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Summer Camps Join Fray Against MySpace

The New York Times reports that now even summer camps are raising concerns about social networking sites such as MySpace, Friendster, and Facebook. Camps are worried about the ramifications of certain activities being associated with their summer programs after revealing pictures or postings are made online. Some camps are banning digital cameras, while others are instructing campers and parents to remove references to the camps from blog postings. Of course, the camps take the stance that they are merely trying to protect the children:
"The information that kids share today often is personal and private information that allows predators to track them down. We're also concerned about cyber-bullying."

251 comments

  1. And one time, on My Space by PIPBoy3000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't wait for the Band Camp references to begin.

    1. Re:And one time, on My Space by hurfy · · Score: 1

      Sorry, i really tried and just came up blank.....no wait that was the censor you should see...oh nm

      hehe just glad i was usually the only one with a camera at band camp ;)

      anyways, good luck with getting kids to not talk about camp. Complain about ppl talking behind your back and what do you suppose happens :)

    2. Re:And one time, on My Space by TubeSteak · · Score: 2, Funny

      This one time, at Band Camp, I tried to go online and check Slashdot from the computer lab.

      So this one kid, who hates me because I'm better, looked over my shoulder while I was surfing.

      When he saw the "News for Nerds" banner, he started shouting "News for Nerds! Stuff that Sucks!" over and over again. Everyone at camp stopped what they were doing to chant along.

      I cried myself to sleep that night and the next day, everyone called me "nerdface".

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    3. Re:And one time, on My Space by cyberscan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Just as paedophiles are profiled on the web, so are their victims. rather than using paedophilia as an excuse for governments to pound us back into the stone age, governments should stop worrying about dropping paedophiles' docs and start worrying about doing its job locking up or killing child rapists. Governments have always used dangerous people as an excuse to take our freedoms away rather than doing something about the dangerous people. MySpace should remain open and children should continue to post online while at the same time, authorities should do away with those who are guilty of raping kids (or anyone else for that matter).

    4. Re:And one time, on My Space by jez9999 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      governments should [...] start [...] killing

      Barbarian.

    5. Re:And one time, on My Space by Cal+Paterson · · Score: 1

      I agree. I think you'll find, however, that no one else does.

    6. Re:And one time, on My Space by Travelsonic · · Score: 1

      No, real slashdotters go to or work at a computer camp... like I am right now. ^_^

      --
      If you believe in privacy, and believe you have "nothing to hide" at the same time, you're a goddammed idiot
    7. Re:And one time, on My Space by Thing+1 · · Score: 1

      What about having the government perform the victim profiling?

      If the government can find the victims before the criminals do, then the government can alert the victims (and their parents) about a potential threat. Or, how to teach their child proper online behavior.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    8. Re:And one time, on My Space by deficite · · Score: 2, Funny

      A letter from the government to the parents of little Susie.

      Dear parents of little Susie:
              Your child has a really nice body and her legs are so fine that they'd just drive a pedophile CRAZY! You should really keep an eye on her, for none of us here at your gov't would like to see her get on top of a pedophile.

    9. Re:And one time, on My Space by andrewman327 · · Score: 1

      Here's a little party trick that works as well for camp as anywhere else: be the one taking the pictures and you will stay out of trouble. As an added bonus, you will have blackmail on so many people. I go to college in Washington DC, so I plan to ruin some political careers in a decade or so.

      --
      Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
  2. I heard... by tacarat · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... that Camp Crystal lake was heading this initiative.

    --
    "Common sense will be the death of us all"
    1. Re:I heard... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      What a sad world we live in when American Pie references are rated higher than slasher movie references.

    2. Re:I heard... by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hey, if they just threw some hardcore masturbation scenes in Friday the 13th too, we wouldn't have this problem.

    3. Re:I heard... by swarsron · · Score: 1

      Together with Camp Crusty

    4. Re:I heard... by tacarat · · Score: 1

      Hey, if they just threw some hardcore masturbation scenes in Friday the 13th too, we wouldn't have this problem.

      Cumming soon to an adult theater near you:
      Friday the 18th: Barely Legal

      --
      "Common sense will be the death of us all"
  3. Thoughts of American Pie by CRCulver · · Score: 0, Troll

    Now anyone with a one time at band camp story can post video footage to the Internet. What great things MySpace has brought.

  4. No pictures? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are these FEMA camps we are talking about?

    1. Re:No pictures? by GigsVT · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The new world order IS a mess of misorganization and incompetence.

      Just look at the USSR, it could have been described as exactly that. Nepotism, bribes, kickbacks, major corruption, social programs that are just jobs for the incompetent, spying on your political foes... It wasn't a sleek, well oiled government, it was a government bursting at the seams under the weight of corruption.

      I mean just the other day, there was a prison shootout, not between the guards and prisioners, but between federal agents trying to shut down the huge number of corrupt guards.

      The real criminals aren't the ones behind the bars, it's the ones in power.

      --
      I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
    2. Re:No pictures? by FudRucker · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      ^mod^parent^up^

      --
      Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  5. Banning progress does not work by the_furman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's perfectly understandable that summer camp administrators are concerned. There's cause for concern. I think, however, that trying to ban kids from socializing online and discussing their camp experiences is definitly not the way to go. Social networking sites like Myspace are a reality, and trying to ban reality never works. Teaching kids about safe behaviour on the 'net would be a much more viable option, IMHO.

