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Myspace: everyone and their dog has an account on this website. Its original purpose was to connect friends and family through e-mails, comments, and bulletins. However, while the age minimum for signing up was set to 14 years old, this rule is often discarded, and many preteens and young teenagers are using this popular website to not only keep in touch with their friends, but also to meet new, exciting people. The most commonly associated issue with this online method, however, is the fact that over the World Wide Web, a person can be as cool and exciting as they want others to think they are, and no one will know the wiser. In fact, a person could completely reinvent themselves, even create a new identity.

It is fairly clear what kind of problems this could pose, not just on websites, but in instant messaging programs, online multiplayer games, message boards, and online public chat rooms. In late 2007, a 13 year-old girl committed suicide because of a cruel joke that her ex-best friend and her friend’s mother played on her; they tricked her into falling in love with an imaginary boy on Myspace who ended up shunning her and turning all of her friends against her. Every day, kids are found on the Internet and fooled into giving personal information to people they believe are “friends,“ only to be abducted, abused, or harassed. When the identity of the individual that one is speaking to is known, perhaps the threat seems lessened; however, on mass multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) or through long-term contact of any kind, a player could become such good friends with a fellow player and feel so connected that, regardless of their age, explicit implications during chat, or interest in your personal life and information, one could be convinced that the friendship is harmless, and that he/she really knows who is on the other end of the keyboard.

But, DO you know exactly who you’re speaking to? Could you be at risk to expose private information about your personal/financial life to someone that may use it against you? Age has no limit when it comes to people who want to harm others, nor is there a limit on the people who unknowingly fall for these potentially dangerous feats.

As a teenager myself, I don’t want to preach the same as every adult has, and sound like everybody else. Unfortunately, what everyone is saying is correct. Sexual predators, cyber bullies, and online scams are not hoaxes. Everyone should be armed against the many types of Internet threats that are out there:

1.) Cyberbullies

What may seem at first to be a harmless joke between two classmates, for example, may turn into something far worse. When you pretend to be someone else to someone that you already know, for whatever reason, and take advantage of a person’s trust, you can never take back the harm that you could cause.

I am not proud to say that I myself have once been involved in a cyber-bullying type of joke. My cousin and I were friends with a girl, let’s call her Samantha, that was a couple years younger than us; one day, she decided that she didn’t like us anymore, and we were infuriated about how she acted. It seemed to us that she thought herself to be above us, that we weren’t cool enough to talk to someone we thought was “a little kid.” We were hurt that she “lied” to us about being our friends; Samantha had claimed she never really liked either of us, and that we were stupid and immature for our age.

I was fourteen at the time, and my cousin was sixteen. We decided that, in order to teach her a lesson, we would pretend to be sisters that both became good friends with her. In the end, the youngest of the sisters ended up in a very near fatal car crash, and the older of the two siblings blamed Samantha for it; an instant messaging fight happened just before the accident.

Needless to say that when Samantha found out who we really were, she was outraged and in tears. “How could you do something like that? I felt terrible for days! I can’t believe you would pretend that!” Our rationalization that we were teaching her not to lie didn’t stop us from feeling bad about the incident. We did apologize, but we definitely proved her point; we WERE acting stupid and immature.

Fortunately, the incident didn’t affect Samantha on a large scale. But, that is not always the case; as forementioned, one Internet joke was so cruel, that a young girl committed suicide. What may be funny to one person for a little bit, could be devastating and cruel to another.

Cyberbullying isn’t only stupid and immature, but it’s nothing like you’d think it would be. Using a keyboard to threaten, mock, or trick another individual will NOT make you feel empowered, will NOT make people think better of you, and most certainly does NOT make you a better person. Winning a war over the World Wide Web is about as fulfilling and effective as stubbing your toe, then kicking the table that you tripped on.

If you are ever encountered by a cyber bully, just block them from your Instant Messager, and stop responding to their e-mails. Let someone know the e-mail address of the bully if it becomes serious, and if it goes really far, never be afraid to print out the threatening messages and relay them to your local police.

2.) Sexual Predators

It’s difficult to even begin on this topic. So many children, teenagers, and even some adults have fallen victim to sexual predators online. The reason for this has already been discussed: people can be anyone they want to on a computer. The cute, young football player from the school next to yours that seems to like you a lot may actually be a 40 year old man in the ghetto district, posting pictures of his nephew and calling them his own.

The most basic way to protect yourself from sexual predators is to be as discreet about yourself as possible. NEVER give out personal information, such as your location, name of your school, address, phone number…even your first name. Any of this could be used to track you, and in the hands of a potential sexual predator, serious danger could result.

