Another MySpace Lawsuit

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7 responses to “Another MySpace Lawsuit”

1. 

   December 18, 2007

   Kim

   I agree, myspace is not to blame. I think parents really need to monitor their child’s computer and myspace account if they have one, but also be mindful that kids LIE and the LIE well about stuff like this. It is beyond reason and logic that a girl this young does not KNOW that having sex with a 30 year old is a crime. We need to educate our children who think they are adults at 13. THEY ARE NOT. My little sister in law is 14 and she has a myspace that we can all see and then we recently found out it was FAKE and she has another one she really uses that none of can see. When confronted she had a huge tantrum about her privacy blah blah blah. No one is taking control and this is how things happen.

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2. 

   December 18, 2007

   Bay

   I agree.
   I also know that these Parents are likely grieving and lashing out but when looking at the case You ask yourself at least I do where in hell were these parents while their little princess was roaming Myspace, No doubt claiming she was older than she was, and than posting to a 30 year old in TX. Not to mention where were they or where did they think she was when she was meeting up with and carrying on a relationship with that 30 year old for some time before HE(not that the fact he did break it off means anything good on his part) broke it off and she got depressed?

   It amazes me how it is always some website, internet provider, school or someone they know who is responsible for these poor kids deaths BUT it is never the parents responsibility they never seem to even begin to see where they are at fault or to blame.
   Sorry again I know it has to be hard to lose a Child but come on when you have kids You are responsible for them.
   Honestly I think a lot of the issues stem from these kids crying out for attention if you ever read posts by many of the teens on line now days you can see so many with issues of wanting attention or wanting love.

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3. 

   December 20, 2007

   Dan

   Bay, you’re absolutely right. Love and attention. That’s what all the kids say once they drop the act, the persona, the protective shell, the promiscuous ones, the ones using drugs, the ones who run away or “date” adults, the ones who think growing up too soon will make them free to find love and approval.

   Approval is huge.

   I think it takes 1 -2 hours a day to talk to your teens, and that means focused talk not stray comments. If you plan to have children, plan to talk to them no less than 1 hour/day until they are 20 – 22. Often kids need more. On top of all the talking, they need to do no fewer than 1 or 2 activities with you each week. Shopping, cooking, walking in the park. I shit you not, they NEED it.

   Talking to them is largely listening. Long stories of who said what to whom at the lunch table. You listen and ask questions. You get to know their friends and how your kid think. Sometimes you can say stuff like “wow, didn’t that hurt her feelings when you said that?” But mostly it’s listening. And do not fall into temptation and share too much of your personal stuff. Some, yes, but you are a parent and this is not your confidante. You are his/her confidante.

   Shockingly, kids want to tell you every little thing they think and do. They scare the crap out of themselves and they’re steeped in uncertainty.

   If you do this, they will still make insane mistakes. They will still tell lies. They will still storm out of the room telling you how evil or (invasive)you are for giving them limits. But beneath the outbursts, it will change everything.

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4. 

   December 20, 2007

   Samantha

   I find this rather ridiculous. I suppose if they’d met randomly in a mall then the parents would be trying to sue the mall? The daughter chose to have a relationship with this man. She, most likely, chose to have sex with him (considering the relationship continued for months afterwards), and she chose to end her life. They were her choices&hellip probably not the best choices&hellip but choices she made. MySpace is guilty of nothing in this case and should not have to pay anything to her parents for choices it (MySpace) had nothing to do with.

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5. 

   December 24, 2007

   Dan

   Kids are incapable of making such choices. 14 year olds are equipped and fully capable of choosing on their own which salad dressing to use, but not sex and death decisions. I was going to say what shirt to wear, but I thought better of it. Kids need support, guidance, and the relentless message that we love them too much to leave them to their own devices. Sometimes this feels invasive to them. Tough shit. It may be a superior pain in the ass to stay on top of the situation and weather their tantrums. Tough shit.

