States consider safety measures for social sites

Ran on Wednesday, May 30

States consider safety measures for social sites

By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-Telegram staff

The rising popularity of Internet social networks such as MySpace or Facebook has state legislators throughout the nation considering laws to protect young people from sexual predators.
In Eau Claire alone there are 164 people on the state Department of Corrections Sex Offender Registry.
A bill in the North Carolina Legislature would require parental consent for children under 18 to use virtual social networks. Lawmakers are considering similar bills in Connecticut and Georgia.
There are no bills in the Wisconsin Legislature to regulate access to social networking sites, but some say a law wouldn’t change their MySpace activity.
“It wouldn’t be a big deal,” said Brenna Laskowski, 15. “My parents know I use it.”
A student at Eau Claire Memorial High School, Laskowski said even though her parents do not look at her profile, she only puts up things she thinks are appropriate.
Wisconsin state Sen. Shelia Harsdorf, R-River Falls, had not heard of the pending laws in other states, but as a mother is aware of the dangers the networks pose.
“Many schools warn parents about possible abuse of that Web site,” she said.
She encouraged parents to be aware of what their children put on their sites and to watch their activity.
“Don’t put a computer in the bedroom,” Harsdorf said. “Put it in a family area so it can be monitored.”
State Rep. Jeff Smith, D-Eau Claire, shared the same parenting mantra. “There is no substitute for parenting and parent involvement,” he said.
Oversight is an issue, Smith said.
“Do we want to regulate parenting? We’d like to advocate for more parental involvement,” he said.
Olivia Goss, 14, a freshman at Memorial, also said she didn’t think a law requiring parental consent would affect her. She is “friends” with her mother and other relatives on MySpace. A friend has more access to a profile.
“My mom looks at my profile and tells me what to put up or what not to put up,” Goss said.
Memorial High School freshman Antonio Derosa, 14, thought the issue is serious. As a MySpace user, he said it would be stupid to put up things you don’t want other people to see. Still, he said “the fact that we have to have laws like that is kind of silly.”