Can MySpace help shy kids come out of their shells?

MySpace has helped my dyslexic 12-yr-old be able to communicate through the written word about 50 times what he was doing at the end of his 5th grade year. His reading skills have also improve tremendously. Because of his dyslexia, he tends to want to "hide" at school, and isn't confident in sending notes to friends or opening up to his peers because he is in "special ed," but since I allowed him to use his MySpace (with close parental supervision) to send notes to his older brothers and sisters and their friends, he has gained more confidence in the real world. He has started being more confident in his social skills, and more outgoing with his peers.

We should remember how confident we adults are in our daily communications with others electronically in our emails, blogs, etc., and I believe this is a wonderful way for those kids that are so painfully shy to be able to open up and express some of their thoughts and feelings via electronic communications. This should be a first step and not a replacement for face-to-face communications, but it provides a forum for them to begin to put their thoughts out into the world and to realize that others WILL listen.

I can't believe Myspace is still being promoted for kids. It has turned into an adult playground, business promotion tool, and a safe haven for predators. See a story on a web site called Cruise Bruise, an article dated April 24, 2008, titled "Why This Site Was Not Updated The Past Week. Myspace Horror Story", for a heart breaking tale of woe involving a handicap young woman. Then tell me again why you would want a shy child to network in the Myspace cesspool. Leading kids to Myspace is serving them up to the worst of society.

I wonder how many people actually buy into this jibberish.

I wonder how many people actually buy into this jibberish.

There are both positives and negatives when it comes to such social network sites. Adolescent development is extremely fickle and is probably the most important time in a persons life. During this growth, there are a lot of factors that end up affecting the young adults through the rest of their life. MySpace and Facebook opened up a new world of interaction which serves mainly a purpose of curing loneliness and boredom and ultimately wasting time. We have a tremendous amount of technology with which we can communicate, and granted, MySpace and Facebook serve other purposes, but those purposes pose a threat to the development of our younger population.

Essentially, with education already at its low rate, these sites further the rate at which our younger generation spends less time educating themselves. A student comes home from school and can spend hours on such social network sites or instant messaging programs. Ultimately, this serves no betterment whatsoever. I believe that shy kids might even have a harder time in the real world because in the real world, there is real world interactions. It's much different than sitting in front of your monitor leaving a message. What these sites definitely do, is cure the trouble with being lonely and out of place. Ironically these are the feelings that drive human endeavours to their potential. It is how greatness is made. Yet many of our adolescents end up using that time to surf these sites and peak into other lives. In a culture which stresses happiness, we end up overrating it. If there is too much happiness, human development stops because development only exists in time of need.

These sites are a great technological feat. They are definitely useful and fun, but pose a greater emotional and intellectual risk to our young generation. If our kids need to turn to networking sites to feel like they belong, it doesn't say much for our generation.

For every kid who's sitting in the house on a computer is one kid who isn't outside socializing and meeting kids the active face to face healthy way.

how much is myspace paying for this research? Letting shy kids stay in their rooms on the computer sounds like a great way to get them socialized (NOT!). How about getting off the computer and out of the house and playing sports or doing something else constructive?

I believe there are postives and negatives to MySpace also. It is the parents responsibility to monitor what it going on and to help your kids learn the safety they need to have to be online.

Myspace must have paid this author to write this article. PLEASE.......myspace helping kids, what a laugh. In her article she starts by telling the story of an underage child lying about her age just to get on the site. So now lying, pretending to be someone your not is "healthy" for kids. What about getting outside and away from the computer? How about socializing with others face to face? How about learning to have pride in who you are rather than some made-up character?

My 17 son is proof that myspace can help kids. He is learning disabled and will struggle with reading all his life. His reading skills have greatly improved because he is interested in reading comments from his friends. His typing skills have also improved. The only thing we have a problem with is he does not understand the consequences of clicking on strange links that bring viruses to the computer. I'm constantly cleaning junk off the computer from his myspace ventures.

