MySpace Blamed For Stupid Kids

from the blame-it-on-the-web dept

All but 400 of the 3,000 students at a San Antonio high school didn’t show up yesterday after somebody posted some messages on MySpace saying some kids were going to show up at the school with machine guns. This sort of stupidity is nothing new, but apparently, since it went out over a web site, the clueless school administrators want retribution, saying MySpace should be held “accountable”, with the district’s lawyers deciding if they should file a lawsuit. An administrator says that letting kids post unmonitored messages is “asking for trouble” — so should all these kids’ phone conversations be tapped and their face-to-face conversations be monitored as well? MySpace and other internet services aren’t creating these problems and aren’t to blame for them; they just make the spreading of information (sometimes known as communication) quicker and more efficient. The likes of Wal-Mart fear Google for the information efficiency it generates — and it sounds like school administrators don’t like the Net for the same reason.


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Comments on “MySpace Blamed For Stupid Kids”

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89 Comments
Chuck says:

Re: Re: kids stupidity

The problem is that kids believe anything that’s posted as a MS bulletin…let’s think about it: if a REAL school shooting was going to take place, why wouldn’t someone w/alleged “inside info” just tell a teacher, go to the police, etc? And it’s not just this, there’s more inaccurate info that’s being passed off as “facts” in the form of MS bulletin boards, such as:

– An alleged “Bloods Initiation Weekend” supposed to have taken place last Oct. 1-2, in which new recruits would allegedly be driving w/their lights off, then trying to kill anyone who flashed them
– A petition attempting to stop the killers of British toddler Jamie Bulger from being released (which is ineffective, considering they were already released…in *June 01*!)
– A missing kid alert that contains virtually no info about the alleged victim (name, age, date/place last seen, etc.)

And Lori, do a little more research…I understand your concerns, but shutting down MS is not the answer. As it is, anyone under 16 w/a profile has it automatically privatized, so only the user’s friends can see his/her info, and if parents would do a better job monitoring the sites their kids visit, they wouldn’t need to get all paranoid.

Wist says:

Re: MySpace

would AOL be charged if the same thing happened over AIM? or how about lets press charges against samsung if the message was delivered over cell phones. no, the case is stupid and they will probably lose. im pretty sure myspace’s pockets arent empty. the principal and board probably never heard of myspace and dont even know what its about, thus him pointing the blame at the first thing he sees.

Heather says:

Re: MySpace

I just want to know why you think that Myspace should be held for something like this to happen. I don’t know really anything about Myspace, I don’t have an account or anything, but I just want to know why should Myspace be accountable, and for other people who want to comment on this feel free I want to know all different sides, it will help me alot.

Lori says:

Re: Re: MySpace

I am so glad finally the NEWS MEDIA is getting the word out on MySpace.com and how easy as again it’s just another tool for the Child Predators to come out. Finally they once again exposed how easy it is for the Child Predators to come out and make contatct and molest our young teens today. I hope it is only a matter of time before MySpace.com is shut down. Young teens are still to immature to understand that millions of people have access to the pictures and personal info they post. Law enforcement states “Sexual Predators are using this information to find kids”. As Dateline said it certainly is a “one stop shopping by catalogue”. Many teens list their names, addresses. What is positive about MySpace?, let’s see; there is pornographic pictures, video’s, and the list goes on.. I am assuming the people who submit these video’s are hoping that a local TV Producer or agent will find them– gee or maybe Hugh Hefner? The days of teens studying for a good education must be gone.
In regards to the Child Predator– lets see, it could be one of the attractions of the “Internet” is the anonymity of the user, and this is why it can be so dangerous. A child doesn’t always know with whom he or she is interacting. Children may think they know, but unless it’s a school friend or a relative, they really can’t be sure.
The most common means by which sexual predators contact children over the Internet is through chat rooms, instant messages and email. In fact, 89% of sexual solicitations were made in either chat rooms or instant messages and 1 in 5 youth (ages 10-17 years) has been sexually solicited online. This number could be higher now that MySpace.com is here! Considering that 25-50% of kids online participate in real time chat and 13 million use instant messaging, the risks of such children, either knowingly or unknowingly, interacting with a predator is alarming.
They discuss ways to contact and lure children online and exchange tips on seduction techniques. They are using the technology of the Internet to train and encourage each other to act out sexually with children. It’s disgusting and MySpace.com is a contributing factor to this. (yes, my opinion) What was even more alarming is just how many sexual predators Dateline caught in just one day. I thank God every day that my son is 22 and he is now in the Army. I am grateful I had an education that taught me a skill which in turn my son was raised the best I knew how. I’m quite proud of him today. I wished and would hope “PARENTS TODAY MONITOR” their childrens activities. I’m not suggestion I was a “perfect” parent, however as this internet grows so will the sexual predators and groups that develope just like this! This is just my opinion and their will be many more just like mine! I honestly don’t care what people think — some and mostly what I typed is the facts some people perhaps do not like to admit. It is appauling! It is the children that suffer and how hard is it to figure that out people? Any individuals who created MySpace should be held liable. Get Smart People!

