Personal Web pages: A new threat to kids, and a parent’s worst nightmare. They can lead to drugs and sexual predators.

That’s right; teens now can obtain drugs and be victims of sexual predators, all from the home computer without a parent’s knowledge, all while it’s happening in your own home.

They are called personal Web pages, and they can be dangerous and even deadly!

A personal Web page is designed as a place for kids and teens to post information about themselves, share pictures, and meet new people. They contain names, hometowns, addresses, sexual orientation, educational background, favorite books and movies, drug and alcohol habits and much more.

Examples of these hugely popular and growing personal Web pages are: Myspace, Xanga, Facebook.

They are the public place, they are the “new mall” for kids to hang out with friends and meet new people, and all while the parent is not aware they are even doing it.

Its ironic how popular and how much personal information is on a person’s Web page.

And if you’re still skeptical consider this:

A family member asks their teenager to see his or her facebook or Myspace page. Chances are they will say “no way, I don’t want you to see my page; it’s embarrassing and it’s an invasion of my privacy.”

The irony is they will not share private information with their own mother or father, but they will post it online so that millions of people, including child predators, can view this information, and know exactly who they are, where they live, where they hang out, their hobbies, and likes and dislikes.

Most personal Web page sites are poorly monitored or unregulated, thus leaving the potential for dangerous predators to prey on unsuspecting teenagers. Ultimately face-to-face meetings that result from meeting an online contact become the way for predators to meet their victims in person.

The Website www.parenting.org/personal+web+page+dangerous.asp recommends the following:• Pay attention to your child.• Surf the sites yourself.• Just say “No!”• Install filters.• Start talking with your child about proper use of computer technology when he or she is young.• Teach children about the differences between reality and fantasy.• Talk to your child.• Set limits before it is too late.• Know what your youth is doing on the computer.• Know your child’s computer passwords.• Educate yourself.

Website www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm identifies the following:• Your child spends large amounts of time online, especially at night.• You find pornography on your child’s computer.• Your child receives phone calls from men you don’t know or is making calls, sometimes long distance, to numbers you don’t recognize.• Your child receives mail, gifts, or packages from someone you don’t know.• Your child turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room.• Your child becomes withdrawn from the family.• Your child is using an on-line account belonging to someone else