More about my 12-year-old son and myspace

A lot of you have answered my question about if I should allow my 12 year old son to have a myspace account. Thank you all. I have another question. The majority of you answered I should let him. Myspace has a minimum age of 14. I think there is something to that. So if I let my son get this, wouldn't the message I send him be it is ok to break the rules and lie sometimes? How could I justify that when I teach him to follow all rules and never lie? Would this exception come back and bite me in the butt when other circumstances come up? I can hear him now, "What about that time you let me have a myspace when I was only 12."

I think he's too young. The age is set at 14 for a reason, this is really an adult site. Its only a wait of 2 years but there is a hell of a difference between a 12 yr old and a 14 yr old. There are some predators on the net. is it worth the risk.

well I think you should still let him...its no prob they only set that because mysoace could be confuseing sometimes

Actually part of the reason that they require the child to be 14 is due to COPPA. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. It protects them if your child gets into trouble or runs into "the wrong crowd" and you try to sue them. AND its there to remind you that if you are not "of age" then you don't get to play.

It also can be used by you as the reason he can't have a myspace account. "Sorry son, but the law is the law" It can be a great lesson on following the rules and learning respect for authority. (It will come back to haunt you if you bend the rules)

Don't bend the rules. Just say no.

Dear monicacharlene,
I think you are right when you think this would come back to bite you...it will. Children "live what they learn" We all make mistakes...and most of us make a lot of them when raising children but when we deliberately break rules and try to justify it then we can send a really bad message to our children. We don't always agree with the rules but like a lock on doors they are there for the honest people.
Sue...good luck

well it says 14 or withparental permission as long as he doesnt do bad things it should b ok

you should sign up for him,then he'll not know.
unless he does know theres an age limitt.
I signed up when I was 12,I don't think it was lieing,because I don't think the age makes any sort of difference.just make sure he knows not to give out personal information.
xoxo

The less time he spends on the computer the better I think and yes you are sending him a message that it is ok to lie. You know him better then any of us and so I am sure you will make the right decision, good luck.

Your a great mother=]

okay let him have amyspace when his 13 cause lying would get him in trouble lying is not good so wait till he is 13

Your a good mother but as it's been pointed out, It says or with parental permission.
If he does anything he's just one step backwards from getting anything else.
Would your son risk it if he's finally been trusted?

I believe it does say - "or with parental permission".. I let my son have an account, and I'm not concerned because 1-he can only be on the laptop in the familyroom/kitchen (and I'm always there, lol) and 2-he only has 1 hr of computer time a day , so I know he's not getting into trouble. As a matter of fact he was only into myspace for about a week, then I guess he got bored with it and moved on to playing Runescape (which drove me insane!), now he's into some other pc game instead.. Good luck!

well just to tell you I think he should it is a good why to keep in touch with friends that move and family that is why I have one

I think that since james had a myspace before and it was taken away... he should have to wait till he turns the correct age to have one. He gets to do things at his age that are very rewarding, it will not hurt him to wait.
But Im just saying... HAHHAHAHAAHA

In my opinion he is too young to have myspace... plus its crap. An alternative would be its friendly and you can keep your profile private which only allows friends and family to view the page if accepted as a friend.

DONT LET HIM GO ON MY SPACE UNTIL HES 14 IF YOU LET HIM ON KNOW YOUR BRAKING THE LAW!!!

Setting a good example is always the best way to teach a child right from wrong. I never cared for the, "do as I say not as I do", philosophy. Reminds me of an obese doctor we had when I was a kid, weighed about 300 lbs and when a patient went to see him about a problem he would usually tell them to stop smoking and lose weight. Then he would light up a cigar and sit there eating peanuts. That particular vision stuck with me the rest of my life.

one sentence "Mom says it's ok, so it's ok."

As I said in the last question,

"Do not let him have one until he is 14".
What kind of setting is that, lying on the internet?

I have an 11 year old cousin who has a My Space. She knows that if she has something on there that she shouldn't have on there, she's going to hear from me. Her parents have seen her My Space many times to make sure she adds people THEY know and that she keeps it clean. If you kept an eye on his My Space like he says you can, all will be fine. Tell him it's a one time thing and that you won't always let him do things that he's not old enough to do. If he wants a My Space bad enough, he'll respect that.

If you don't let him have one, which is your choice and I support you either way, he may make one without you knowing. If he has friends with computers he may make one at their house.

When he tries to make another myspace that you can't see then he'll find out he has to be 14. Then he'll see that you lied.

Best to let him try to sign up, it will decline him, then say "oh well, we tried".

Stand your ground. If a website has rules in place, then it is for a reason. I have a myspace account, but I initally established it to find some of my friends from high school. There are sertain rules that are not meant to be broken and if you say no to something you should stick to it... I found out that my son has a myspace account and he is 9. He was in a foster care home when it was established and currently lives with his dad in a different state. I am very angry and will be taking it down very soon. I know that he now, being back with his dad he no longer has internet access. So I am glad about that. His "space" will be coming down. And he wont be MYSPACING any more.