Shaun Chpson says:

Re: MySpace

It isnt Myspace’s fault for what happend. Just because a dum kid dosent meen Myspace should be held responsible.It isnt Myspace’s fault by giveing evryone a way to connect it is the people that abused that previlage. So when you really have something to complain about like Iraq or something go ahead but dont blame Myspace.

Awesome says:

Who's the real Idiot

I can’t believe the Principal is that stupid… He should be fired and thrown in prison along with the kids. It’s shameful that someone in that position would threaten to hold MySpace accountable… what if those kids actually did come to school and start shooting? I think better safe then sorry would more appropriate in this situation…

Anonymous Coward says:

No Subject Given

“Administrators say the students who posted the messages on the web site have been identified and will face felony charges, including making terroristic threats and disruption of a high school campus. Officials say all four are ‘current students at Warren High School.”

It appears to me that the responsible parties will be held accountable.

Matthew says:

Where were the parents>

So, now you really have to ask where the parents were. I know my parents would have told me that if I don’t go to school…they’re likely to shoot at me for skipping!

But really, that’s not the point. The parents are absent. Someone should have been watching after the content these kids are putting online. Regardless of what site they are on…kids are kids and need parental guidance.

Anonymous Coward says:

No Subject Given

It does not surpise me one bit that this MySpace is under attack. People will never take responsiblity for anything- they will always try to throw the blame to something. Did it ever occur to these poeple that the fault lies with whoever posted the comment? Remember, guns dont kill people, people kill people. MySpace had nothing to do with the threat, so why go after them? It is because parents and teachers would rather blame an object than think maybe they are not raising these kids the way they should. It is so much easier to point the finger than it is to admit fault and try to fix it. It’s always someone elses fault isn’t it…

0n1l1nk says:

Re: No Subject Given

//–It does not surpise me one bit that this MySpace is under attack. People will never take responsiblity for anything- they will always try to throw the blame to something. Did it ever occur to these poeple that the fault lies with whoever posted the comment? Remember, guns dont kill people, people kill people. MySpace had nothing to do with the threat, so why go after them? It is because parents and teachers would rather blame an object than think maybe they are not raising these kids the way they should. It is so much easier to point the finger than it is to admit fault and try to fix it. It’s always someone elses fault isn’t it…–//

EXACLY! what kind of retard can blame a website for being an open place for people to talk? The site is there for peopl to communicate, what they communicate is their own responsability. I bet you will start seeing something lik this in a terms of service of a lot of forums now. “We are not liable for any information posted here” is what they will say now. God I hate stupid kids…

Proud conservative says:

Re: No Subject Given

Myspace is breeding ground for pedophiles, whackjobs and low-level Emos who consider depression to be the “In” thing.

Parents can’t be monitoring their kids 24/7. Myspace should be shut down! If the kids need a place to “hang out” they should try church! Where they will learn respect toward their parents and teachers, who are right and kids are wrong.

Danielle says:

Accountability

If these kids had all called each other to spread the gossip, would the phone company be blamed? Or how about Alexander Graham Bell? WHy don’t we just decide his telephone was an evil invention and stop using it, too. These are incomplete thoughts! Take it a step further, and realize that PEOPLE have to be held accountable for their own minds, bodies, thoughts and actions! And you know, if it had been true, those kids would all be safe now instead of dead, wounded or traumatized. Also, why didn’t any of these kids call the cops? The Police would have (hopefully) handled this situation before class even started. And if these kids just wanted to skip…well then they’re just being kids! Didn’t we all skip a class or two? The District’s just pissed cause they lost money. Nothing new.

