Teens and their use of social networking sites – like MySpace

By: Chris Johnson

Personal note:

Steve Ensley is one of the most burdened men I know regarding the hearts, minds, eyes and souls of children and families.

He left a six figure job some years ago now to go into ministry. He heads American Family Online. He has spoken out regularly and faithfully regarding his great concerns about myspace.com.

There are many – even churches – that openly invite their youth groups to interact there at MySpace. Steve and others like him – including me – continue to appeal to you to not forsake the Lord in your decision making.

“I will place no wicked thing before my eyes.” [Psalm 101:3a]
“And be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” [Romans 12:2]
“Test all things. Hold fast what is good. Abstain from all forms of evil.” [I Thessalonians 5:21,22]

Steve was giving warning in the early days of Myspace.com.
Now the reports of its impact are coming forth. The article below from the Washington Post is one example.

Teens Divulge Risky Behavior on Social Networking Sites

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter
Monday, January 5, 2009; 12:00 AM

MONDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) — More than half of teens who use the social networking site MySpace have posted information about sexual behavior, substance abuse or violence, new research shows.

The good news, according to a second study from the same research group, is that a simple intervention — in this case, an-e-mail from a physician — made some of the teens change their risky behaviors.

“I was surprised, at least to some extent, at how clearly teens were discussing behaviors that we struggle to get out of them,” said Dr. Megan Moreno, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“Once we started getting the findings, we wondered, why are they doing this?” Moreno said. “Do they not get it? And, if they don’t understand that this is public, can we send them a cautionary message to let them know just how public their information really is?” Moreno was working at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Research Institute at the time the studies were done.

“We need to devise ways to teach teens and their parents to use the Internet responsibly,” study senior author Dr. Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, said in a statement.

Results from the two studies appear in the January issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

More than 90 percent of teens in the United States have access to the Internet, according to background information from the studies. About half of all teens who use the Internet also use social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook. MySpace boasts more than 200 million profiles, according to the studies, and about one-quarter of those belong to teens under 18.

Moreno and her colleagues randomly selected 500 MySpace profiles from people who reported their age as 18. They collected the information during the summer of 2007.

They found that 54 percent of the profiles contained information on risky behaviors, with 24 percent referencing sexual behaviors, 41 percent referring to substance abuse and 14 percent posting violent information.

Factors associated with a decreased risk of posting risky behaviors included displaying religious involvement or involvement with sports or hobbies.

For the second study, the researchers randomly selected 190 profiles of people between 18 and 20 who displayed risky behaviors, such as sexual information. Half were sent an e-mail from a physician that pointed out that the physician had noticed risky behavior on their profile and suggested changing the displayed information. The e-mail message also provided information on where to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

Almost 14 percent of those who got the e-mail deleted references to sexual behavior, compared with 5 percent of the others.

“This was a creative and unique way to reach kids,” said Kimberly Mitchell, the author of an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal and a research professor at the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire in Durham….

… But adolescents aren’t necessarily thinking 10 years ahead, when employers or college administrators may look at these sites. Teens live in the here and now, so parents need to talk to kids about the longer-term impacts and help them think through some of the repercussions.”

Moreno suggested that parents ask teens to show them their MySpace or Facebook pages. “Teens will definitely balk, but they balk at lots of things, like curfews,” she said. “Some parents feel it’s a violation of privacy, like reading a diary, but it’s out there, it’s public.”

Parents should use this information as a conversation starter, Moreno suggested.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/05/AR2009010502588.html

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Personal note – closing —

Over a year ago Steve and I joined together for a simulcast
from our new headquarters. I encourage you to view Steve’s
presentation.

Christians and the Internet

22 Jun 2007 – Steve Ensley’s informative presentation in Michigan at the new headquarters of the American Decency Association on Christians and the Internet. Video is presented in 4 segments:
— Segment 1 http://www.myafo.net/videos/ada1.wmv
— Segment 2 http://www.myafo.net/videos/ada2.wmv
— Segment 3 http://www.myafo.net/videos/ada3.wmv
— Segment 4 http://www.myafo.net/videos/ada4.wmv

For more information, see:
http://www.myafo.net/executiveDirector.asp

To donate online:
https://americandecency.org/folder.php?f=donate
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American Decency Association
Bill Johnson, President
P.O. Box 202
Fremont, MI 49412
ph: 231-924-4050
https://americandecency.org

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