How exactly does MySpace ensure age without having the person present their birth certificate in person, take a DNA test, etc? If suit is successful, does that spell the end of social networking websites?
Teen, mom sue MySpace.com for $30 million
A 14-year-old Travis County girl who said she was sexually assaulted by a Buda man she met on MySpace.com sued the popular social networking site Monday for $30 million, claiming that it fails to protect minors from adult sexual predators.
The lawsuit claims that the Web site does not require users to verify their age and calls the security measures aimed at preventing strangers from contacting users younger than 16 “utterly ineffective.”
“Meet Me At Myspace”
That and the attached graphic almost makes it look like it should be an innocent hangout for young girls. But I’m sure that never happens for all the serious dangers involved.
I’ve calculated that it could be theoretically physically possible for a non-working parent to monitor one child 24 hours. But it involves handcuffs. My scientific formula begins to breakdown when there are two or more children involved. And they are all in different places at the same time.
Unregulated chat rooms for kids are dangerous places. That tends to be the case where killers are free to roam in close contact. We keep kids out of a whole range of inappropriate places in our society without any concern whether it should be the parents responsibility or not. The internet should be no different. The fact that this technology can’t get its act together shouldn’t be my problem. Come back when it can.
Oh, I’m sorry. I guess we’re supposed to deal with the realities of the situation and not what would be optimal. So here’s a reality: innocent children can’t be supervised or controlled 100% of the time. This fact doesn’t absolve parents of their primary responsibility. But it sure does shift some of the burden onto society. It’s like the internet. It’s a reality and you just have to accept it.
RBG
Public responsibility??
If I see someone dragging your daughter Threw a MALL, screaming her head off. If would behove me to STOP them/you and ask whats going on, and ask for ID from both persons. OR at the least, grab a cop or security officeor to help me.
Is it MY responsibility to MONITOR your child? To see if she gets in a stamgers car? WILLINGLY?
analogy: Is it MY responsibility to Watch over someone ELSE’s sheep when the wolf come around, or is it the herders job to keep an eye open and KEEP the sheep away from the Wolf.
Its MY job to WATCH my sheep, and teach them, IF I can, NOT to jump off the cliff and to AVOID the wolf.
I DO, know its hard these days for a parent.
There is ALOT of tech out there, that we dont take/have the time to investigate. And the NEt has made this world ALOT smaller, when a Pedifile can locate your kid from 12,000 miles away.
I do have to make a declaration, as I was REQUIRE to grow up VERY fast and VERY young. And i DO think children should be taught EARLY, and by age 13-14 SHOULD have enough knowledge to KNOW the world ISNT a fantasy world, and that there ARE alot of bad people out there, INCLUDING lawyers and politicians.
DONT wait for your kid to Leave HOME to discover that the WORLD isnt fair or even NICE. At this time, I cant see MOST of the kids out of school, worldly understanding, until they get to 25+ IF AT ALL.
letting your kid wonder the city/town/state/country THINKING that someone ELSE will protect them FROM THEMSELVES, When you havent INSTILLED the basic knowledge of How to protect THEMSLEVES, is foolish and stupid.
At the MOST, someone in the school yard, COULD have asked her WHO that was, Does whe know Him very well, and if its a family member. But, it seems she had few friends, OR she told her friends she had a date with an OLDER man, and they all applauded.
Bravo ECA!!!
You are or will be an excellent parent!! While children cant be monitored %100 of the time…if she had done a good job talking to her daughter about these things…this could have been avoided….my kids will never be allowed IN MY house to have free roam of the interent unsupervised….NO computers in their rooms…and if I am a good parent…then I will know her friends and their parents and make sure that I associate with people who comply with my wishes when she is not in my immediate care…no matter where she is at the time…she is STILL my responsibility. You have to KNOW your kids…its vital these days!!!