Dante says:

Stupid Americans

you know, if someone did something like that for the Columbine Shootings, there would be a lot more alive students at that school. and the posters, or in this case the “perpetrators” would be hailed as heroes. The principal might have even condoned such an action, but since the Priciple in said incident obvously didn’t generate a “safe environment”, the students of his school played hookie to preserve their own lives.
I say that the principle should be fired for being such a shithole.

Wist says:

No Subject Given

i would like to add another comment.

if anything, we should actually be PROUD of this event. seriously, think about it. students on their OWN all communicated and spread the word in a single night. if im not mistaken there was many times where i wasnt informed of things. but these kids are actually our youth and learning new technologies and forms of communication. these are the same people that will develop new forms of communications and information structures in the future. im actually proud of them… way to go kids!

Prodiem says:

Frustrating

Schools have problems with MySpace as it allows minors to post unmoderated. MySpace does have protection however because they are a mass media and most information posted is public, they do hold some responsibility. They do check, although not quickly enough, for pornographic images, and that’s about it. Also it is possible that they are violating the Child Internet Protection act by allowing the minors to post information publicly. (And don’t try to tell me that everything there is private, it takes 10 minutes to access nearly all content not marked for “friends” only.

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: blame on it on the web

It’s God’s fault. If he hadn’t given us the ability to create technologies such as the internet followed by websites like myspace, none of this would have happened. And if he hadn’t put the materials on earth to create guns and other weapons, we’d all be safe from harming eachother.

IT’S NOBODY’S FAULT BUT GOD’S!

Right? Same logic.

Blame the kids says:

Re: blame on it on the web

Yeah, why doesn’t anyone want to blame the kids that started all this? Everyone wants to look at the bigger picture on why this and that happens. The kids that started all this probably knew what they were doing and just didn’t think of the consequences since they’re kids and usually feel carefree.

Daniel says:

SheepSpace

MySpace isn’t at fault in this situation.
That being said, MySpace IS breeding ground for tards.
And anyone who challenges that assertion is obviously misguided, and probably has a TUMOR.

“Let’s all take crappy pictures where we pose and look deep, and show off our crappy hair, and talk about our crappy pretentious music!”

Principal Skinner says:

No Subject Given

Gees, it was just one day of school! Have the kids back the next day and give them a bit more of homework so they can catchup.

The principal should deal with his own shortcomings on his own time… and not look for who is to blame for the “low attendance” of that single day… which is exactly what it was.

Now lets all send those emails about not filling our gars with gas on Thursday, to 10 friends… and they can send them to 10 more friends and they can send them to 10 more… Now lets see who the gas companies will sue – nice analogy, eh? 😛

Athena (user link) says:

Agreed

Sometimes people just get so angry that others could be so ignorant that they want to find someone to blame. What they need to do is get their head out of their rearend and pay more attention to their kids. Because most of the time children who do such things are just wanting attention. And has anyone ever heard of the work “RUMOR”??? People spread rumors all the time about each other does that make it real? Nope it sure doesn’t. But if people are SO concerned about what someone said online, don’t people know that there are ways of tracking IP addresses and such? Cmon people get real. MySpace is just like yahoo, aol, msn, etc. Just like this person said they can’t be held liable for the actions of YOUR children. You might as well ban the internet. There is such a thing as privacy might I add. And if you think kids are doin things that are bad now and saying things now, the more you tell them not to, the more they are going to do it. So if you tell them “don’t be sending messages out on myspace.com now”, they are going to turn around flip you off behind your back and do it anyways. Teens are rebellious in nature. Online is a way for them to communicate with others….. I don’t know. Now I’m just babbling because I can’t believe the odasity of people…. I agree full heartedly with this “story” or whatever you want to call it. I DO NOT think myspace should be held responsible for the actions of kids not receiving enough attention.

Danielle (user link) says:

Myspace.

