Editorial: Personal space in a public venue

Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006 | 8:14 a.m.

Wonder what teenagers are up to these days? Forget snooping around their rooms. The information may be only a few mouse clicks away.

Through such Internet sites as MySpace.com and Xanga.com, teens are creating personal Web pages where they post photos and reveal their thoughts about romance, teachers, life in general and, yes, even their parents.

Most of it is fun -- imagine a Web page that looks like the walls of the average teenager's bedroom. Some of it, however, likely is more candid than parents would like. Consider this recent Xanga.com posting by a Las Vegas teen: "My mother's getting married. I hate this. She might have another child, too. She's making the biggest mistake. She's known him for what, two weeks? Sometimes I think my mother has no idea how to be single."

According to a recent Washington Post story, some schools are sending notices to parents reminding them to make children aware of the perils of revealing too much personal information online. The most obvious danger is that of sexual predators luring teens into meeting them. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates one in five children receives sexual solicitations online, the Post reports.

But other problems can arise later. Pages by children as young as 14 use language that could make a nightclub comic blush or describe wild weekend escapades that, as some teens told the Post, are often made up to impress others. But profanity and tawdry tales don't impress college admissions officials or prospective employers, who increasingly check these sites to learn more about applicants.

Talented young poets, artists and thinkers emerge within the pages of these electronic diaries. But while it is one thing to provide a window to one's soul, it is quite another to throw open the door and invite the world to enter. And teens seeking some privacy and respect at home likely won't find it by telling all on the Internet.