is myspace a good place or bad place for kids?

personaly it both. its a good way for ur kids to keep in touch with there friends, but at the same time there are people out there tht are sick and twisted and are always looking to meet ur kids. the best thing is monitor the sites and people ur child talks to online. with some young girls they'll make the profiles saying their 18 or older just to meet and talk to older guys, and thts wht sometimes can start problems. personaly i dont think tht u should have one unless ur 18. tht site should tie in to the dmv so tht u have to have a state or driver I.D to make a account.

Bad place. I don't like it at all (as a mom). It can be a place for predators, sure, but more importantly, it takes away the person to person, face to face interactions and friendships which is how we learn to interact as people while we are growing up.

It all depends on how mature your neice is and if you can moniter it. It should always be private and only be able to contact her friends or her friends contact her. It is so easy to create an account and there are many people that say they are one thing and they really aren't. Not only do you have adults saying that they are kids but you have many kids out there claiming to be adults. Once she has an account you must monitor it daily. Kids are so trusting and don't realize what they are doning. They post their addresses and phone numbers without even thinking. It doesn't even have to be kids - what about the adults that do the same. I went onto my grown nieces page and she had pictures of her pregnant belly and talking about when she was going to have this baby right next to her business phone and address. Did you ever hear about people out there that can't have children and steal them? So anyone can fall into the trap of being very vunarable online. You also have to be aware that anything and everything gets posted on myspace. There are alot of profiles that have adult content so you need to be aware of that. The other problem we had when our kids were teens was the amount of time they did spend online. Time goes very quick when you are online and it becomes an addiction. Homework and responsibilities seem to go out the window when they are on the computer. Put a time limit on computer time. With rules and guidelines in place it is possible to let teens enjoy socializing sites like myspace.

You can set her profile to private. But if someone requests to be her friend and she accepts it, then they can see. Maybe.. just maybe sit down and discuss this with her, make her aware (if u are comfortable with this) that you will be monitoring her page and usage. I have created a myspace page to watch over my son, my nephews, and my nieces. It actually worked, my niece has a very sexy bikini pic posted on her myspace.. man I let her know I did not approve, right on the comment page also, I know she was probably embarrassed, but all the piggies that were drooling over her will not now. Sit and talk with her, I think communication is best! Good Luck!