Five serious MySpace dangers - avoid them all with SpyBuddy

Suddenly, MySpace is everywhere. It is discussed on TV and in newspapers, and is the subject of many concerned conversations. This online phenomenon has enjoyed an explosive level of growth recently, and every day countless teens and younger children create their very own "space" on the Internet. In itself, this sounds harmless enough - so what exactly are the dangers of MySpace, and what can you do to protect your children?

Danger One: the written content on MySpace.
The MySpace pages aren't censored, and it shows. The language on most of the pages is colorful to say the least. Do you really want your children to see all those four-letter words? But it's not just the swearing that's problematic, it's the subject, too. Many MySpace pages talk about drinking and drugs, and references to "adult" subject matters abound. Worse still, some pages have very dark undertones and talk about suicide and self-harming. Rest assured, you do not want your children to read this.

Danger Two: the images on MySpace.
Many of the images posted on MySpace are sexually suggestive. Even if your child hasn't posted a lightly clad photo of herself, you can safely assume that she has seen countless such pictures of other people. Videos are posted, too, and sometimes these are graphic enough to frighten young children - it only took us a minute to find a video of mistreated farm animals, for example.

Danger Three: MySpace predators.
Because many children and teens post a lot of information about themselves, MySpace is a haven for sexual predators. Anyone can do a search for their local high school and see the details of dozens of girls. Hobbies, interests, date of birth, hair color, friends and much more is often listed for anyone to see. If your child were to post that she's going to be somewhere at a particular time and date, it would be frighteningly easy for someone else to wait for her there.

Danger Four: unsuitable friends on MySpace
The people your children meet online do not have to be criminals or predators to be unsuitable. In real life, you tend to meet your children's friends, giving you the chance to decide whether or not they're the kind of people you want your children to spend time with. On MySpace, they could meet anyone at all and you have no idea. Do you want your 12-year old daughter to have 18-year-old male friends, no matter how innocent she claims it is? Your children are too young to make informed decisions - they need your help.

Danger Five: bad behavior on MySpace
Sometimes, the problem isn't other people - it's your child. Imagine if your son were to threaten to kill someone online, and they then happened to get hurt? Or if he bragged about wanting to burn down the school? As a parent, you need to ensure that this isn't taking place, because if the worst were to happen there could be legal ramifications.

So how do you avoid these MySpace dangers? The easiest, most reliable option is to use parental control software. With SpyBuddy, you can see exactly what your children are doing online. You can view website visits and read emails and instant messages without them ever knowing. If you don't like what you see, you can block access to certain websites, all the time or when you're not at home.

Of course, you should also talk to your children and explain the dangers to them. But as a safety net, make sure you use SpyBuddy too - because even the best behaved child can be curious, and you need to know what happens when you're not around.