<p>Talk about shifting the responsibility, but I’d bet that it’s the girl’s parents, not the girl, who decided to sue over this. IJMO, they’d be better off campaigning to help teens be more aware of safety issues, and to help parents’ be more involved in kids’ Internet use.</p>
<p>"AUSTIN, Texas - A 14-year-old girl who says she was sexually assaulted by another user of MySpace.com sued the social networking Web site Monday, claiming it does not take sufficient steps to protect underage members.</p>
<p>The girl says a 19-year-old man lied in his profile about being a senior on a football team to gain her trust and phone number.</p>
Because she was completely unaware that people lie about who they are on the internet? </p>
<p>Agree, NSM. It is, however, very tough for parents to acknowledge that something that horrible happened to their kid - that has got to be one of the worst things a parent can go through. Even more difficult when it happened, in part, from one’s own negligence.</p>
<p>unfortunately, the article doesn’t indicate if the sex was consensual; if he was a year younger, say 18, and a football captain, would there be any claim?</p>
<p>I don’t understand why parents don’t get it. This girl could have just as easily been raped by a 17 year old senior who was a member of a football team. The internet is no way to assess the character of a person. Parents need to meet the people with whom their children are associating…have them over, check them out.</p>
<p>actually, I do get it (I think). On a different cc thread, I was one of the (only?) parents that suggested that kids NOT be allowed to use MySpace, period, for all the safety reasons inherent in it.</p>
<p>Did he assault her by jumping through the computer? If her parents knew where their daughter was, what she was doing, and with whom this couldn’t have happened. It’s not Myspace’s fault.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with myspace. However, like all things, parents need to determine the intelligence/maturity levels of their children before letting them get into situations both on and off the internet.</p>
<p>In another time, in another place, this is the girl who would have been assaulted after crashing a party made up of an older crowd, or agreeing to a blind hook up with a friend of a friend, or going behind the movie theater with a cute boy she met in the lobby. Kids make bad decisions and kids lie about things, universal truths.</p>
<p>I repeat, there is nothing wrong with myspace. But as a parent I have watched very closely everything my kids have done online. Nothing online is private, so everything is available for me to see.</p>
<p>there is nothing wrong with myspace. myspace did not tell the girl to give her phone number and contact information out to anyone on the internet. Especially to a senior football player when she’s only 14? That’s her own doing. he may of lied, however it wouldn’t of happened had she not been naive enough to give out her own personal information in the first place…</p>
<p>he picked her up from school, and didn’t they do a movie</p>
<p>to blame myspace is absord, the parents are feeling like )%*# so they want to blame someone else cause their daughter probably lied to them, and was attacked.</p>
<p>She got into that car on her own…I am really angry she was raped, but to blame anyone but the guy who did the assualt is absurd</p>
<p>People have to stop blaming the internet for their stupidity.</p>
<p>First of all…the guy didn’t lie about his age. He said he was a high school senior, high school seniors are typically anywhere from 17-19. So, he apparently lied about being the captain of the football team.</p>
<p>The girl knew she was dealing with a guy between 17-19, as a 14 year old. If it was really a problem that he lied about being captain of a football team, she could have easily looked up who the captain of the football team really was.</p>
<p>So, the guy lied about being football captain, and he was either a high school senior, or one year out of school. The girl knew that the guy was older than her and continued talking to him anyway…sounds like the girl’s fault to me. She’s lucky she didn’t end up talking to some 40 year old sex offender.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s wrong that she was raped…(does “sexual assult” necessarily mean she was raped?), but she made some really stupid decisions.</p>
<p>Here’s something that is scary for me- what about when your son turns 18? I mean, he’s a senior in hs, or a frosh at college, and still in close contact with girls that are 16 and 17. So if there’s any kind of physical contact, guess whose going under the jail?
We had a situation recently where a young lady (16) was in pursuit of my son (18). He wasn’t really interested in her as a serious girlfriend, although she made it clear that she was willing to have a good time with him. Had he taken her up on her invitation (hopefully he didn’t- I don’t think so but I’m sure it would be hard for a hormonally driven 18 yr old to say no), and then blew her off, she could cause some serious damage. Stuff like that scares me to death.</p>
<p>First of all…this girl is ridiculous for suing myspace. the fact that she met a guy in person that she only met on myspace shows she has bad judgment. also, i have a myspace. so do most of my friends. i dont know a single person who’s ever gotten into a dangerous situation due to the site. if you agree to fricken meet some stranger you dont know than you’re not the brighest crayon in the box. myspace is becoming a target of the media, unjustly if you ask me. We’re at the age when we know right from wrong, so if these girls are out getting sexually molested by some guy on this site, than they’re not exercising good judgment ( in having had met them in the first place) and the MySpace website should not be held accountable.</p>
<p>A few years ago I backed my car (a Toyota 4Runner) into a tree and did some damage. I think it’s Toyota’s fault. They provided the car I used to back up in, and did not adequately protect me from hitting the tree. I know I could have not bought the car, or purchased one with a better bumper or with a larger rear-view mirror. But I didn’t. And when I bought the Toyota, they did not warn me that I might hit a tree with it. Can I sue?</p>
<p>=====================</p>
<p>But on a more serious note, there is an age below which we presume that kids are not responsible for their poor judgement because thay do not have the experience and life skills to make the proper choices. There’s the sense that we need to protect children. In the age of the internet, kids are so often on their own, thinking - believing - that the world is a relatively safe place.</p>
<p>I’ve never been to myspace.com (and now I’m afraid to go because I don’t want to look like an old lurker cruising a site that young people frequent) so I’m not really sure how it works. Is it for adults as well? Or has the younger set pretty much co-opted it?</p>
<p>I could lend you some of MY kids! <em>lol</em> I have seen ALL of these sites because my younger kids have friends who keep blogs, and they will call me over to see this or that…</p>
<p>Actually, I am most familiar with xanga…it was quite popular before MySpace became “the thing.”</p>
<p>Though my kids occasionally read these blogs, none of them keeps one. They do not find it necessary to gain the attention of a bunch of strangers. Interestingly, my kids have run across SEVERAL blogs belonging to their friends’ parents (moms). Some of the stuff they’ve seen has SHOCKED THEM–and ME! So, though it is mainly a “teen thang,” there ARE some adults who think this is a productive thing to do for some reason.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about MySpace, but I KNOW you can read xanga w/o registering, so if you want to take a look for curiosity’s sake, I think it is a good idea. It truly IS eye-opening…</p>
<p>I think some responsibilty needs to come from the kids (i am not saying she is to blame for beign sexually assulted). I was a teenager on the internet and yes i did chat to people but i had the common sense not to go out and meet complete strangers… teenagers are old enough to realise the dangers. </p>
<p>All in all i dont think parents can stop teenagers from accessing the internet or chatting, there are always net cafes and comptuers at school etc… just try to instil some common sense in them. (i suppose it is tough to force some teenagers to have common sense though)</p>
<p>digmedia, that is the perfect example for this situation. i commend you for thinking of it.</p>
<p>that girl is old enough to know not to give out her phone number on the internet, not to meet up with complete strangers… I mean, aren’t we told since we were born not to “talk to strangers”… Of course we don’t take it to that extreme… but i am pretty sure giving out your phone number and planning a visit with a stranger who you KNOW is 3-4 years older than you falls under the don’t talk to strangers category.</p>
Interestingly, my kids have run across SEVERAL blogs belonging to their friends’ parents (moms). Some of the stuff they’ve seen has SHOCKED THEM–and ME! So, though it is mainly a “teen thang,” there ARE some adults who think this is a productive thing to do for some reason.</p>