Why can sites like MySpace be so risky for teens?
Monique Nelson: Kids just don’t get it that there are real people beyond the screen—not just their friends. They post private information and they don’t understand that a predator could be looking at it and tracking them. They are naive and vulnerable. They think, “Nothing bad is going to happen to me,” just like we did when were young. What makes the social-networking sites more dangerous than regular Web pages? It’s one-stop shopping. You have the profile and instant messaging right there. These networking sites are a perfect predator’s playground. Predators don’t have to go to chat rooms, they can troll through and look for pretty faces that they like and get all the information they want. The police we work with tell us that when a predator starts grooming a child, he looks for vulnerability, and with a diary or blog right there, he’s already gotten past the first stage. Is there any way to know how big a problem this is? No, because the kids aren’t telling. Sometimes they don’t ev