Even if you have met someone that you think you really know, remember that age ISN’T just a number. It doesn’t matter if you’re 15 and he’s only 20; it’s still illegal. Even if this 20 year-old is telling the truth about their age, and the age doesn’t seem to be so big, they could still find you and cause you harm. Just remember that if someone doesn’t know about you, and you haven’t told them anything that could reveal your personal identity, you have taken great steps to eliminate an attack on your safety.

There are a few signals that someone could give over the Internet to indicate that they aren’t just someone looking for a friendly chat. One large indicator is if the person asks for pictures, especially right away. You may be tempted to give one out, so you can see what your chat buddy looks like too…but again, people can be anybody that they wish to be. If you do find yourself to trust the person enough to show them a picture, don’t show them one that has any major indications of where you might live, and of course, nothing even slightly promiscuous that may give them the wrong idea. Also, don’t share pictures that include you with your family, around your school, or even near your car; any pictures that can indicate possible ways to identify you indirectly can be iffy. It is also important not to post pictures like these on any public Internet space.

Another red flag that you might be in danger: has your chat buddy brought up anything about their sexual preferences, sexual past, turn-ons, past relationships, etc.? In general, these topics aren’t usually smiled upon, unless you’re on a dating website. If you’re simply chatting with an online friend, these personal details about their life should stay personal, and they should also for you. Giving in to these topics may give off the impression that you are interested in these things, SPECIFICALLY in relation to your chat buddy. And remember, age is a huge factor here. If someone exceptionally older than you is revealing details about their sex life, not only is it weird…it’s ILLEGAL. Even consented sexual talk between an adult and a minor is considered harrassment. Especially if you do not consent to that sort of talk, and if your chat buddy is either continuously mentioning those details, or pressuring you repeatedly to discuss sexual details of your own, you have every right to tell a hotline or local law enforcement about your encounter.

The most important indication of danger is if your friend continuously hints at meeting you in person, or tries to get personal information out of you that might indicate where they could find you. NEVER, EVER agree to meet someone you don’t know well, and even if you do, DO NOT meet them alone. If you simply MUST meet that someone you’ve been talking to online for months, suggest meeting with some friends also, or even better, bringing a parent or guardian along. Make sure that any meetings are done in a highly public place, or in the vicinity of your home, with a parent or guardian present. If your friend shows any discomfort or obvious disapproval of the idea, it is a terrible idea to meet them! Sexual predators often draw younger teens and adults in by coaxing them into a one-on-one, get-to-know-you date. If he/she can’t bear to meet you in conditions where the two of you are not alone, it isn’t worth any measure to go through with it. If your bud turns out to be someone completely different than who you thought, you won’t just be disappointed–you could be hurt, abducted, or even worse.

3.) Scammers, Identity Theft

Luckily I’ve never had the misfortune of stumbling upon someone intelligent enough to pull this one off, but it still happens every day. Has someone ever acted like your best friend, just so they could gain your trust enough to have you give them your password to any account? Have you ever been promised a too-good-to-be-true amount of money by an anonymous person, the only catch being that you must provide your bank account number or credit card?

Though it is more popular for these scams to be generated in the form of websites or small groups, some individuals take matters into their own hands. Perhaps an individual will talk to you, gain your trust, then tell you about an “amazing” scheme to get money that they’ve found on the Internet. With personal attestment to the glory of this website, you may be more apt to believe that the scheme is real.

Many more people are educated on this particular type of Internet harm, as it is extremely dangerous to one’s financial life, and thusly, their lifestyle and well-being. The most common advice I could offer here is that if you see a website that asks for your credit card number, and they have no information on licensing, no privacy statement, no little lock icon in your browser, etc….DO NOT ENTER IT. Common sense, but more people fall for this type of scam than they should. If someone hands you a link that sounds like it’s too good to be true, it’d be well-advised not to even click on it. Some websites have hacking systems implemented that track the IP address, or Internet protocol address (basically the identity of your computer), and hack into it to find any information they want. Do not give out passwords to anyone , especially not to your e-mail address that may hold important information about your financial assets. This rule goes for any sort of online scam, whether it be in one of those MMORPGs I spoke of, on a message board, a gaming website, or anywhere else. Giving out your password is just silly.

Throughout these three types of harm that can be caused through a computer are a few underlying, very important factors. Basically, keeping yourself safe boils down to keeping things impersonal and vague, and never giving the benefit of the doubt to ANYONE you may meet, and to simply keep your instincts and wits with you when handling a potentially dangerous situation. You truly never know who could be on the other end of your screen, and you’re never too young or old to know how to stay safe.