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I wanted to post a really heavy article I read and open up a discussion. What scares me is how close this girl lived to me, and since we are all net users (cause, Gaia is, online), I felt this was really right up everyone's alley. Maybe you heard about it, if not, please read this article.

Newsarticle of a Beautiful Life Lost

I really struggled reading this because I could identify with the girl so much. I was often the "frumpy" girl when I was her age. Boys never paid attention to me and I really wanted to feel liked by a boy. When I was a teenager I actually had a couple net boyfriends because guys at school never noticed me. My heart really broke a little as I read this. I've heard about net predators--but to imagine adults, parents even, doing something as cruel as this made me angry.

I know I've teased about net safety before with the really cheesy radio commercials. But as a side note I do want us to toss up ideas on how we can make this guild a safe place and how we should handle it if we ever get a suspicious member (we've been very lucky so far).

Also, I want to find out people's opinions on things like My Space and Facebook.

i just felt my stomach turn when i read that article. some people tend to be completely heartless. i, myself, was picked on constantly in high school until i became the most feared person in school. random violence seemed to work for me, though i don't recommend it at all. but this article reaffirms my beliefs that myspace is evil.

Reading that made me feel so sick and so sad. I actually don't know what to say. That is just so horribly upsetting. I may add more later when the shock has worn off a bit...

Wow...
It troubles me to think that they thought it would be okay to fool this poor girl they knew into thinking they were someone else. I understand wanting to know the opinion and thoughts the young girl had about their daughter but to make her befriend and fall for a boy and what seems knowingly is utterly wrong.
Myspace and Facebook have to real safeguards against creating false profiles. At one time in order to create an account with Facebook you had to have a college e-mail address. This at least creates an easier way of tracing who a person is. I don’t add anyone I don’t know or haven’t met on either of my accounts with Myspace or Facebook.
In high school I didn’t have much self esteem and for the most part was invisible to most people, I was okay with that. I ignored most of the negative crap thrown at me and dealt more with life at home. I guess being apathetic helped in that regard.
I currently live with a 14 year old who is addicted to Myspace. It only worries me even more about what kinds of things that done through such mediums.
I wonder what a friend of me thinks about this since it is his neighborhood and he also teaches in STL..somewhere.

i should send the link to that article to my friend who's an attorney. there should be some kind of legal ramifications for that.

Oh, also, you guys might be interested in this site: http://www.cyberangels.org/

It just dumbfounds me that people can honestly think that this sort of behavior is actually good. THey fail to realize that what they are doing is hurting another person who could take all of the meanness to heart. IT just makes me so mad to that people can actually do that one another. UGH!

That was what blew my mind, ADULTS, doing it. On one hand I think My Space made it way too easy, but on the other I didn't think it was quite fair to blame an internet website for the cruelty in people. I think cruelty has always existed, that the internet is just another tool for people to use.

That "pretty people" club really annoys me. I don't know, I always imagined that those "hot" kids wound up with dead end jobs and unsatisfactory lives. I mean the surface stuff can only last so long. I also have a personal theory that being "ugly/fat" (whether real, or just teased for it) helps make you a better rounded person. When you're uber-beautiful you can skate by on your looks alone. But when you feel bad about your looks you tend to invest in other parts of yourself (Creativity, intelligence, kindness, sense of humor). And that's why so many geeks/nerds who were teased in high school wind up the big successes.

As for the Mother, I normally would be opposed to parents letting their kids use My Space, but I did think she was doing the right thing by monitoring it. I feel bad that she has such guilt. I mean the moment Megan was contacted by the "hot boy" I could see the Mom not wanting to rain on her daughter's parade. It sounds like it was a real self-esteem booster and the Mom was just trying to give things the benefit of the doubt. Besides, let's face it, even if the Mom wanted to, no parent has effectively pulled the plug on a teen-girl's romance. Fairy Tales and Folk Lore like the Little Mermaid and Romeo and Juliet remind us that teenage daughters will always find a loophole to be with that boy they are ga ga after. I figure at least that way the Mom felt like she could have some control, some input.

It breaks my heart. I agree with you Kekadu. I think that's what bothers me about the trolls on Gaia--so many of the users are really, really young kids! The worst, in my opinion, are the ones on Life Issues. To many times I have read "kill yourself" as a suggestion to depressed teens there, or "you're a slut" on the rape crisis threads. As a counseling student this is really, really appalling to me.