Facebook has privacy settings.  You can have it open, where only people in your network can see it...and then you can set it to private where only people who are your friends can see.  It's a hell of a lot better than Myspace in my opinion. Admittedly there is some risk, but that's the case with pretty much any website you go to. Dangerous people can appear normal, especially online...not just on networking sites, but on regular forums as well. You don't think there are any pedophiles cruising cartoon forums and stuff? Either way, I don't think a 9 year old should be on the internet without restrictions in the first place.

~Zoo

I have a Myspace, but there are no pictures of me, I don't give away my city, and I think even my age is a lie. I don't trust any of those sites, to be honest. The Myspace was just because my friends wanted a way to keep in touch when the semester ends. It's set to "private," as well.

At the same time, how do we know that the people here on JU aren't "sneaks, paedophiles and information searchers."?

I don't know...I agree with you, and any nine year old who already uses the internet is going to have a problem with internet addiction later in life.

That mom should be more aware of what her child is doing because that is the danger right there! Perhaps you should alert the mom to this, the student doesn't have to know it came from you.

Facebook is just as dangerous as MySpace or anyother social website. Anything could be happening and you're not aware of it. It is all up to the individuals (adults) and their instincts and who they choose to be more friendly and open with.

Facebook isn't dangerous as long as people are careful. Same goes for any forum or even here at Joeuser (where there has been a recent unhappy incident). No social website puts a gun to the user's head and forces them to divulge their personal information.

From my experiences in web communities, all the internet is dangerous if one is not careful. Every piece of info given out, every time you choose to trust someone or believe them, is a risk taken.

Children shouldn't be allowed to wander around in internet communities unsupervised anyway. I mean, you don't let your kids wander about the neighborhood alone at night either, do you?

I think you are spot on. Faceboo and Orkut, social networking sites are extremely dangerous especially for young children.

9 is way too young.  Even 14 is too young for my children (fortunately all are older than that now). Strict parental oversight is always a good idea.  There is a reason they are not considered adults until they are 18.

I am less that 18 years old. I had this social networking site before, well, i dont really want to put my own pictures there at first cause im not good at taking pictures   

But then i have a lot of comments that asking me to put my own pictures on it and dont know how stupid i am that time..that i did. It made friends and even people that i didnt know added me. One day, my friend told me that she found one profile and got the same pictures exactly like her and also all her personal information the same on it. Then, after that she just delete her account and i did too. From that day, i never made new social networking site. Yea, it is quite dangerous.

I made account in here cause i am trying to improve my english and i also want to express myself   

Well, there's definitely a lot of expression going on around here!

In the case of this child I know privacy settings are not locked in. He and his mother have been advised to treat the internet as "Possibly" dangerous" but it is is up to his parents to monitor Internet use. His problem is that he is left alone for a long time with full access to the internet . I have pointed this out to the parents and can do no more.

The purpose of my post was to warn parents that children can be vulnerable to people who are less than honest, have ulterior motives --and that many adults have extremely sick minds. Sites like Facebook (let's face it, children are becoming too savvy about the internet),should be handled carefully. I don't have a Facebook account because I think its puerile and over-exposed. In 2008 we need to know that any personal details given over the internet on a site such as this leads to the possibility of abuse, interference, and is wide open to those who have sick intentions. Some of us can look after ourselves but children can't.