Teens on MySpace and Facebook: No Such Thing as Privacy

I have noticed an alarming trend in today's teens in regard to social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. They are posting highly private and personal information on the web, not realizing they are leaving themselves wide open to predators, perverts, and even prosecution. In three separate incidents, my privacy was directly affected by teens who didn't understand the consequences to their actions on MySpace or Facebook.

MySpace and Facebook Privacy Violations - Teen posted my son's picture

In the first incident, a junior high boy I'll call Kevin posted a picture of my kindergarten-aged son on his Facebook page. My sister found it and called me right away. Kevin had actually used my son's photo as his Facebook profile avatar. My sister was concerned, so she clicked on it and found that all sorts of students from my son's school had commented on his photo. The comments ranged from "That kid's a SAVAGE!!!" to "Hell ya, he's cool. He always gives us a pound at breakfast!"

I was furious. It was obvious the photo had been taken using a cell phone during breakfast at my son's school, which is K-12. Kevin had violated my son's privacy by taking a photograph of him without permission. Why students were allowed to have cell phones on the premises is beyond me.

Kevin had violated my son's privacy by posting his photo on his Facebook page without permission, thus exposing my son to predators and perverts. Kevin's Facebook page listed the school he attended, my son's photo was labeled with his name, and the comments below the photo clearly referenced some of the problems my son was having at school.

I didn't understand the interest these junior high and high school children had in my son. Why would they even notice a kindergartner at breakfast? Some of the comments mentioned the elementary principal "going ballistic" on my son because he tore up a school paper. How did these kids know that? Why did they think it was appropriate to post on Facebook?

Along with reporting the photo to Facebook as a violation of privacy, I printed out the Facebook page with the photo and the comments and reported it to the school superintendent. Kevin was called into the office, and the superintendent made him delete the photo off his cell phone and the Facebook page. The high school principal made a trip to visit Kevin's parents. Within a few hours, my son's photo was gone from Facebook.

MySpace and Facebook Privacy Violations - T-ball coaches joke about my son's performance

The second incident involved my son and Facebook as well. As I was perusing the profiles of our city recreation program's t-ball coaches, I came across an interaction between my son's coach from last year and a current coach. They were joking back and forth, writing on each other's Facebook walls, about my son's athletic abilities. The comments were not flattering.

Again, I couldn't understand why my son was being singled out as there were no other comments about other t-ball players. Also, why were two 18-year-old coaches picking on my son in the first place? Didn't they realize anyone can read what they put on their Facebook walls? Apparently not, or they just didn't care. Because both coaches were 'adults', I confronted them directly and requested they remove the comments. I also contacted the t-ball director and got my son switched to a different team.

MySpace and Facebook Privacy Violations - Minors post incriminating photos

MySpace and Facebook helped my family solve a crime. Well, okay, the teens' stupidity with their MySpace and Facebook profiles helped my family solve a crime. Here's the story.

About a month ago, we discovered people were trespassing on our farmland and partying up a storm. Beer cans, broken beer bottles and trash littered the old farmstead. Boards were missing from the barn where party-goers had ripped them down for the fire pit. The old piano had been pushed from the dilapidated farmhouse to join the bonfire. Chairs, including an expensive camping chair which was wired for sound, were left out near the location, blatantly flaunting the fact that our old farm was the newest party spot.

Obviously, my family was upset. Not only had these party animals trespassed, but they had also destroyed property. But how could we catch them?

It turned out to be easier than we thought. The people who were out drinking were also out snapping photographs. We found pictures posted on Facebook and MySpace pages which showed underage teenagers and adults partying on our property. Some of the photos prominently featured the hot pink .mp3 camping chair, which my sister had confiscated upon its discovery.

My sister printed out the photos from MySpace and Facebook and handed them over to the local police. She identified as many people as she could, and the high school principal assisted in identifying even more. When the police confronted these kids, the emotions these kids displayed were wide-ranging: dismay, embarrassment, fear, and even outrage. One student declared flippantly to the police officer, "You can't just get that stuff! You need a warrant! You violated my privacy and my rights!"

MySpace and Facebook Privacy Violations - Teens, Take Note

If you post something on the internet, it is not private. Even if your Facebook or MySpace page is locked or set to private, your friend's page may not be. Police do not need a warrant to surf the Internet.

There are curious people out there, like me and my sister, who will look at your MySpace and Facebook pages. There are also predators and perverts who will look at your MySpace and Facebook pages too. Follow the rules on Internet safety and keep your personal information, and everyone else's, off MySpace and Facebook.