   Kids can’t make an unsupported choice. Unguided, it’s not a choice at all but a stab in the dark. It’s like hoping a kid learns to swim by throwing them in the lake. Struggling furiously, some will make it to shore. And some will drown.

   They may look like grown ups, but they’re kids. They have very little idea what’s going on. They are supremely confused and susceptible. So many people seem to have this idea that parenting is winding down when their kids are 13. In fact, parenting demands are just getting warmed up. Hunker down. Dig in. It’s go time.

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6. 

   December 27, 2007

   Samantha

   Re: Dan’s Comments.

   By the age of 14, a ‘child’ should know right from wrong… should know you don’t have sex with just anyone… and you talk things out first… you don’t just off yourself.

   If a 14 year old does not know these things, it&rsquos because the parents have never set proper boundaries or demonstrated an open line of communication where the teen could come to them with his or her problems.

   Regardless, even a &lsquostab in the dark&rsquo is still a choice, not necessarily a good choice, probably not a well informed, or a well thought out choice, but a choice nonetheless.

   If an adult makes a &lsquobad&rsquo choice, it&rsquos still considered the adult&rsquos choice and that adult will have to live with the consequences&hellip I believe the same is true of anyone over the age of 8.

   It is true that children cannot rationalize on the same level as adults&hellip but they know darn well when they are doing something wrong and only continue to do &lsquobad&rsquo things for attention and/or they know the available punishments are minimal. Kids, and especially teens, are a heck of a lot smarter than most adults give them credit for.

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7. 

   February 8, 2008

   Kristine

   There are numerous assumptions being tossed around in this comment section, and ignorance abounds. You write as if you are all teens with zero capacity to understand anything from an adult perspective, much less the fact that serious depression is lethal. Depression is often a fatal ILLNESS like cancer or heart disease. Suicide is the #3 killer of teens and the #2 killer of college students. Approximately 1 million people take their own lives in the world each year. Approximately 2/3 of the 90% that suffer from a disorder, suffer from depression. DEPRESSION KILLS and can take a young teen far beyond any “CHOICE to off” themselves.

   Did you ever stop to consider the impact that mean, cruel and jealous girls might have in high school? Possibly some of you quality? A beautiful girl breaks out with some horrible blemishes on her face for 6 months, and in that duration of time, some nasty little witch takes the opportunity to tell this sensitive and beautiful girl that she is UGLY !! What do you think that does to an emotional and impressionable young teen besides break her heart? The next thing she knows, a seemingly nice guy starts to manipulate and groom her on the Internet. She does not look at him as if he is a sexual predator, but as a really nice guy that begins to pay attention to her daily . . . Day after day, month after month, the compliments are flowing to the teen. He initially LIES about his age, so defenses are down. A mom’s head would have to be propped upon a teens shoulder 100% of the time in order to deflect the communication. All it takes is answering a phone call, using the restroom, cleaning up after a pet, etc . . . When many of you young “know-it-alls” decide to have children some day, lets hope that the “Wild Rotten West” of the Internet is more tame. Possibly some of the numerous bills that have failed to become law will make the journey . . .Finally. Then you won’t have to worry about your 12 year old son stumbling upon some sick and twisted rated XXX site when he wants to study up on the Whitehouse in Washington DC. Your daughter will have safety features in place on sites that will prevent the hundred of thousands of sex offenders/pedophiles from having easy access to her. Surely that is the goal of many parents today . . .For our children to have far less reasons to experience anxiety over the Internet dangers. And also on the up side . . . You can tell yourself that YOU are indeed the perfect parent, because you won’t lose your baby to an online predator, or to a sea of porn that could destroy your son’s perception of a normal relationship. You will be able to pat yourself on the back and say that you are a much better parent then those of the last decade ! That is if the mindful parents of this decade do all of the footwork for YOU in order to make your lives and that of your children safer !! You are the children and grandchildren to be of those doing the “footwork” and suffering today. It is a labor of LOVE.

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