EDITORIAL

by April Taylor Record Editor
Published: May 15, 2008

Hopefully, last Sunday, millions of well-deserving moms stole some moments to rest and feel appreciated on Mother’s Day.
Mothers - and dads, alike - received an extra gift of sorts, one could say: a much-needed step towards keeping their children safe while on the Internet.
The attorneys general of 49 states and the District of Columbia announced that Facebook has agreed to changes to “better protect underage users from predators and inappropriate content.”
This comes at a time when the Internet has become the method of choice of sexual predators to make contact with children.
According to a recent study by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, roughly 13 percent of teens said they received “unwanted sexual solicitations” while on the Internet.
It also comes at a time when “cyberbullying” and acts of “electronic aggression” are on the rise.  In fact, according to surveys, one in three teens report being harassed online.
As the popularity of social network sites such as Facebook continues to soar, it becomes all the more critical the steps are taken to protect young users from both online predators and bullies.
Bravo to Facebook.
The social networking site has reportedly agreed to participate in a task force on “implementation of age and identity verification software,” similar to one reached by MySpace.
According to the Virginia Attorney General’s office, Changes agreed to by Facebook include the following: “providing automatic warning messages when a child is in danger of giving personal information to an unknown adult; restricting the ability of users to change their listed ages; acting more aggressively to remove inappropriate content and groups from the site and requiring third party vendors to adhere to Facebook’s safety and privacy guidelines.”
Let’s hope this news is an effective step in the right direction for everyone’s sake