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Wednesday, June 28, 2006 at 11:46AM An interesting, yet bizarre article on what happens when a girl meets a boy on the internet....
What's more surprising is the lawsuit (of course, it's not surprising).
Is this all simply a symptom of the greater parental problem with the current generation, or is this finally the realization that the internet is a magnifying glass for all the potential badness that is in children's lives - badness has not changed, or grown in the past 50 years, but now, with the internet, we can see it clearly? My gut is on on option 1. Option 2 seems like such a knee jerk reaction.
Despite the repetition of warnings of knowing what your kids are doing on line, the internet is akin to a car. If you aren't paying attention, if you aren't trained, if you aren't being aware and cautious, you can easily come to a painful end. Just like a car, the internet provides freedom, learning, adventures, entertainment, a social link to the rest of your peer group. Just like a car, if you are are foolish and showing off, or being irresponsible, you are going to be in trouble. If you are 14, you wouldn't be in a car on your own, and the same goes for the internet. Parents need to pay attention.
A Lesson for Parents on 'MySpace Madness' - New York Times
AFTER more than a year of hand-wringing, parental concern and political posturing over the safety of children from predators at MySpace.com, a 14-year-old girl and her mother are seeking $30 million in damages because they say that a 19-year-old man who met the teenager on the site assaulted her.
Technorati Tags: MySpace, Internet Accountability
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