Eduardo+Editorial

__**Blame it on Myspace**__ By EDUARDO BELALCAZAR

Myspace has been placed on top of a reign of evil terror. It's a gateway for kids with the will to runaway to accomplish their goal. Myspace is the home of many child predators. Myspace is crippling our society it should be shut down because it can lead children to be raped, to runaway, and to feel regret. In the advanced civilization we live in, one would think at least our children would be safe. However,in the research I've conducted the New York Times reporter, Hilary Hylton states in, [|How Safe is Myspace?], “  The FBI says arrests of Internet predators more than tripled from 2001, to 1,649 last year, and there have already been more than 1,000 arrests so far this year. Experts note that even with this increase--the number of online-predator arrests is still small compared with the overall arrests for sexual assaults against minors, which in 2000 was estimated to be 65,000 nationwide.” A 1,000 predators being arrested is a 1,000 children that could have been spared the experience of being raped. The fact that the arrest of online predators tripled in the time of this survey is shocking. Other critiques believe that social networking is a crucial tool for kids to use. A researcher at the University of Minnesota, Christine Greenhow, was quoted in the Science Daily in an the article, [|Eduacational Benefits of Social Networking Sites Uncovered], stating, “What we found was that students using social networking sites are actually practicing the kinds of 21st century skills we want them to develop to be successful today,”. Social networking is crucial for the proper development of our children with future careers. However, is the price greater than the gain? Children are also very naïve and easy to seduce. It's easy to picture the happy ending, when you already feel like your living a miserable life. In an interview I conducted with my cousin, Belkis Garcia let me in on the truth to her experience. “My mom didn't pay any attention to me after my sister commited suicide and my brother was shot. Leaving to New York was the best thing I did?” Now my cousin is back in Houston with a baby she had at the age of 19. She escaped a life she didn't want only to get pregnant and didn't finish middle school. She had to live her life under a fake alias in New York and also couldn't enroll in school. All this was possible thanks to the man she met on Myspace. “Now, I regret ever leaving.” Myspace is a place where kids can vent and express themselves. However, extra measures need to be taken by the owners of these social networks to prevent things like this to happen. Parents also need to take extra measures to monitor what their kids do on the internet. Privacy settings are sufficient to please the laws, but are they pleasing us? Even with recent history of child predators being arrested and runaways, preventive measures have yet to be taken. Myspace is to blame.