Teens at risk on MySpace, other sites

Experts urge parents to become more involved in monitoring kids' online

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — On MySpace.com, teenagers can find kindred spirits who share their love of sports, their passion for photography or their crush on a Hollywood star. They can also find out where their online friends live, where they attend school, even what they look like.

And so can adults.

Parents, school administrators and police are increasingly worried that teens are finding trouble online at sites like MySpace, the leader of the social-networking sites that encourage users to build larger and larger circles of friends.

Reporter Sylvia Gomez and producer Regina Griffin of CBS 2 Chicago were able to track down three girls using only the information posted on their MySpace.com Web sites.
   

Vanessa, whose last name is being withheld, was surprised at the personal information she had made available, such as her full name, her parents' names and the school she attends.

"Would you be surprised to see how quickly I was able to track you down at your home?" the reporter asked.

"I didn't know you could do that," Vanessa said. "I'm kind of surprised."

Vanessa said she only speaks with friends online, and deletes messages from anyone she doesn't recognize.

But some teens talk with and even meet strangers through their sites. And the subsequent reports of stalkers and sexual assaults have prompted some parents and schools to equate the likes of MySpace with the Internet's red-light district, even as many experts believe that the worries are greater than the actual dangers.

Joseph Dooley is among those who has heard it all before. A retired FBI agent who supervised the agency's first undercover Internet task force in New England, Dooley said parents need to become more engaged.

"Let the kids know, on the Internet, you don't know who you're talking to," Dooley said. "Parents aren't the friends of their kids. Parents need to know and observe what their kids are doing."

The concerns aren't limited to MySpace, but the News Corp. unit gets the attention because of its sheer size — 54 million users, a quarter of them registered as teens.

MySpace forbids minors 13 and under from joining and provides special protections for those 14 and 15 — only those on their friends' list can view their profiles. Nonetheless, kids lie when they sign up, and many of their profiles carry photos of themselves in suggestive poses, along with personal information against the site's recommendations.

"They're licking their lips and arching their back for the camera because they can, and they have no idea of the consequences," said Parry Aftab, an Internet safety expert.

But Aftab said most MySpace users aren't getting themselves in trouble.

Experts say that banning children from using social-networking sites is akin to forbidding them from going to the mall or the movie theater for fear they'll be abducted.

"I wish I could hover over my children 24-7, but the best I can do is teach them that there are ways to keep themselves safe," said Steve Jones, a communications professor who studies new media at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

In a statement, MySpace said it has developed safety tips for parents and children and devotes scores of employees to monitoring the site around the clock. The site also has ways for users to report inappropriate behavior. The company says it removes inappropriate images and closes accounts that violate its rules.

CBS 2 producer Regina Griffin and reporter Sylvia Gomez contributed to this report.