Parents, get acquainted with Myspace.com

If Newport-Mesa parents have not figured it out already, they remain ignorant of the Internet site Myspace.com at their peril.

In the past few weeks, the site ? which acts as sort of an online meeting ground for teenagers and young adults ? has been the topic of a discussion between police officers and parents at Newport Harbor High and Ensign Intermediate and, more disturbingly, the cause for the suspension of about 20 TeWinkle Middle School students, who were linked to a page that threatened a fellow student. (Also last week, 13 men were arrested on charges of attempted child molestation in a Laguna Beach sting. The men thought they had contacted 12- and 13-year-olds via sites such as Myspace.com, police say.)

The site can be so detailed and specific that people checking kids’ personal pages can figure out what they look like, what school they go to and where they live.

This site, and others like it, is in most ways logical extensions of the strength of the Internet as a near-instantaneous public forum. It is akin to a high-tech version of passing notes in class, only those notes can remain on the Internet permanently and can be read by untold numbers of people.

It is a tool, like any other ? there has been TV, radio, video games, mobile phones and text messaging. Like any other tool, the Internet has its good and bad sides. And like every time a new tool has taken up by generations of kids before, it is up to parents to learn about it and know what their children are up to, which can be a daunting task if they are not nearly as Internet savvy as their children. And probably they aren’t.

Parents, of course, will have to decide for themselves how best to handle the Internet and the rest of life’s minefield that makes parenting more than a full-time job. Remaining ignorant, though, is not an option.