I won't go near Myspace, Facebook or any of those other social networking sites- I mainly stick to blogging sites like Livejournal and Blogspot, but I've found it is indeed easier to "meet" people via the internet. Through Livejournal (which is much more literate and less teen-oriented) there are various "communities" for any imaginable subject, from fans of specific movies, Tv shows, authors, celebrities...you name it. It's easier to connect with people over the internet because, generally, one already knows so much about the person, just by reading blog entries and viewing pictures- one feels as though they know the person already. And another thing about blogging sites is that, for an interesting entry, usually people are encouraged to go out and do interesting things (attend concerts, volunteer, travel) to make interesting blog entries. So it's not always antisocial teenagers sitting in their rooms at the computer. It's similar enough to Myspace, anyway, so I'm guessing there's a similar sort of concept there as well.

Just a closing thought, sites like that really do help people become more social in the "real world". It happened with me!

Even shy adults get on myspace for this reason so why not teenagers. I am one of those shy people and so is my 12 year old son. Its all in the attentiveness of the parents. I demanded the password from my child and I do check his deleted messages every so often but I don't read the ones he hasn't checked. I also check on who he's talking to. So he has no choice but to be truthful with me other than that he has a large amount of freedom for being 12. I do think its funny that he has all the girls on myspace but not any of his guy friends. So why can't it be a good thing in some aspects as long as parents are paying attention.

Once you have a sexual predator go after your child, like one did my 19 year old handicap daughter, who has the mentality of a young teen after a car accident last year, you'll see that Myspace is not a kids playground any more, it is a haven for predators. The story is on the Cruise Bruise website. It is a horror still unfolding for us.

I was an adult when I joined myspace. I am no longer active, but when I was, it DID help me overcome some of my social anxieties. I believe that the same could be true for teens. But the most important factor is that the parents MUST be involved. The cases where teens get into troubled situations, and the same cases where the parents are not monitoring their children. Computers should not be in teen bedrooms. Parents need to take an active role in their teens' lives - even if the teen is not thrilled about thier parent's involvement. Parents are not supposed to be friends, they are supposed to be parents.

I play this Massively-Multiplayer game called Real Life. In it I get to play a 25 year-old male living in Central Texas. I have a beautiful girlfriend, a great room mate, and a wonderful extended family. The graphics are AMAZING. All of the environments are highly detailed and even change as you progress! My car even gets dirtier as I delay washing it!! In order to keep my town home I am required to work a full-time job. It's not a bad job and my character has full medical coverage as well. You "level up" on a yearly basis during the Birthday Event. Sure, it's taken quite some time to get to 25 but it's been fun!

If you believe that using a website as socially retarded as MySpace can help you from being shell-shocked then I've got some GREAT oceanfront property in Arizona you'll also be interested in.

I pity the children today. Once upon a time (when I was a child) we had humans to correspond with on a one to one basis. Those humans were parents, neighbors and friends, all tangible. Upon sharing words, thoughts and feelings we were there with each other and were accountable for our actions, both good and bad because there was a response when one said and shared things. You could see how harsh words were received as well as meaningful words. The thought of saying anything without a consequence was out of the question. Then it was real, todays reality is far from real. To those who mistake this so called technology into a social gain are missing what is happening. Technology is ever so fast removing us from our very purpose, being human. What the modem has done with the mind, the car has done to the legs.........

Check out this new website for kids I just found… Mygoogala.com ,,, it's kind of like my space but it's for kids only…. Mygoogala.com is a great online community just for young people… a place to hang out with friends,,, the kids can customize their own homepage ,, IM ,,Live Chat,, Upload Videos,, Music… Blog,, Forums,, Homework Help,, Games,,, just a great,, fun and safe place for kids to hang out online… Mygoogala.com

The problem is that so many parents will either not take the time to see what their kids are doing online or simply don't know how. Unfortunately we still have parents who are "afraid" of the internet. I didn't know anything about Myspace nearly three years ago, my husband and I thought we had all the parental controls needed to keep our kids safe, and we regularly checked what our kids were doing. But one day a friend called me and asked me if I knew what Myspace was...I said I didn't, and she told me my kids did. She was on Myspace already and found my two sons on there also. At the time they were old enough, however I was clueless. This was a wake up call for me and I quickly educated myself. I found that neither one of them had their page set to private, which is dangerous so we changed that. I am almost 40 and my page is set to private, if I don't know you in real life...you are not invited to view my page. I have since taken a job teaching anti-violence and I teach internet safety. The main problem I see is children under age...way underage on Myspace. Kids in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade, online and their parents sometimes find this acceptable. THAT IS SCARY! Parents need to make their children wait for things instead of letting them do things they are not yet ready to experience. I think that is were most of the problems come from, young children don't know what they shouldn't do online and don't understand how dangerous it could be. Be safe and know what your kids are doing.

