As if My Space wasn't dangerous enough for teens, now the Marines are trolling for kids there as well!

Teens looking to hook up with a friend on the popular Web community MySpace may bump into an unexpected buddy: the U.S. Marine Corps.

So far, over 12,000 Web surfers have signed on as friends of the Corps in response to the latest military recruiting tactic. Other military branches may follow.

The Marine Corps MySpace profile — featuring streaming video of barking drill sergeants, fresh recruits enduring boot camp and Marines storming beaches — underscores the growing importance of the Internet to advertisers as a medium for reaching America's youth.

"That's definitely the new wave," said Gunnery Sgt. Brian Lancioni at a Hawaii recruiting event. "Everything's technical with these kids, and the Internet is a great way to show what the Marine Corps has to offer."

Patrick Baldwin, an 18-year-old recruit from Saratoga, N.Y., who linked his profile to the Marines' site after hearing about it from a friend, said MySpace was a good place for interested teens to start learning more about the Marines.

"The more information you have the better off you are," said Baldwin, who left for boot camp a few weeks ago.

Let's see, online predators or the United States Marine Corps, now that is a tough call. On the one hand at least the predators are less likely to get my child blown up, but they don't have any scholorships to offer either.

They will both lie to my kid and ultimately take advantage of her naivete.

The Marines have uniforms, though I suppose the perverts might try to convince her to dress up in something as well.

I guess I consider them both dangerous and I will counsel my child to avoid of them like the plague. I do not want anybody to take advantage of my child or pretend to have her best interests at heart when all they want is to use her and then toss her away. Not my baby.