2008-01-24 

Wow! MySpace and the Attorneys General have gotten together to save kids from predators!

This is all theatrical, they can't do anything to stop people from pretending to be someone else or prevent a 13 year old from saying they're 18. It simply isn't possible to prove your age or your gender let alone prove that you are not some evil person over the Internet. A huge number of the crimes they are trying to prevent are by first time offenders and there is no way to filter them.

Of the millions of people using MySpace, FaceBook, or any of the other social networking sites there has to be a sense of self-responsibility. If you are a 12 year old girl, don't be stupid and say you're 17 or 18, and don't let just anyone be your friend.

Parents also need to teach their kids early that there are some very bad people out there who will pretend to be their friend or to be someone they aren't. If they do this early on and keep repeating it throughout their childhood they will be much more careful with who they communicate with.

Remember, don't ever trust the government to protect your children. There are probably more predators working for the government than there are on MySpace!