MURRIETA —— Murrieta school officials are warning parents about a seemingly innocent Web site popular with teenagers that could subject their children to Internet "bullying" or even put them in danger.

Its officials are asking parents to determine whether their child has a myspace.com account and, if so, to monitor it regularly.

MySpace.com is an Internet site free to users. Visitors can create their own Web page and post pictures or write a Web log or "blog," which is a sort of Internet diary used to post a user's profile and interests. Users often link their pages with their friends' pages for "social networking."

While many of the pages of local students show them simply smiling into the camera, praising God or blogging their personal poetry, some of the pages have girls dressed in revealing bathing suits or bras, show adolescents smoking cigarettes or what appears to be marijuana, throwing gang signs and using foul language.

The site has also been used by students to spread rumors about each other, make threats of violence and bully one another, local police said.

"Unsuspecting children have posted enough personal information to become easy targets for predators," states a release from the district to parents. "Cyberbullies, mostly ages 9 to 14, are using the anonymity of the Web to mete out pain without witnessing the consequences."

MySpace.com is fast replacing the Internet chat room for a growing number of teenagers not only in Murrieta but across Southwest County. Hundreds of Temecula, Menifee and Lake Elsinore students have also set up accounts.

Some local students who use myspace.com said in recent interviews that they don't see it as a site that causes problems and it's simply a tool to keep up with old friends and make new ones.

The site is owned by the media conglomerate News Corp.

A search of the site retrieved more than 1,400 profiles in a 10-mile radius around Murrieta. There are about 13.5 million MySpace.com members, company officials have estimated.

Rules and users

MySpace.com officials say all users agree not to post messages containing nudity, violence or offensive subject matter. It also prohibits the use of last names, addresses and telephone numbers. Many users adhere to those rules. Some do not.

The Murrieta district asked parents in an official release on its Web site to review their child's account, stating that the district is concerned about online bullying and the fact that strangers can learn personal information about students.

The site is intended for people 16 years and older, but many users state that they are 12, 13 and 14 in profiles. Some have been known to lie about their age, too, said district officials.

Karen Parris, the district's spokeswoman, said the district wants to make sure parents are informed and students are safe.

"Kids have always found ways to bully, and this is a new way to do it," Parris said. "It's anonymous to an extent, and so the school administration really saw it as a potential for harm … when things are said about someone that isn't true."

One student has even been punished for what he stated on the site. A Murrieta Valley High School student was not allowed to go to the prom last spring after he stated on the site that he might bring a weapon to the event, said Murrieta police Officer Dave Baca, one of the department's liaisons with the school district.

Baca said the site has been used to bully others as well as to spread gang messages and rumors. He said he has even mediated a few he said/she said battles, and parents should monitor the site.

"If your child … posts photographs, or messages, or music, or any type of profile, you as a parent should know," Baca said. "Your kid may have on his site pictures with weapons, or showing something you never thought he smoked before, or saying something he is that you never thought he was."

Students: All in good fun

And while not everyone uses the site appropriately, some local students who frequent the Web page said they are aware of dangers and avoid them, and use the site simply to keep in touch with friends and have fun.

"I do not think that myspace is a bad thing, especially for us teenagers," according to Murrieta Valley High School student Stephanie Laski, who agreed to an interview via e-mail. "It's a good way to keep in touch with old friends and family. In my case, I have a lot of my cousins and friends from past places I have lived. To avoid sexual predators, I just add people that I know and deny the people that I don't know that ask to be my friend."

Some students are even using the site's popularity to harness it for good.

This summer, Palomar College student government President Neill Kovrig said that he used the site to boost interest in the community college's student government.

Some students, such as Murrieta Valley High School's Brittany Tajalle, 15, promote music bands through the site.

"People just talk about their life," she said of the site's material. "A lot of people go on there to talk to people or talk about the stuff they like to do. I think it could happen (bullying or sexual predators), but you can block the person or tell an administrator about it."

She echoed the sentiment that users should not post personal information on the site, although acknowledging that they do. "That is really stupid," she said.

Parris said district officials realize that some of the site's material is above board. She said officials just want to make sure parents are aware of the site and monitor it.

"People are using it for legitimate purposes, but there are also incidents where girls are 12 or 13 years old and are saying they are much older and are posting pictures," Parris said. "We want parents to know about it. We want parents to have the tool to keep kids safe."

Staff writers Rob O'Dell and Danielle Cadieux contributed to this report. Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.