Wow, Yeah let’s just blame their actions on everyone but THEM. Maybe schools should pay attention to their students more then paying attention to their paychecks. Because in my opinion I find it highly idiotic to blame a website for something that a STUDENT typed. I mean damn Freedom of Speech, should be blamed on a website. Wow So I should blame a car for the car accident not the driver? I should blame the gun not the shooter? I should blame the drug not the person? I should blame my tv not the idiot holding the remote? Come on people seriously think about how stupid it is, to blame Myspace. So can we blame AOL and Yahoo too for the e-mails and groups and profiles it lets kids have also, I mean look at their chat rooms, and Instant Messaging services are we gonna blame them too? Yeah didn’t think so, why? because that’s a huge company and well you’d never make it to court to begin with, so instead of pointing your fingers, point it towards the student and faculty, I mean because if a kid is wanting to shoot up his school their should of been signs of his depression and madness at school right? I mean that’s what Counselors are for right?!? Freaking Morons , god I pray for your kids, not to become as stupid as you.

Danielle
Proud Mysapce Page Owner!
Former High School Student
Former Teenager.

Lori says:

Re: Myspace.

Additionally to what I have written, anyone who is under the age of 18 cannot be legally bound to any contract of any kind whether it is myspace or online– Former Teacher?? I doubt that since you do not know the LAWS. Why not take a look at you as an individual and educate yourself at a higher level of degree prior to writing. I highly doubt you teach at any level except perhaps pre-school level!

me (user link) says:

?

myspace is NOT responsible for what happened. they aren’t the ones who posted the bulliten. and the people who read the bulliten had a choice to believe it or not it could have been easily communicated over the phone or by rumors…if it were to have been spread by those means who would you have blamed then? people need to stop targeting myspace. there are positive sides to it , it’s a place for you to talk to your friends and express yourself. why take that away from us? and about all the sexual predators, what about the kids who have their profiles on private?

Skylar says:

ok this is stupid. yes those kids are stupid but myspace isnt to blame for thier stupidness. myspace is for music but sadly it has changed. they cant help that people cant be mature enough to not do those stupid things. people just need to grow up and also sstop blaming myspace for all the stupid things people do. they arent accountable for what they do the person is. i garentee they were pranksters before they got on myspace. plus its not like myspace was like ok play a prank and make everyone scared.

APRIL says:

CHILDISH KIDS THESE DAYS....

I LOVE MYSPACE, IT IS MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME AN A PLACE FOR ME TO TALK WITH MY FRIENDS, BUT I THINK THAT THERE IS HONESTLY TOO MANY YOUNG FIRLS LYING ABOUT THEIR AGES ON HERE AN IT IS UNCALLED FOR AN THEY PUT NUDE PICTURES ON HERE THAT SHOULD BE BANNED AN NOT ABLE TO PUT ON HERE IT IS DUMB…. I THINK THIS SHOULD BE A WEB SITE FOR ONLY 21 AN OLDER AN U HAVE TO FILL OUT A SURVEY AN BE APPROVED FIRST BEFORE BEING ABLE TO SET UP A PAGE….. IT WOULD SAVE ALOT OF PROBLEMS MAYBE AN WHOEVER MADE THOSE STUPID ACCUSATIONS SHOULD OF BEEN PUT IN JAIL AN PRESS CHARGES ON THEM TO SHOW THEM THAT IT IS NOT FUNNY TO PLAY WITH PEOPLE LIFES OR STOP THEIR DEUCATION….

IT Guy says:

Myspace not responsible

The school should have shut down for the day and told kids not to come to school.. Very similarly to a bomb threat. The schools sends everyone home regardless of how “reliable” the information is. If it actually was a bomb, and they didn’t send kids home.. lawsuits galore. The person responsible is the kid or kids who wrote it in the first place. Myspace is merely a medium of which to communicate. Also, parents are responsible. Why are they not more closely monitoring their kids online? As a director of technology and father, I am very cautious as to what my son is exposed to online. He does have a myspace account, but it’s set as private, and he does not share personally identifiable information. Parents need to watch their kids. Not Myspace, not the government, not the school.

The One and Only Wraith says:

Holy...

Myspace was originally created for musicians to find other musicians. Leave it up to the collective stupidity of the human race to find some other less than desirable use for this outlet. I am a musician who cannot find decent band members… and would prefer that myspace was shut down at this point. Now it’s just a home for self-proclaimed societal outcasts, the psychologically challenged, immature teens, and the pedophiles who prey on them. Take a look at the pornography-grade material that is allowed on myspace now, and tell me that any school children should be allowed on that site.

Myspace should be an enforced ’18 and over’ site at this point. Any who care to disagree may feel free to ask themselves why they truly feel the way they feel.

