Anti-MySpace Laptop Means Parents Can Relax

Reporter’s Notebook: During the dark winter days of 2006, my colleague Catherine Pickavet wrote:

“It’s not hard to picture a typical teenager in the Internet era: home from school, heading straight for the bedroom, door slammed tight and off to another world, online.

“Once there, she listens to music, chats in real time, explores like interests with strangers, joins clubs, divulges every last detail about her life, reads others’ details and plasters photos and words that represent who she is.

“But would she let her mother see it? It’s a question best posed to the millions of people who don’t hold back on their profiles when it comes to popular social networking sites.

“Now, rather than staying away from the unknown, people are apt to push the envelope, posting as much as they can on their profiles so they can attract as many ‘friends’ as possible.

“But,” Pickavet wrote, “not everyone who reads the site has the best intentions.”

And she is right. There are predators out there and many of them want your children.

Full story: internetnews.com