MySpace offers a safety guide for parents

Parents have spoken and News Corp. has heeded their calls. The Murdoch corporation is producing an online safety guide for parents of MySpace users, reports Reuters.

News Corp - the owners of MySpace and Seventeen magazine - the National School Board Association and the National Association of Independent Schools have teamed up to produce guidelines and tips for parents.

"While technology plays a critical role in tackling the challenges of Internet safety, any measures must be part of a comprehensive solution and education is an essential component," Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer of MySpace, said in an interview.

Ever since MySpace became the place for a kid to post personal information about themselves, it's been a magnet for adults who prey on kids. MySpace has more than 100 million profiles and growing.

Although companies sell monitoring software, many parents aren't watching closely enough. After incidents where children were lured into meeting with pedophiles they had met online, parent groups demanded more from MySpace.

"MySpace introduced a new technology and created a new world," Atoosa Rubenstein, Seventeen's editor in chief, said in an interview. "But it's not their sole responsibility to patrol them."

"My mom was the person who told me not to walk down the dark alley by myself, not the person who created the dark alley."

The guide is available at MySpace.com. Brochures will also be distributed to about 55,000 schools representing grades 7 through 12 in the United States in October.