Safe Web surfing starts with parents

This month, CNN reported that the giant, social-networking Web site MySpace and its owner, News Corp., are being sued by a quartet of families.

Northland parents need to know about this case because many children have MySpace accounts.

The suit was brought by the families after their teenage daughters were solicited online and sexually abused by adults.

But why sue the Web site and its owner? How, exactly, did these teens come to meet strangers on the Internet in the first place? This world is a dangerous place, and the Internet is no exception. If I were one of these parents, I'd be upset. But I'd also take a step back and ask myself, "What could I have done to prevent such a terrible thing?" Parents know the dangers of the Internet. Is it the network's fault that some pedophiles lurk around some sites? No. You can go to any of a number of networking sites -- including Tagged, Bebo, Ringo and Facebook -- and find perverts. But they are everywhere in the world.

Isn't it the responsibility of parents to watch what their children are doing on or off the Internet? I have a simple solution: Monitor children's computer usage. Go online and check the history of Internet traffic. Where have the kids been going? What sites did they visit?

I read the other day in a Dear Abby column a parent complain that she didn't know what to do after purchasing a computer for her sons. They'd lock themselves in the bedroom and be on the Internet for hours, she said. Well, knock down the door if you have to and see what they're doing.

Is it the computer's fault some children are hooked into the nasty web of the Internet? No. Is it the Web site's fault or the fault of its owner if a child is stalked by an adult predator? No.

I'm 19 years old and have been on the Internet since I was 11. I've seen many things I was never meant to see. I signed up for a Yahoo account as an 18-year-old and off to the circus I went.

Why is it that when something goes wrong in a child's life, parents often blame somebody or something else? Instead, they instead should take responsibility.

MySpace is a wonderful Web site. Kids can meet all sorts of amazing people. I've met some very beautifully gifted people on the site. But teens also love to compete on MySpace to see who can add the most friends online. Parents ought to ask their children to show them their MySpace accounts. Parents might be shocked at the way some kids on the site are dressed and the ways some of them act. If I were a parent, I'd be inclined to put a stop to some of the unbelievable activities.

Instead, some parents choose to blame the Web site when bad things happen. It truly is a sad world.

Could you manage to babysit the 200 million young people per day who use MySpace? I know I couldn't, and I suspect computer technology can't. Well, maybe the government could, but do you want the government tapping into everyone's homes? I know I don't want that totalitarian thumb over my head ready to squash me when I say something wrong.

Don't blame MySpace. Instead, pay attention to how children are acting. Watch what they're doing. Be a parent -- for everyone's sake.

Tyler Flint of Nashwauk is a freshman at Itasca Community College, studying English and secondary education.