RECENT HEADLINE:

Official: MySpace Finds 29,000 Sex Offenders on its Site

"Popular Internet social network MySpace said on Tuesday it detected and deleted 29,000 convicted sex offenders on its service, more than four times the figure it had initially reported."

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The implication that MySpace is overrun by sexual predators is predictable, unbelievable, and counter to nearly all research studies. The moral panic screamers just won't give up and face the facts.

In June 2007 MySpace had over 70 MILLION unique visitors. OK, so MySpace removed 29 THOUSAND sex offender profiles. That is 4/100ths of a percent of regular MySpace visitors! In addition, in my studies of more than 2,500 MySpacers, nearly all of them told me that when faced with a "solicitation" they act appropriately and block the person or report him to an adult. When asked if these episodes were upsetting, the vast majority said that the "solicitations" did not upset them at all. While television shows such as Dateline: To Catch a Predator make it appear that "sexual deviants" are cruising the Internet searching for gullible children, the data simply don't support that allegation.

I am appalled that people keep focusing on MySpace as a hotbed of sexual predators soliciting teens. It is not. There is no reason that MySpace cannot be a positive influence in the life of an adolescent. It is all an issue of good parenting. Parent can take control and make their children's virtual worlds safe. As my research demonstrates: good parenting leads to healthy adolescent development regardless of how much time teens spend on MySpace, IMing, texting, or simply enjoying their multitasking technological worlds.