to church in the morning. After church my Dad had me help him in the basement building some shelves that he was working on. They showed me no mercy that day.

That night, my Dad said that I looked a bit "off". And he hoped that I learned my lesson. For if "it" ("it" was never discussed, but I knew) happened again, I would be praying that I was never brought in to this world. I knew what he meant.

It wasn't till I was 18 and living on campus that I ever had another drop to drink. Lessons were learned there too. Beds that move on their own are not a good thing!

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

I would like to congratulate a responsible parent under one condition: does your daughter know that you're "spying" on her "internet life"? No disrespect intended, just curious

Trust and dialog go much further than spying...

Hey, I don't care myself. I was reminded a number of times when I was under 18, "until you pay the bills, this is MY house".

Though today this is a fine line compared to when I was a teenager. Letters in the mail were "off limits". "Listening in" while I was was on the house phone was OK. If there was anything private that I did not want them to see, I kept on my person.

But in my day, my parents worked a pretty "strict" 40 hour work week. Commuting did not require getting up at 5AM. In fact the "morning paper" came at about 6:30-7:00AM. And the evening paper by 5PM.

My sister and I were the forerunners of the "latch-key kids". We came home to an empty house. But the meals were made the day before. And when they came home, they made sure we had been fed and the school work and issues of the day were taken care of before they did anything for themselves.

Add to that, my Mom going to work was not a need to trying to keep up with the economy. But was about her having self-worth, and allowing for some "luxuries" in our lives. Those "luxuries" were a swimming pool for us. For the "fanciest" car they ever owned was a 1980 Cutlass Coupe. Or may have been a 1974 Olds Vista Cruiser (bought used in 1975).