Social Sites: Virtual Playgrounds or Predatory Hunting Grounds

970 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: risks and possible consequences for children using the internet.

Social interaction via internet has become a raving craze, but the debate of online safety measures necessary for children using social sites has become a hot topic of discussion. Social sites open the door to online interaction with friends, relatives, and classmates; but they also enhance the risk of interaction with online predators. Representative Michael Fitzpatrick, from Pennsylvania, is a sponsor of the Deleting Online Predators Act. He is an advocate for extreme online restrictions for children who use social-networking sites. On the other hand, Henry Jenkins, the director for the Comparative Media Studies program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology believes that technology is a crucial part of society’s demand of social interaction and that while children should have proper monitoring while they use networking sites they should at least have limited access to these sites.

Representative Fitzpatrick, who is a father of six, comments that technology is undoubtedly a concern for parents. He is worried about the safety of children who use and register with social sites without proper parental monitoring. Fitzpatrick argues that networking sites “open the door to many dangers” for kids. He believes that usage of social sites by children promotes online bullying and exposes users to predators. Representative Fitzpatrick debates that networking sites have “turned the internet into a virtual hunting ground for children.” He points out that since the social site Myspace.com started in 2003, an estimated 200,000 objectionable profiles have been removed from the social site.

Because of his fear of exposure to online predators, Fitzpatrick introduced the Deleting Online Predator Act. This act would require public schools and...

... middle of paper ...

... disagree. Both Fitzpatrick and Jenkins concur that some forms of safety precautions should be determined and enforced. Fitzpatrick and Jenkins are in accord with one another in the belief that lawmakers and experts of online safety must be conscientious of not precluding young users of the benefits of the internet. Nevertheless, both Fitzpatrick and Jenkins want to encourage the lawmakers and online experts to be aware of the potential dangers and to protect children from the hazards of the online world when they are determining the protective boundaries of social site usage of young users.

Works Cited

Representative Michael Fitzpatrick. Pro. "Cyber Socializing." By Marcia Clemmitt. CQ Researcher 28 July 2006:

625-48. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.

Henry Jenkins. Con. "Cyber Socializing." By Marcia Clemmitt. CQ Researcher 28 July 2006:

625-48. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Web Of Risks By Brad Stone

    298 Words  | 1 Pages

    The article ‘Web of Risks’ by Brad Stone, is about how young adults misuse social media and there are consequences. Cameron Walker, a sophomore at Fisher College had organized a petition dedicated to getting a campus security guard fired and put it on Facebook. Marc Zuckerberg designed Facebook in 2003 and it is a well-known website used worldwide. On the Facebook page Walker wrote that the security guard harassed students and needed to be eliminated. His plan backfired due to his use of wording and it came off threatening so he was expelled. Social media is looked at as a way to express yourself. Different social networks are used such as Facebook, Bebo, and Myspace. On these sites sometimes personal life is published,

    Read More

  • Scrutinizing Dana Fleming's Article on Protecting College Social Network Users from Themselves

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    In an article written in the New England Journal of Higher Education, 2008 issue, by Dana Fleming, “Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?” Fleming poses the question of responsibility in monitoring students’ online social networking activities. Fleming’s purpose is to impress upon the readers the need for education institutions to state the guidelines and rules governing social networking, and “to treat them like any other university activity, subject to the school’s code of conduct and applicable state and federal laws” (443). She creates a dramatic tone in order to convey to her readers the idea that social networking can be sinister and their effects inescapable. Dana L. Fleming is a Boston area attorney who specializes in higher education law, with the mission of the New England Journal of Higher Education to engage and assist leaders in the assessment, development, and implementation of sound education practices and policies of regional significance. However, while Dana Fleming emphasizes the horror stories of social networking, she scatters her thoughts throughout this article springing from one idea to attempting to persuade her intended audience then juxtaposed stories about minors being hurt by poor social networking decisions contrasting the topic suggested in her title.

    Read More

  • Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    Higher education law attorney Dana L. Fleming voices her controversial opinion in favor of institutionalized involvement in social network protection in her article “Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?” (Fleming). Posted in the New England Journal of Higher Education, winter of 2008 issue, Fleming poses the question of responsibility in monitoring students’ online social networking activities. With a growing population of students registering on social networks like Facebook and MySpace, she introduces the concern of safety by saying, “like lawmakers, college administrators have not yet determined how to handle the unique issues posed by the public display of their students’ indiscretions.” However, while Dana Fleming emphasizes the horror stories of social networking gone-bad, she neglects the many positive aspects of these websites and suggests school involvement in monitoring these sites when the role of monitoring should lie with parents or the adult user.