I believe that social networking sites can be very beneficial if used the right way.I have moved around the country to about 5 states and myspace has been a great way for me to stay in contact with all my friends from different states.I consider myself a sensible teen,and i only accept friend requests from people i know and have actually met in person.I never accept a friend request from anyone who "seems like a nice person" based on what their pictures look like or what their profile says.My parents know i have a myspace and i have openly showed them my profile and everyone on my friends list.

Parents out there, you should have an open relationship with their children,and vice versa.I don't suggest "demanding" your child's password for their profile because then they are actually more apt to hide things from you. For example,if they know that you check their deleted messages and comments,they will most likely empty their trash bin and delete any comments they don't want you to see.

If parents have open, loving, honest relationships with their kids and keep an eye on what their kids are doing on the computer then there would be no problems.

One thing that would help parents with kids on MySpace is to make sure that their kids profiles have their correct age. Kids that are 14 or 15 have a built in protection on MySpace that makes the profile private automatically. If these kids put that they are older than they are, there are three issues. First, they are putting information that is incorrect and that is against the terms of service as far as I am aware. Second, they are circumventing built in protection that MySpace has. Third, they make it more likely that they will be found by an adult that is older than them and it probably wasn't even done intentionally. On MySpace, you have an ability to search for people in an age range, say 26 to 38. I am 34, and I usually have my age range set for 26 to 38. However, if your kid who is 13 says they are 28, I am going to see them in my MySpace search and others that use an age range for searching will as well. If I click on someones profile that states in the profile that they are that young, I will click them off, but there are those people who would use that for on-line predatory practices. By lying about their age, they have violated the terms of service, circumvented protection that MySpace has for young people, and have made it MORE likely that someone older than themselves will find them on-line. Do you see why it is important to make sure that your kids profiles have the correct age? In addition, if your kid is 13 or under, I believe it is against the terms of service for your kid to even be on MySpace, so don't allow them to sign up.

My son is 15 and not into myspace at all. Oh, he has an acct, which my sister created for him, but he's never even logged on one time since it's been opened. He's still too much into video games to even care about computers or girls, which I'm totally fine with! LOL

I, however, do have a myspace acct due to my friend's encouragement. She wanted me to create one before our 15 year reunion to keep in touch with our classmates. I only get online once every couple of weeks. That's really the only thing I find useful for myspace. I am glad my son isn't into that type of thing though.

i think its a good idea that a child should be 14 to get a my space account and the parents should respect that and not get their kids one until then. i dont let my4 on the computer unless i am right beside them. i have 2 wanting a my space but i told them they are not old enough. they're disappointed but i am respecting the rules of my space. i have a my space but i only have people i no personally as my friends.

i think the parents should not let their children get a my space until they are 14. they should respect the rules of my space. my 2 oldest want a my space & i told them they had to wait because they arent old enuf. they wanted me to lie about their ages because all theyre friends have one. i dont think its safe for kids to go on the internet without a grown up suppervisin. my mom let my brothers on the computer and they got on a porno site and now she gets popups for porn sites. kids are trying to grow up to fast now a days. i am 32 and just got a my space but only have relatives and people i no as my friends. when my kids turn 14 then i might consider getting them a my space, but i have to review their friends before they can add them. [no i am not being paid by my space, tis is my own opinion]

To my mind, MySpace or any other social networking helps children to communicate. A lot of young people I know that have a MySpace don't normally think twice about whats featured on their page. I've read somewhere that nearly 51% of all discussions taken place on myspace are about sex, drugs, and violence. That's not good issues to improve childs communication skills I think. That's why I don't allow my child to have My Space accounts. Also I constantly struggle with the balance of watching out for my kids when they go online. I even installed internet filter It helps me control online usage for my kids.