MySpace is rapidly becoming one of the most popular, if not the most popular, social networking sites, particularly for young adults and teens. According to site rules on MySpace.com individuals must be at least 14 years of age in order to set up a profile page on the site. Of course, this rule does not necessarily stop anyone from actually setting up a page and each day an unknown number of teens and tweens open profile pages on the site without their parent’s knowledge or consent. MySpace.com will remove pages of anyone they find to be under age 14; however, the site is large and it can be difficult to police such actions.

If you discover your child has set up a profile page on MySpace.com without your knowledge there are steps you can take. MySpace.com recommends that you work with your child to remove the account if you decide that you would like to have the page removed. This can be done by logging onto the site and then clicking on Account Settings. Next, click on Cancel Account. An email will be sent to the email address that was used for the login name in order to verify the deletion of the account.

 

In the event that you do not receive confirmation by email, it is recommended that you remove all content from your child’s profile and then enter Remove Profile in the About Me section. This notifies MySpace.com that you have taken control of your child’s account. For MySpace to evaluate and remove your profile, you must send them the URL to the profile in question. You can contact MySpace from here.

It is important to be aware that while teens and children under the age of 14 are not allowed to have profile pages on the site, teens 14 and older can have an enjoyable experience on the site provided that they follow proper safety precautions. Rather than removing your child’s profile from the site, many parents have opted to monitor their child’s profile by setting up their own profile on the site and monitoring in this manner. This often works better than actually having your child delete the site or asking for their password for two important reasons. First, even though you remove your child’s profile from MySpace.com they could easily set up another profile. In addition, even if you demand that your child give you their password information they can easily change it. Setting up your own profile page allows you to see the friends your child has linked from their profile page and what they are posting on their page.

Finally, don’t forget to discuss safety guidelines with your child to help them understand how they can stay safe on the site. These safety guidelines include:

• Remind your children to never lie about their age on MySpace.com. Safety precautions, such as automatically privatizing the profile pages of 14 and 15 year old users, is intended to keep kids safe.
• Discuss with your children the fact that MySpace.com is a public space and as such they should not post anything on the site they would not want everyone to know, including private and confidential information such as their full name, address, phone number or any other information that would make it easy for a stranger to locate them.
• Along the same lines, remind them not to post anything that would be embarrassing later on.
• Finally, remind them not to believe everything they read. Not everyone is who they say they are. They should always be cautious regarding adding strangers to their friends list and particularly about meeting anyone in person they have met online.

By taking the time to work with your child and discuss safety precautions, parents can assure their children are protected while still enjoying the wealth of social and educational opportunities available online.