Alone on the web? Local teens face dangers on MySpace
By Dan Trudeau
STAFF WRITER
Alison Drzinski thought she had a pretty good grasp on her 12-year-old daughter's Internet usage. Drzinski keeps her family computer in the kitchen, and her children never surf the web without an adult hovering close by.
So when she found out what her daughter had concocted on MySpace.com, Drzinski was understandably shocked.
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After a little web snooping, the mother found a MySpace profile with personal information and fabricated info about her daughter's age.
"I just think the scariest thing is they have no idea putting all this stuff on the Internet could actually harm them," said Drzinski, who is the sister-in-law of Millennium Middle School Principal RJ Webber. "They're very, very naive."
In addition to false ages and personal information on her own daughter's web page, Drzinski found profanity, sexual material and provocative photos on the pages of her friends. The Dearborn mom moved quickly, contacting MySpace directly via a link on the bottom of the site's main page.
Within days her daughter's personal page — along with the pages created by her middle school friends — had all been removed. It gave Drzinski some comfort, but her overarching feeling was concern.
"Some of those girls were probably on there again the next day," she said.
South Lyon kids use MySpace
If such a thing can occur in Dearborn, it can — and does — happen in South Lyon as well, a fact which has local teachers, counselors and parents anxious about MySpace. A quick search of the site conducted by Herald staff members shows their anxiety is well-founded.
In approximately two hours, Herald reporters found the following examples of potentially dangerous behavior being carried out by area teens on MySpace.
Multiple students posted profanity and sexually explicit language.
A Millennium Middle School student claimed to be 19 years old on her page, saying that she loves to party.
A middle school student posted pictures of herself in tight clothing and provocative poses. She said she was 18 years old.
Two local girls — one 13 years old and the other 15 years old — exchanged phone numbers on a MySpace message board, where they can be viewed by anyone with a MySpace ID.
A South Lyon High School student posted his address on the site, advertising a party he was planning at his parent's house.
A 15-year-old girl admitted to stealing and drinking in the past month.
A pair of teens used the site to post negative — and potentially libelous, one local police officer said — statements about another classmate, saying the girl spread false rumors and calling her a "whore."
School officials show concern
It's that kind of thing that keeps Dottie Frazzini up at night. The Centennial Middle School guidance counselor said she gets terrified when she thinks of Centennial students being kidnapped or victimized by strangers they meet on MySpace.
The site has become a major concern for Internet safety experts, who say that sexual predators are trolling user pages for unsuspecting young girls and boys.
Frazzini said that some students protect their information by setting their MySpace pages as "private," meaning that only those whom they approve have the opportunity to view it.
Still, she said, far more students are willing to send their personal thoughts and information out into the ether, where it may be used to harm them.
And while most students use the site primarily to socialize with friends from school, Frazzini is concerned that many do not understand the risk.
"The kids love it. They're telling me they spend a lot of time on it," she said. "They're spontaneous to the moment. They don't look at the big picture. When you write on there that you're 18 and you're really 13, that's scary."
Other school administrators are showing concern as well. South Lyon High School principal Larry Jackson said he is arranging an assembly for students on MySpace, in addition to an informational session for parents in the coming months.
One father's (cop's) advice
Oakland County Sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Crockett has a web link on his computer desktop at work. It takes him directly to his son's MySpace page.
As commander of the Lyon Township sheriff's substation, Crockett has dealt with issues of identity theft and online security before. When his 17-year-old son put identifying information on his MySpace profile, it didn't take long before a red flag went up in Crockett's mind.
In addition to the potential danger of sexual predators, Crockett said MySpace could also be a treasure trove for identity thieves. Apart from senior citizens, young people are the biggest targets for identity theft, he said.
They're frequently trusting and won't obtain a background check on their credit for years. By putting addresses, phone numbers, names and other information up on MySpace, Crockett said teens are giving crooks a head start toward stealing their identities.
"Kids turn 18, they go to get a credit check and find out they have thousands in credit card debt," Crockett said.
Crockett instructed his own son to wipe any identifying information off of his MySpace page. As a further precaution, Crockett regularly visits his son's site and the sites of his friends to monitor their behavior.
And even though he's a senior in high school, Crockett said his son never surfs the web at home without his parents knowing it.
"My son's 18, and to this day he doesn't know the password to get on the Internet," Crockett said. "It's his mother's account and she has to sign him in to go on the Internet."
MySpace operates on a set of rules and regulations, but with hundreds of thousands of users on the site, violations frequently fall through. As a result, experts say teenage users can't count on the site to keep them safe. As usual, interested parents are often the first, last and best security measures.
Dan Trudeau is a reporter for the South Lyon Herald. Reach him at (248) 437-2011 or at dtrudeau@gannett.com.
