After having ripped on MySpace a while ago it may seem odd that I'm about to defend them, but here goes.

MySpace has truly become the playground for todays teenager. This is their place to really be themselves away from the prying eyes of adults, or so they would like to think. This is a place where kids can, and will, be kids; they can banter on about their dabbling in drinking, drugs, sex, and whatever else teens dabble in these days. The only problem is that parents and teachers are watching now and are taking offense at the things they see.

Kids are being kids, they are making fun of people, talking about "secret stuff" and just generally interacting. The adults don't seem to understand this and are taking it very seriously. Students are starting to see everything from newspaper articles claiming that girls are more likely to get molested if they use MySpace to their classmates getting suspended for the things they say there. This is like a repeat of the Joyce Park (and others) incident only applied to students now. What is up with this, the kids haven't done anything wrong, just stupid. And where do schools get the power to control what students do outside the classroom? (that's a rant for another day) I think the problem runs deeper than just kids acting dumb though, its a complete misunderstanding on the part of parents of the social nature of web 2.0 and perhaps a little too much control over their children's lives. I think Wired sums it up just nicely when they say:

Teens are doing this on the internet, in part, because there are fewer public places they can claim as their own, and safety-conscious parents are more reluctant than past generations to let their kids go out into a real world unsupervised.

"Let your kids go hang out down the street with their friends, and they won't spend so much time online," says Boyd. "But that's not happening."

Parents and teachers just need to leave MySpace alone. Don't try to incorporate it into your classroom, don't ban your kids from it, just leave it alone. This is where teens go to express themselves today, this is their space to do kid things. Fear not, they will grow out of it some day and move on to better things. However, realize that while MySpace may be a fad social networking via the internet is here to stay so you might as well get on the boat before you get left behind.