    Read More

  • Protect the Willfully Ignorant by Lily Huang

    923 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lily Huang author of Protect the Willfully Ignorant states “An increasingly urgent question of privacy or how best to keep your public plot walled in” (474). Most internet users savvy or not, are aware of the potential risks. Most people know the potential risk for permanency and of the pictures or information we put out on social networks or other sites and the content being seen. We have all heard the warnings since grammar school from everyone about the internet and how to use it. Teachers, parents, librarians and school inundate our children all throughout school about information on safe usage. To be aware of predators and such is common knowledge. Why the need for laws to protect childrens’ privacy, and usage against exploitation? Similar reasons to why we wear seatbelts while driving and it is enforced by law. We all want our freedoms not to be infringed but at what cost and to who? We are aware of the statistics and outcomes of auto accidents without seatbelts and the need “to protect the willfully ignorant” (Huang). Lily Huang discussed consumer’s lack of expertise for making the best privacy decisions and how important default privacy settings are on social networks (475).

    Read More

  • Brent Staples Analysis

    1560 Words  | 4 Pages

    Brent Staples article “What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up in Cyberspace” published in the New York Times, highlights how technology plays a heavy role in adolescent social development. For example, children growing up in the 21st century are bombarded with vast technological media outlets. Also, Staples supports with factual research indicating communicating through technology hinders children social skills. Staples explains how social media and networking has become a virtual reality, encouraging children not to value real-world experiences. Staples argues that adolescents cannot transition into the harsh realities of adulthood because they prefer socializing through virtual realities. Although there are parents who monitor adolescents’

    Read More

  • Use of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos on Social Networking Sites

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    Social networking sites leave opportunities for vulnerability, however, I don’t believe many youths are an easy target. Using ethos, pathos and logos individuals can create their own reality to relate to the internet world who they think are and how they wish to be seen. In mediated publics such as Facebook and Instagram, the user has complete control of his or her profile and is the only one who can allow content about his/herself to be shared. It is my personal belief that as technology has evolved many people have taken to fabricating some truths here and there and omitting details to give an ideal representation of who they are without incriminating themselves or leaving themselves vulnerable for mistreatment. The fantasy of what is or could be is more desirable than reality. In the past few years, privacy settings have been adapted to cover the growing technological advances to keep users safe from online predators.

    Read More

  • America Needs Internet Censorship

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tears begin to fall down a child’s face. Her body goes into shock out of fear. Her mother warned her about watching inappropriate content, and there it was, right on her computer screen. This could not have happened though. All she was doing was casually browsing the internet before a pop-up appeared. Although it may seem hard to believe, the major cause of events such as this is the lack of censorship on the internet. Internet censorship relates to the removal of offensive, inappropriate, or controversial content published online. The current problem with the internet is that there are few restrictions on what can be published or viewed. Several sites on the internet only offer a warning about inappropriate content that can easily be bypassed by agreeing to the terms. Other websites provide access to private or military information. More dreadfully, however, are websites that use their explicit content as a promotion. These factors bring the conclusion that anybody of any given age can view and publish inappropriate or dangerous content. The current problems with the internet serve for clarification as to why the United States should create a nonpartisan assembly to censor the internet in order to protect its citizens from the mental, emotional, and physical harms the internet creates.

    Read More

  • American Girls: Social Media And The Secret Lives Of Teenagers

    2555 Words  | 6 Pages

    Unfortunately, children are being exposed the most on social media and are oblivious to it. From the moment children are born into the world of technology, their lives are being shared on social media. In Nancy Jo Sales’ book, American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers, she went around the country conducting interviews, researching the impacts of social media, and observing different social situations. According to many studies done by internet security firms, thousands of pictures of a child will be posted of them by age five. Almost ninety-five percent of kids will have pictures surfaced of them by age two. Never before have the ups and downs of growing up been present for everybody to see (Sales 32). Every monumental

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Social Media Essay

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the statistics, “One in five U.S. teenagers who regularly log on to the Internet says they have received an unwanted sexual solicitation via the Web. Solicitations were defined as requests to engage in sexual activities or sexual talk, or to give out personal sexual information. (Only 25% of those told a parent).” Online predators have the opportunity to talk freely and direct to someone on social media than in person. Imagine being a parent in this situation, who would not want an online predator coming for their child. This can cause fear on a child for many years. Social media can be a disgusting world for the youth of today.

