Hello All,
I’ve been leading MySpace for Parents workshops within our community at various locations for the past several months and have had mixed opinions and results, but for the most part have been able to really help some parents out with advice, etc.
I had one very thankful mother of a daughter that has had problems in the past with her MySpace page and usage. They are about to allow her access again and just want to make sure that they know what they are getting into. She seemed to be a very concerned parent that wanted to allow for some freedom and flexibility, but also wanted to keep her daughter safe and honest to who she is. Honest in the sense of things that she was writing and communicating, etc.
On another occasion I had four moms from the same bible study. They were all very interested and engaged. In fact, the workshop lasted a full 2 hours. It is only suppose to go an hour. In the process of all that went on that evening we looked up one of the mother’s daughter’s MySpace page, and the mother had never seen it before. I was a bit nervous about doing that, but her daughter’s, who is a freshman/soph. in college, page looked fine. It had nothing really shocking or out of the ordinary for a typical young adult in their late teens/early twenties. It also allowed us the opportunity to go over how to search for their child’s MySpace page.
One evening I talked with a couple who just happened to walk in and gladly attended. This couple was very interesting. I found out later that the man had lived in my old hometown area for over 18 years, so it was good to make that connection with him. They have a daughter and a son. Their daughter is in her late teens/early twenties and was sexually assaulted 5 years ago by a man. This man is suppose to be released from prison soon, and he is pretty savy with computer technology. They were concerned for her and were going to suggest that she change her screen name, etc., so that if he were so inclined he could not find her via MySpace.
Just recently I had a dad, a children’s librarian, and a mother. The dad in the group is very interested in knowing and keeping up with his kids/teens. He stated several times that he just wants to be able to be in the same technology ball park with his kids. The librarian was very excited about what we are doing and is interested in the fact that they are planning to do more of the same at her library.
I thought that this might give you all some food for thought. Attendance and numbers are great but sometimes small groups can give us a more useful exchange with parents.
MySpace for Parents Brochure
Youth Tech 