Thursday, February 02, 2006
The Other Side Of Blogging.
This is a very interesting, repeating and of course post-inevitable concern amongst the blogs, and bloggers of the world.
If you have been on My Space, or Xanga and fished around...No not phished around, but looked through some of the personal blogs that these kids -and not only the kids, they are simply the focus of this article- are keeping, it can get a little disconcerting.
Amanda Paulson, the author of "School's grapple with policing Students' Online Journals" found in the CSM, raises a good point, I think.
Never before has such personal information been so widely available in such abundance. You don't even have to be a member of these services to have access to at least free previews of what lies ahead.
Addresses, photos, personal information such as age, height, favorite and least favorite things. These are all just a few of the bits of information that if in the wrong hands could be potentially very devastating.
So, what to do?
Regulate the bloggers and their blogs, right?
Well, of course there are immediate civil issues that are unsheathed. It is one thing to filter blogs in public institutions such as schools, libraries and the like.
But to discuss a filtration system for the home, my first amendment spidey sense just knocked my imaginary gavel out of my hand.
I think that point is pretty widely well established and recognized, but there is mention of writing up a contract that each student, and I imagine each parent will have to sign at this particular school, saying that they will not bully blog or say hurtful or spiteful or vindictive things. Or something like that, I just made it up. I imagine that is how it would run though. Signing a contract like that and whisking away a first amendment right, can be a tricky thing. I only hope that parents are aware of the situation, in Chicago and elsewhere, and that they should be wary of signing a document, or having their children sign a document riddled with invasion of civil liberty.
I don't know.
Should bloggers be kept in check at home if they are writing things that could potentially be construed as near "future violence" ideology?
Let's hear it.
If you have been on My Space, or Xanga and fished around...No not phished around, but looked through some of the personal blogs that these kids -and not only the kids, they are simply the focus of this article- are keeping, it can get a little disconcerting.
Amanda Paulson, the author of "School's grapple with policing Students' Online Journals" found in the CSM, raises a good point, I think.
Never before has such personal information been so widely available in such abundance. You don't even have to be a member of these services to have access to at least free previews of what lies ahead.
Addresses, photos, personal information such as age, height, favorite and least favorite things. These are all just a few of the bits of information that if in the wrong hands could be potentially very devastating.
So, what to do?
Regulate the bloggers and their blogs, right?
Well, of course there are immediate civil issues that are unsheathed. It is one thing to filter blogs in public institutions such as schools, libraries and the like.
But to discuss a filtration system for the home, my first amendment spidey sense just knocked my imaginary gavel out of my hand.
I think that point is pretty widely well established and recognized, but there is mention of writing up a contract that each student, and I imagine each parent will have to sign at this particular school, saying that they will not bully blog or say hurtful or spiteful or vindictive things. Or something like that, I just made it up. I imagine that is how it would run though. Signing a contract like that and whisking away a first amendment right, can be a tricky thing. I only hope that parents are aware of the situation, in Chicago and elsewhere, and that they should be wary of signing a document, or having their children sign a document riddled with invasion of civil liberty.
I don't know.
Should bloggers be kept in check at home if they are writing things that could potentially be construed as near "future violence" ideology?
Let's hear it.