    Read More

  • Parents Limiting the Use of Social Media

    1483 Words  | 3 Pages

    There has been controversy as to whether parents should limit the use of social media by teenagers. Teenagers feel that there is no need to limit the use of their social media networking, but on the other hand, parents should feel the need to limit their use and also keep track of their teen’s social networking. Social media allows students to be connected with their peers, teens who post positive status are more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities, and for many teens putting up “selfies” is a self confidence boost; however, too much social media can affect students GPA in school, cyber bullying can affect social health. Social media networks can give out personal information. Social media sites such as Facebook are one of the most popular social media sites that has 700,000-750,000 members joining each day.

    Read More

  • Social Media and its Influence on our Youth

    2167 Words  | 5 Pages

    Social media is described as content created and shared by individuals on the web using freely available websites that allow users to create and post their own images, video and text information and then share that with either the entire internet or just a select group of friends (Affilorama, 2012). They are more like a website allowing you to express your daily activities, beliefs, locations, likes, dislikes, photos, music, etc. They are used by creating a profile, and logging in through either the website, or apps now used on smartphones, or any portable device with Wi-Fi connection. Although most social media networks are directed towards adults and young adults, young children are getting into these websites as well. There are usually age limits but there isn’t a certainty that all the users provided their actual age, allowing whoever wants to be a member of these sites to bypass an age limit “security” procedure. Facebook and MySpace require users to be at least 13, but they have no practical way to verify ages, and many young users prete...

    Read More

  • Social Media and Cyberbullying

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thomas J. Billitteri’s “Cyberbullying” sees social media as a cause of bullying and states out of the teenagers using social media, forty percent have a least once claimed to have been cyber bullied. Child advocates view the incivility from television reality shows to the political arena as growing to a point where youth have learned it acceptable to humiliate other people as a form of entertainment. This attitude is commonly found on commentary sections of social media and news websites. The article points out the responsibility social media sites takes in contributing to and preventing cyber-bullying. Working with individual states and law enforcement, Myspace has tried to help to stop harassment and cyber-bullying. Meanwhile, the social media website Juicy Campus was solely made to spread gossip that is hurtful (Billitteri “Cyberbullying”).

    Read More

  • Social Media and Cyberbullying

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social media has only been easily accessible on our decade, but has boomed in popularity and user use. It has taken over our society and culture providing a new channel to connect with the world in real-time. While, social media has many advantages -- especially in providing resources and knowledge to the public, it has many downsides as well, including not providing enough protection for our youths. As such, we see the rise of addiction to social media, cyberbullying, and negative body images. We need to push our government, schools, and families to educate our youth on internet usage. With technology’s increasing growth rate and that fact that technology will be our future, it is pertinent to teach our children how to use social media in a responsible manner.

    Read More

  • The Impact of Social Media on Children

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    Social media is quickly evolving in front of our eyes and it is almost impossible to reject and hide from this new form of media. Not only is it an important part of socialization within peer groups but now it is used to market and motivate people to become a part of a larger community. It is undeniably changing the way one communicates and how one finds and shares information. Most websites offer communication through the use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and many various blog formats. With new apps on smartphones and photography and video made digital, media can be created, edited and shared quickly and once it is in this new digital cloud it is not yours anymore. Through these new advances in technology one can share things about themselves to the world to view, and prior to social media one would have to communicate and share physically. These social media site offer adolescence new ways to access communication and entertainment and the long-term effects are still unknown. For this reason, it is imperative for parents to be more aware of this new media and what it offers both good and bad for our children.

    Read More

  • Cyberbullying Among Teenagers

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    Teens can be exposed a lot of bad things on the internet, and it is a parent’s duty to keep children out of them. Sexual predators find their targets on the internet by hiding behind fake identities and preying on children's trust. Young children and teens are constantly exposed to violent, pornographic, mature content, and teens are cyberbullied and cyberbully others, all without the supervision of their parents. Parents need to monitor their teen’s internet use for the safety of their children. A safer internet environment is dependant on parent involvement in their child’s online

    Read More

More about Social Sites: Virtual Playgrounds or Predatory Hunting Grounds

Open Document