If grown adults can be bilked out of their entire savings by con men, children can be coerced into anything given the skill of a bad guy; the pressures of peers or the irresistable lure of things capable of hurting them – regardless of the quality of home instruction. You should understand this, ECA. (It’s kind of like teaching a sheep to avoid a wolf – it doesn’t always work.)
Think of a nasty web site as the mall. And now you have your chance to ask for ID and find a security officer as the child is being dragged away.
Because sheep, er, kids are going to be useful to all of us.
If you further understand that children can’t be supervised 100% of the time, you will then begin to understand why parents feel they have the right and the responsibility to force a certain amount of controls onto others who may pose a danger. That’s actually the “burden onto society” that I am referring to. That we all need to accept certain contraints in our lives and hits to our freedoms (ie: regulations, restrictions or responsibilities imposed upon dangerous activities or web sites) if it means keeping kids safe.
As you illustrate, the other kind: where one adult might feel some responsiblity for another stranger’s child is just a laughable pipe dream.
RBG
Rights and responsibility,
ON OTHERS??? NOT… Only responsibility you have it to your kids, to TEACH them, and protect them…
Responsibility to MAKE SURE they are ADULT enough to KNOW. dont expect ME to correct your child. It is to your OWN embarassment if your CHILD sticks his finger into a light socket, and gets a ZAP. NOT mine.
RIGHTS?? MOT…
You have NO rights over ANYONE, except those in your control, and that is ONLY your child..And when they hit 12-14, I HOPE you have given them enough KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE, that you dont have to take FULL care and worry over them. But that is YOUR fault, and embarrassment…NOT mine.
Old saying about security.
Freedom and security..
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
the idea is that we give up FREEDOM to gain security, to the point that we our in our OWN jails.
the girl had her freedom and learned a VERY good lesson, and I hope it doesnt hinder her in the future. AS you give your children Rules to live by, and they grow, and the rules change, and they gain more freedom, they must be reminded of the BASICS.
You are raiseing an ADULT, not a child. you WISH them to be able to live on their own, and do it well. If they stumble then you can lend a hand, but you CAN NOT pick them up and cuddle them any more, they do not learn that way.
If you have rasied your child well, then they will understand…
If they goof up, and they ARE WRONG, you may not be there, but if they goofed and it was a good cause, you will stand behind them 100%.
as you said,
LOOK into your mail, and see how many WISH to be good to you. OR if they wish to take advantage. the credit card company that has a 0% intro rate, unless YOU miss 1 payment by 1 day, and it goes UP FAST.
The get rish QUICK skems, that want you to advert and sell the SAME thing they sent you.
The bank that would LOVe you to fail on your 20 year mortgage at 19 years, so they can sell the house AGAIN, for MORE money.
The FINE print on EVERY document.
Those resorts that give you something, if you sit Through a 2 hour show/advert..
If you have the money to NOT worry about all this, then I am free for adoption. But, I would suggest you give your kids, over 12+ a good reality check, as i would HATE to see the news when one has disappeared.
Many religions start treating kids at 12+ as adults and even celibrate it, and THEN they know what is expected of them…US WHITE folks like to keep our PET horses as PETS, and our children AS children…
NEWS: THEY ALL GROW UP.
PS.
when my children grow up, and OUT…
I want a NEW friend, or aqaintance, NOT another PET, or a EXTRA large child, that I STILL need to care for.
I want them to MAKE there own decisions, and not LOOK to me, to pay there bills.
I can be there as a friend, NOT a parent.
“ON OTHERS???” Shocking, but yes.
Last I counted there were 11, 792 laws that you and others must follow that ensure that my children are kept safe. Here’s just one: In most places there is a law that says you must – whether you want to or not – secure your pool on your own property so some child can’t just wander off the street and drown. I’ll bet a parent insisted on that law. A parent who teaches his or her own child to stay away from pools.
RBG
Ummm, OK,
Buy I SHOULD do that to protect my OWN children.
Show me 1 LAW, that is spacific to protecting YOUR/someone ELSE’s children.
That LAW isnt in this state, as the STATE would have to Fence about 100,000 miles of canals.