STAFF WRITER
Alison Drzinski thought she had a pretty good grasp on her 12-year-old daughter's Internet usage. Drzinski keeps her family computer in the kitchen, and her children never surf the web without an adult hovering close by.
So when she found out what her daughter had concocted on MySpace.com, Drzinski was understandably shocked.
ADVERTISEMENT
After a little web snooping, the mother found a MySpace profile with personal information and fabricated info about her daughter's age.
"I just think the scariest thing is they have no idea putting all this stuff on the Internet could actually harm them," said Drzinski, who is the sister-in-law of Millennium Middle School Principal RJ Webber. "They're very, very naive."
In addition to false ages and personal information on her own daughter's web page, Drzinski found profanity, sexual material and provocative photos on the pages of her friends. The Dearborn mom moved quickly, contacting MySpace directly via a link on the bottom of the site's main page.
Within days her daughter's personal page — along with the pages created by her middle school friends — had all been removed. It gave Drzinski some comfort, but her overarching feeling was concern.
"Some of those girls were probably on there again the next day," she said.
South Lyon kids use MySpace
If such a thing can occur in Dearborn, it can — and does — happen in South Lyon as well, a fact which has local teachers, counselors and parents anxious about MySpace. A quick search of the site conducted by Herald staff members shows their anxiety is well-founded.
In approximately two hours, Herald reporters found the following examples of potentially dangerous behavior being carried out by area teens on MySpace.
Multiple students posted profanity and sexually explicit language.
A Millennium Middle School student claimed to be 19 years old on her page, saying that she loves to party.
A middle school student posted pictures of herself in tight clothing and provocative poses. She said she was 18 years old.
Two local girls — one 13 years old and the other 15 years old — exchanged phone numbers on a MySpace message board, where they can be viewed by anyone with a MySpace ID.
A South Lyon High School student posted his address on the site, advertising a party he was planning at his parent's house.
A 15-year-old girl admitted to stealing and drinking in the past month.
A pair of teens used the site to post negative — and potentially libelous, one local police officer said — statements about another classmate, saying the girl spread false rumors and calling her a "whore."
School officials show concern
It's that kind of thing that keeps Dottie Frazzini up at night. The Centennial Middle School guidance counselor said she gets terrified when she thinks of Centennial students being kidnapped or victimized by strangers they meet on MySpace.
The site has become a major concern for Internet safety experts, who say that sexual predators are trolling user pages for unsuspecting young girls and boys.
Frazzini said that some students protect their information by setting their MySpace pages as "private," meaning that only those whom they approve have the opportunity to view it.
Still, she said, far more students are willing to send their personal thoughts and information out into the ether, where it may be used to harm them.
And while most students use the site primarily to socialize with friends from school, Frazzini is concerned that many do not understand the risk.
"The kids love it. They're telling me they spend a lot of time on it," she said. "They're spontaneous to the moment. They don't look at the big picture. When you write on there that you're 18 and you're really 13, that's scary."
Other school administrators are showing concern as well. South Lyon High School principal Larry Jackson said he is arranging an assembly for students on MySpace, in addition to an informational session for parents in the coming months.
One father's (cop's) advice
Oakland County Sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Crockett has a web link on his computer desktop at work. It takes him directly to his son's MySpace page.
As commander of the Lyon Township sheriff's substation, Crockett has dealt with issues of identity theft and online security before. When his 17-year-old son put identifying information on his MySpace profile, it didn't take long before a red flag went up in Crockett's mind.
In addition to the potential danger of sexual predators, Crockett said MySpace could also be a treasure trove for identity thieves. Apart from senior citizens, young people are the biggest targets for identity theft, he said.
They're frequently trusting and won't obtain a background check on their credit for years. By putting addresses, phone numbers, names and other information up on MySpace, Crockett said teens are giving crooks a head start toward stealing their identities.
"Kids turn 18, they go to get a credit check and find out they have thousands in credit card debt," Crockett said.
Crockett instructed his own son to wipe any identifying information off of his MySpace page. As a further precaution, Crockett regularly visits his son's site and the sites of his friends to monitor their behavior.
And even though he's a senior in high school, Crockett said his son never surfs the web at home without his parents knowing it.
"My son's 18, and to this day he doesn't know the password to get on the Internet," Crockett said. "It's his mother's account and she has to sign him in to go on the Internet."
MySpace operates on a set of rules and regulations, but with hundreds of thousands of users on the site, violations frequently fall through. As a result, experts say teenage users can't count on the site to keep them safe. As usual, interested parents are often the first, last and best security measures.
Dan Trudeau is a reporter for the South Lyon Herald. Reach him at (248) 437-2011 or at dtrudeau@gannett.com.
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