Help parents patrol the sexual Internet

By hiring a former federal prosecutor as its first security officer, MySpace.com, the socially oriented Web site popular with young people, takes an important step toward addressing the dangers posed by sexual predators on the Internet.

MySpace is not the only site dedicated to networking among the young — others include Facebook.com and Xanga.com — and all ought to consider some version of this company's move. Sexual predators are increasingly using the cloak of anonymity provided by online chat rooms, forums and social networking sites such asMySpace to pursue minors.

Last month, two men were arrested in what prosecutors said were the first federal sex charges involving MySpace. Two Connecticut girls involved in that case were 11 and 14.

The recent arrest of a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security for allegedly trying to seduce online someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl further heightened fears about predators on the Internet.

In light of the attention the site has attracted from parents, educators and law enforcement, MySpace's move can be read as a pre-emptive strike against calls for increased government policing of the Internet.

But MySpace's size, with 32 million users as of October — company officials say the site is second only to Yahoo! in page views — gives it an influential role to play in Internet safety. That role is critical, considering some 22 percent of the site's users are registered as under 18.

MySpace also launched an advertising campaign that warns young people to be more skeptical of strangers who approach them online. Internet users are warned not to give out personal information and to be wary of meeting strangers offline.

There's more to be done. Internet sites must strictly enforce age restrictions. Users should be encouraged to block anyone unknown to them from accessing their site. Software exists that parents can install to block social networking sites from their home computers.

All of this can be balanced with First Amendment protections and respect for young people's privacy.

The No. 1 job of parents is to get their kids to adulthood — safely. Internet sites that cater to kids have a duty to assist their parents in a safe journey.