Bee Editorial
Parents need to be vigilant with Internet sites
The creation of the Internet is perhaps one of the most significant developments in

recent years. Any information that we need is at our fingertips with the click of a mouse. It is a convenient way to shop, conduct research and even trace family lineages or search for high school classmates.

But, with every benefit of the Internet, there is also a curse.

In the past year and a half, Web sites such as MySpace.com and Facebook.com have been making it possible to network with people from across the world. The problem: teenagers are more educated about these Web sites than are most adults.

There have been several cases in the news about teenagers who, through the use of these Internet sites, have connected with someone they thought they knew. Sexual predators are able to prey on teenagers without even leaving their homes.

MySpace.com is a site for people to freely expose who they are - from posting their pictures to their likes and dislikes, height and weight and any aspirations they may have for their future.

Teenagers who post an abundance of information about themselves on a Web site may realize the perils of living in this age of technology. They are leaving themselves vulnerable to sexual predators who pretend to be just like them so that they may find a common bond to get closer to their potential victim.

Parents and adults in this century need to be more vigilant about monitoring the actions of their children - especially when it comes to the Internet.

In addition to the dangers of sexual predators, there have been instances of teenagers turning MySpace.com, an area of the Internet

that allows everyone to create their own Web page, into a hate site. Teenagers have been arrested for harassment in scenarios where they have posted hateful messages about other classmates on their Web pages. In some cases, a whole page is dedicated to degrading a person.

Founded in 1998, i-Safe Inc. has been aiding schools in promoting Internet safety education. It incorporates classroom curriculum with dynamic community outreach to educate teachers, parents and police on how to to surf the Internet securely.

We must remind ourselves that we may not be able to put an end to the negatives associated with the Internet, but through the promotion of groups such as i-Safe, we can help each other stay informed of the dangers of the Internet. Technology is something that never stops changing. We must change with it.