MySpace at fault for sexual indecency?

ROYAL OAK: Catholic church to be site of rally against MySpace

St. Mary's Catholic Church in Royal Oak is joining those taking a stand against MySpace (www.myspace.com), a Web site designed to allow individuals to have personal Web pages, but that site has also been used to lure underage children into sexual activity with adults.

A rally is set for 7 p.m. July 27 at the church, 730 S. Lafayette. Organizers said the event is cosponsored by Care of the Soul, www.careofthesoul.org, and is aimed at highlighting the negatives of computer use.

--Detroit Free Press, 7/17/06
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There has been a lot of blame directed toward MySpace for its ability to lure underaged children into dangerous sexual situations. But now, this news item. It figures that it was only a matter of time before this subject was taken on as the newest Christian moral crusade. However, putting aside my personal grudge against churches, this highlights another big step in the campaign to condemn MySpace for its role in endangering the nation's children.

It seems that people need to be awakened to the fact that MySpace alone should not be held accountable for the actions of internet perverts. It is a very troubling fact that attempting to lure kids into sexual situations via the internet has been the MO of certain freaks for a long time. But these attempts are made in a variety of ways. It is in no way solely through MySpace that these perverts operate.

I would never attempt to downplay the threat that these predators pose. However, it seems that people need to focus their attention in the right place. MySpace is simply, by far, the largest social site on the internet. With so much daily activity, and its cultural significance, MySpace was sure to be named as a huge problem when news of predators using it came to light. But it's unfair to single out MySpace as the root of these internet hazards.

Of course, there is some merit to the fact that people must pay particular attention to MySpace because of these concerns, just because it is true that seemingly everyone visits MySpace. But it is a waste of time to rally against the site itself, as if Tom, the creator of MySpace, promotes these behaviors in any way. MySpace may give predators a way to target unsuspecting people, but many other internet sites allow predators the same opportunity.

I am not simply calling for people to lay off their united criticism of MySpace. I believe it's important for the public to instead focus their attention on the predators themselves, and the way in which they operate. This is a problem that goes far beyond MySpace, and rallying against MySpace in this way will not solve it.

Tom, and MySpace, is not out to corrupt our nation's children. Sexual predators themselves need to be the focus of everyone's outrage. There are groups that understand this need and have done plenty to fight the real problem. One of these concerned groups is the team of the website www.perverted-justice.com; it is the site that tracked down the sexual deviants that were confronted by NBC's Dateline. And the site continues to get online predators convicted. These are the efforts that truly matter. Granted, it's much more difficult and arbitrary to tell people to go after predators themselves, as opposed to a website that predators can use. And not just anyone can do it safely. But, evidently, it can be done.

Of course, parents may wish to protect their younger children by not allowing them to use MySpace, since their children can indeed be targeted this way...and it makes a lot of sense for parents to do so. But the public needs to look past headlines about MySpace, and not take the real problem for granted. To have people put all their effort into getting MySpace eliminated, for instance, will not resolve the issue, as another similar site (and many already exist) could then emerge as the public's new perceived major threat. If people's actions continue to be wasted in this way, then the predators will always be looming.

It's great that people are becoming concerned...but they need to put their energy into the right areas. The more people that denounce MySpace as being the sole enemy of our children, the more effort that goes into MySpace rallies and boycotts, will result in the more time being wasted without people paying attention to the real problem. People need to learn about all of the ways to watch out for internet predators...and all of the internet applications that this might include...and spread the word about how to become more aware of predators' tactics. Keep an eye on children, and on their entire computer ritual. Then all of the well-meaning efforts will truly start getting results.