HW 7 Applying Graff, Chapter 3 to "My So-Called Blog"

After reading Emily Nussbaum’s “My So-Called Blog”, mixed opinions came to mind. I do believe in children having their freedom though-out the adolescent years, but I think it needs some moderation. From experience, my parents did have trust in me to ‘follow the rules of the internet’. I was not allowed to talk to strangers and I definitely understood that from the talks that my parents gave me. I was taught not to give out personal information and not to write my full name on anything. The only times I would be on the internet was to e-mail, research, or instant message. I was not allowed to ‘blog’ or use ‘live journal’. I was not allowed to talk to people in ‘chat rooms’ either. I had rules and I followed them. For other children I do feel that they have as much freedom as they have ever wanted. Children a lot of times do not know the right from wrong if they are not taught it. This is why I think that monitoring children on computers to see what they are up to is a good thing. The internet is a scary place for everyone. There is a quote in the reading that I would like to address. Nussbaum addresses, "Silence like this can create paranoia. It may be friends that didn’t read the post. Or it may mean that they thought the post was stupid. There’s a temptation to take silence- in real life or online-as a snub. ‘If I get a mean comment I go back and look at it again and again, it starts to bother me,’ M. told me. ‘But then I think, If I delete it, everyone will know this bothers me. But if I respond, it’ll mean I need to fight back. So it turns into a conflict...’ (Kline and Burstein 355) All of the journals and blog’s can cause so much more tension and stress into one’s life. Is it necessary to let this be part of your child’s life? I do not feel that journals and being online without supervision is appropriate till one knows the difference between right and wrong. Safety is a major issue here and I feel that this is and unsafe environment for people who don’t know better.