50 Ways Teens Get Trouble

The Problem
The very teen that would die of embarrassment if you told a friend that she got her period may be baring her deepest secrets every day on MySpace. One of the most popular social networking websites for teens, MySpace is rife with profanity, provocative pictures, and revelations related to sex, alcohol, drugs and other unhealthy escapades.

Welcome to the MySpace generation. Today's teens see a MySpace page as a ticket to a huge network of "friends," many of them complete strangers. They spend hours sending one another instant messages and short messages called "bulletins."

But if the off-color nature of some of the pages makes you uncomfortable as a parent, you should be even more concerned about the impact of too much information (TMI) on your teen's life, both today and in the future.

With 65 million people on MySpace, the potential for a predator to prey on your child is a reality. Kids commonly share personal information on their MySpace profile page, such as their school location, place of work, and photos that may show addresses or license plates in the background. It would be fairly easy for a predator to pick out your child at her place of employment after having seen her photo on MySpace, and then strike up a "friendship" with her by using information she's shared about interests and personality as bait.

And those seemingly harmless references to substances or other illegal activities? These could come back to haunt your child in the future, as colleges and potential employers are increasingly using Internet searches to check on candidates.

What To Do
Talk to your teen about the dangers of sharing too much information online. Even seemingly harmless postings like a place of employment or school may make her vulnerable to adult predators.

If you allow your teen to use MySpace (teens must be 14 to join), discuss what information she should share. Help her to understand that whatever she posts on this site is read by millions of people - college admissions officers, employers, and potential predators. Discourage her from divulging personal information such as her telephone number, address, school location, passwords, or place of employment. Encourage her to keep her friend list to people she really knows - but she should read and edit her friends' comments, too, because they may contain personal information that shouldn't be shared.

Most importantly, keep the household computer in an easily observable place (such as the living room) where you can monitor screen time. Make sure that the rules for Internet use are posted next to the computer, and that your teen understands the consequences of breaking the rules.