And your shild would go into my yard, WITHOUT my consent, and wonder around my pool, and you DIDNt give them swimming lessons?? I wouldnt have a POOL, If my kids couldnt swim. I wouldnt have a pool If I DIDNT have a fenced yard, with a warning SIGN on it. “Stay out, or I will drown you myself”…Sorry about that last part, but this is VERY rural area. And we have some GREAT swimming holes.
AND yes, If I had a swimming pool I would ALSO place ALOT of flotation devices in it(rubber ducky’s).
Your child coming to my home(if I had a pool) would have to be supervised, PERIOD. As I supervise ANY person that enters my yard/home. And if they took it upon themselves to Visit my yard/home/pool other wise, isnt that taking there OWN life in hand, and venturing where they NEEd not go could lead to a VERY abrupt lesson…GOOD or BAD. But, arnt YOU suppose to teach this to your child.
Go to a friends home, and knock, and visit.
Go into their backyard, WITHOUT telling someone or ANNOUNCING your self, could lead a DOG to bite you, or EVEN, if I just sprayed Pesticides, for something BAD to happen.
Im sorry about this, BUT, If my child ventured into someones backyard, UNannounced, and Perchance someone caught them. Im sorry, but that would be abit of a PAIN for someone(not me). Im supposed to keep the nails out of the street, NOT for your childs sake, but If I am doing abit of carpentry, and nails are in the yard…
YOU and I, are supposed to teach basic manners, and HOW to NOT get into an accident. YEs, My teaching habits are abit MEAN…I WILL take my kid out to see the road kill(Lots in this small comunity), and SHOw them, and explain, EXPLAIN “THIS is why I told you NOT to go into the street, or to cross it”,”I DONT want to find you this way, and worry, that you will not live”. I dont candy coat things. I try to explain in the HARD reality, and hope understand. BECAUSE I dont want to repeat myself OVEr there Hospital bed(thank you lord) or their grave.
when they are old enough(I belive in being young) that you give the lessons of life EARLY, as you may not be there when it ‘hits the fan’ Be straight with kids, and they expect, and respect you. You have little control later in there lives, AS you may know. THEY HAVE TO do it THEIR way. THEY have to find their OWN course, and push ALL the boundries. I would rather my thoughts and lessons Stand OUT, and they REMEMBER them, FIRST and FORMOST.
I will find the Cracked out, Bastard in town, or SOMEPLACE, and show them what happens to THEM and their bodies. BEFORE they try drugs.
I WILL show them the Scalding pot, and say..HOT… and LEt them examine it and FIND out WHY you DONT TOUCH it…Before they reach for it, OFF the stove.
I will TEAch them to dog paddle, for THEIR life.
I WILL teach them to THINK and SEE around a corner, before they DRIVe threw and intersection. HOw to pause for about 2-5 seconds AFTEr the light turns green and MAKE sure those other cars ARE STOPPED, ANd the Blind guy ISNt infront of you.
RESPECt others property, as IF it was yours, and treat it as IF it was full of traps and landmines(dog do-do).
ANd IF the school kicks them out for giving Caffinated GUM, I will be BEHIND my kid, and Cussing the whole school out, but IF he gets caught with a MJ on his person and ends up in jail…THEY WILL sit it out…They can expct my visits, but CHOICE and freedom, come with a price. Its called, DO GET CAUGHT, and DONT think they DONt know who DID it.
Let me say it this way.
Do want LIFe to teach your child.
ME, a stranger, to teach your child.
A child molester to teach your child.
The Government to TEACH your child.
A sado-machosist to teach your child.
Church to TEACh your child.
OR YOU..
WHOM should take the time to teach your child, and BE/FEEL responsible when they mess up, or do good.
If you DONT teach them, they will learn on their own. And you have NOTHINg to feel proud of, as THEY learned it, NOT you teaching it.
OH, please comment, I LOVe a good debate…\
i think it’s sad