Today's kids are coming across all kinds of things on the Net we don't want them to see. They can just go to MySpace or another social networking site, and read posts about with curse words, bizarre and destructive photos, stories about how someone hurt someone else and even blog posts about sexual situations.

The disturbing thing about this is that many of the people creating these pages and posts are the kids themselves. What seems to be a bold statement to a teen seems terrible to adults. These kids are starting to express their individuality but what they need to think about is that the whole world is watching them. If their school or parents reads their site they could be in a lot of trouble.

These kids are writing very personal details of their lives and they think their will be no consequences. Then other kids are reading the sites of their friends and other teens and learning the bad behaviors and, like a teen, will sometimes try to copy them.

We have to ask though, is MySpace, and other similar sites, causing the behavior or just showing it off more. Kids have always said bad words and made bold statements. They want a reaction and by posting their thoughts online they are getting the reaction and attention they want.

When a small child does something for attention the adult in charge is supposed to ignore bad behavior and give more attention for good behavior. With teens though ignoring could cause more bad behavior or more destructive behavior. MySpace will delete inappropriate sites but their are so many sites how can they keep up with them all? As a parent wouldn't you like the chance to fix the problem instead of delete it?

Lastly, is what they see online really any worse than what they hear at their high school. Really? Unless schools have changed a lot since I was a student I'd have to say, no.