MySpace tries to keep parents informed and kids safe

By Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 19 January 2007 13:29

Your IT - Entertainment

MySpace wants parents to take more responsibility for their children’s safety with their new ‘Zephyr’ software program. Will parents finally step up to the plate, or will they continue blaming MySpace for poor parenting practices?

If there’s one thing we know about the Internet, it’s that it is just as dangerous a place as the real world. According to authorities, dozens of children have been molested, some even murdered, thanks to divulging too much information on social networking sites such as MySpace.

While the usual outcry is that ‘someone outta do something about it’, the simple facts are that parents are responsible for their children up until the age of 18, and they should take responsibility for what their children are doing online.

But the big problem with that viewpoint is that, in many cases, there are still plenty of parents out there who still know little about the Internet, and who rely on their children for technical knowledge.

It is these parents who are at most risk of their children running riot with their MySpace and other profiles, setting passwords on computers that parents don’t have access to and more, leaving parents vulnerable to a phone call from the police one day that something dreadful has happened to their child. Online pedophiles are very active on the Internet, after all, and you must protect your children – and yourself – from these dreadful perverts.

It is for these kinds of reasons that sites like MySpace have been under attack from all sides, with parental groups and the authorities demanding that MySpace do something about it.

While the responsibility ultimately rests with parents, MySpace also has a duty of care to their users, no matter what their age. And so, after much public pressure, MySpace is finally stepping up to the plate with a software solution that goes some way towards helping parents understand what their kids are up to when using the MySpace service.

Sadly, this software won’t help parents whose children use FaceBook or other social networking sites, but with MySpace being the top dog of the social networking world, it’s a welcome start.

Before I get into the details of what the MySpace Zephyr software is all about, parents can find some really top class information on the whole online and social networking phenomenon from an organization called Common Sense Media. Their website is www.commonsense.com and they have a great little book that’s free to download and read.

What else does the booklet explain? Read onto page 2 for the conclusion....