The Principle in this case is somewhat correct, as the site is easily accessible by the underaged.

As an aside, I recently heard about Myspace’s ‘cease & Desist’ letters to websites using the term ‘Myspace’ on their pages. Well, that will not last at all, as that is against freedom of speech and freedom of information. If, persay I would like to view other peoples’ opinions on Myspace, then I should be able to view such opinions. What would people then refer to it as? Fuckspace? Ass-Space? RetardedSpace?

They have to wake up and smell the law texts.

-Later

InvaderMao says:

Myspace is not responsible.

Myspace is not at fault because if they really wanted to spread such a rumor and if Myspace was shut down, they would have found some other way to communicate the message. The problem would still be there, and as long as there is technology teenagers are going to use it to their full advantage.

The only reason pedifiles and online predators are able to harm people online is because victims make the mistake of giving too much information making themselves vulnerable to such dangers. If a teenage girl is desperate enough for affection from strangers she will find some way to get it. There is a freedom to post whatever you want on your myspace and also a freedom to not post things on your myspace. If anything the problem is ignorance in our society. Another reason why myspace should not be shut down is because it will anger the thousands of teenage users who will, upon the destruction of the website, seek out alternatives and possibly more dangerous ones in order to spite those who were forcing them to give up their method of escapism which was keeping many from wandering the streets late at night. Instead of trying to eradicate aspects of technology and write them off as bad, they need to first come up with a solution to the problems that need to be addressed and possibly make myspace better. Remember, users have the option to block other users and they have the option to keep away from those they don’t know as friends in real life from school, or work, or church, etc.

I am a teenager, and I use Myspace. The only people I have on my myspace are close friends and relatives who live too far away to have to deal with long-distance phone charges. If you think there is a problem with myspace, then come up with a solution, rather than blindly setting out to destroy something without thinking of the bad consequences that such an action might incur.

Summer says:

Myspace

I think Myspace should be held responsible because they should have a montor looking over that stuff. Because say someone were post a bullitien that says ” Im going to kill myself” then i think that they should have someone there to delete it. Or atleast check it because for what those kids put there that is not cool. Schools lost half of their students because of these kids stupidity. Myspace should not be blammed i tink these kids should be, but i also think that myspace should have some type of monitor on it so that if some kids were to post something and it is bad about them killing themselves then that should be deleted immidently and then taken to the cops.

Anonymous Coward says:

Idiots

MySpace shouldn’t be blamed. The government monitors any and all letter, conversations, chatroom, blogs, ect…. that are sent over the internet and phones, including cellular phones. It is a complete invasion of privacy. I do think that the parents as well as the kids that posted the comment on MySpace should be held responsible. MySpace does have a clause in the agreement that every user agrees to that says they aren’t responsible for content. They do however keep nudity from passing thru the cracks. I think MySpace is great. I have found alot of friends from the military and school. Parents have the ability to restrict certain pages from being displayed on the computers. BLAME THE KIDS AND THE PARENTS!!!! THE PRINCIBLE IS AN ASSHOLE…GET A LIFE!!!!

A tough mom says:

myspace

I’d encourage the school districts lawyers to prosecute the childs parents. I often wonder why everyone is so quick to blame technology in regards to children playing pranks online. Blame the parents. They are the people responsible for the childs actions. I happen to believe that if the penalty for the so called “terroristic threats” is severe enough it will stop. The computer is not a babysitter! Parents do YOUR job! Don’t expect others to do it for you.

Anonymous Coward says:

MySpace

What it’s about? It’s about this exact thing. Stupidity and boredom. Why else do you think this happened.

Other commenters: Ease up on the parents. Maybe if we didn’t build ourselves a society of materialistic morons, both parents wouldn’t be forced to work 8-10 hours a day leaving the children to hold responsibilities they’re clearly not ready for… such as getting their butt to school.

Gotta say thou, if I heard through any means that there was going to be an act of extreme violence at my place of work I would take reasonable measures before just strolling in the next day…

LaDaris Mungin says:

Think about it though

I agree alot of the faault should rest on concious shoulders on the kids. Though to put no blame on the weapon is madness. Everyone dont be lead a stray just because of what the comment above yours says. Why do you think certain guns are limited to military use only it’s because though it may be the fault of who ever used it certain variable should’nt be in the equation anyway. Dont get me wrong though them is some bad ass kids lol.

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