Feb 15, 2007 10:14 pm US/Central
New Program Teaches Parents About MySpace
by Stephanie Lucero
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
There is a new way for parents to get a handle on what their children are doing online.
Steve Reinemund has 13-year-old twins, and they both have profiles on MySpace.com.
"I'm at least a generation, if not two generations, away in knowledge from where my children are, and I really felt helpless," Reinemund said.
Reinemund is a parent and the Chief Executive Officer of Plano-based Pepsi Corporation. He's using his personal resources to finance a new teaching tool called MySpace, MyKids.com.
Jason Illian created MySpace, MyKids.com. It's an eight chapter online workshop designed to train parents on how to navigate MySpace.com and identify harmful material.
In its terms and conditions MySpace.com clearly states that photographs containing nudity and sexually explicit material are not allowed. But as Illian points out, users can link to pornography through someone else's MySpace profile.
"For example, almost all porn stars have a site," Illian said. "On their site, they're not naked, but you can link to a site on their actual web page, which is pornography."
Illian said social networking online is here to stay. "I hear a lot of parents say, 'Down with MySpace! We want it to close down!'" Illian said. "They don't understand. If MySpace closes down, there will be a bigger, stronger more advanced older brother behind it."
Reinemund says he's closing the gap between his computer knowledge and his twin's computer savvy. The MySpace, My Kids.com program costs $49.
(CBS 11 News)