    1. Re:Banning progress does not work by mantar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Absolutely correct, and while I think it's cute that camps are taking an interest in the kids that attend, where are the parents in all of this? There's no doubt that these social networking sites can be dangerous for teenage girls who can't keep their lid shut about personal issues (have you ever met a teenage girl who could?), so why are parents not taking an active interest in their children's online activity?

      --
      # man tar
    2. Re:Banning progress does not work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Teaching safe behavior on the web would require parents to actually care about what their kids do while surfing. Like they do with computer games, and television, and...

    3. Re:Banning progress does not work by kesuki · · Score: 1

      This issue goes deeper than just 'security' of the campers, but also to disgruntled campers taking random nude photos off the internet and claiming that they were taken at camps etc, smearing the names of camp councelors etc.

      Still, most social networking sites have some kind of profile reporting system, usually staffed by volunteers, to keep nudity offline... but yeah, i can kinda see both sides of the issue on this one, both letting kids socialize, and at the same time trying to keep them safe. really it's up to the parents of the children to teach them good manners and responsibility, and how to socialize acceptably.

      As to banning reality, I know quite a few people with an iron curtain of suspension of disbelief. how well it works depends on your definition of 'working.' If living inside a cave with no access in or out is your idea of a 'working security model' then feel free to enjoy the perfect harmony of letting nobody in :)

    4. Re:Banning progress does not work by the_furman · · Score: 1

      The problem of libel and slander is not new or unique to the internet and there are perfectly fine machanisms in place for dealing with it that have worked just fine over the years.

  6. here's an idea by grapeape · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why not provide better supervision of the kids at summer camp so that there is less dirt to post about? Oh wait that would require someone to actually take some responsibility...

    1. Re:here's an idea by bunions · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, we should be watching the children 24-7 and never let them make mistakes. That's a sure way to raise kids that are smart and self-reliant.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    2. Re:here's an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not the point the parent was trying to make. Why do parents always have to blame someone or something else for mistakes they could have prevented. Parents should supervise their kids when they are on the internet. If you don't want your son looking at porn you are going to need to watch him or that is the first place he will go. Trust me I was 13 with a dial-up connection, I know.

      Watch your kids when they are on the internet, or don't cry if your kid gets abducted from posting their exact address, the way the walk home, and their phone number on the internet!

    3. Re:here's an idea by bunions · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Watch your kids when they are on the internet, or don't cry if your kid gets abducted from posting their exact address, the way the walk home, and their phone number on the internet!

      Sure. What I'm concerned about is someone sneaking into the girls locker room, taking photos with their digital camera and spreading them all over the internet. Technology has changed what used to be a harmless prank into something potentially really nasty.

      Why do parents always have to blame someone or something else for mistakes they could have prevented.

      I'd like you to explain how I could be reasonably expected prevent something like this, assuming I wasn't the parent of one of the hypothetical kids who took the hypothetical pictures.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    4. Re:here's an idea by Neptune0z · · Score: 1

      Someone to actually take some responsibility...WTF are you talking about?...This is the USA, noone takes responsibility anymore. Not politicians (They blame congress and other politicians), not corporations (They redirect misconduct to some lone-renegade-employee), and worst of all not the parents (They blame the teachers and society as a whole)...It's pretty obvious here that the camps are just trying to avoid bad publicity for their own shortcomings...Very few people have any integrity left...sad... P.S....Oh pleasssse!, Wont you just think of the children!

    5. Re:here's an idea by LordLucless · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Exactly the same thing you could do if the kid in question run off a hundred photocopiers and dropped in them in mailboxes around town. And it wouldn't be complaining that the local library should somehow be made to supervise anyone using their photocopiers.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    6. Re:here's an idea by bunions · · Score: 1

      There's a big difference between "100 mailboxes around town" and "global availability." Not to mention that the 100 mailboxes idea represents orders of magnitude more work. Pretending that these things are equivalent is disingenuous.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    7. Re:here's an idea by LordLucless · · Score: 1

      They have the same effect (albeit on a different scale), therefore they should have the same punishment.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    8. Re:here's an idea by ClamIAm · · Score: 1

      Kids are going to make mistakes whether or not you "watch" them. The problem lies in those who are trying to create a bubble life for them.

    9. Re:here's an idea by bunions · · Score: 1

      Stealing a candy bar and stealing 4 million dollars have the same effect (albeit on a different scale), therefore they should have the same punishment.

      Honestly, wtf.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    10. Re:here's an idea by LordLucless · · Score: 1

      They're both larceny, and they're both punished as larceny. Posting 100 photos in meatspace and posting them in a globally-accessible location in cyberspace are both the same crime, and should be treated as such. I'm not sure exactly what that crime would be - publication of photos without a model licence maybe? - but they're the same crime.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    11. Re:here's an idea by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      You lost me. You were talking about a harmless prank, then something 'really nasty', but it still sounded like a harmless prank to me.

    12. Re:here's an idea by bunions · · Score: 1

      well, one is larceny and one is grand-grand-grand larceny, and the punishments scale accordingly. My point isn't that one is stealing and one isn't, my point is the punishments fluctuate dramatically with scale.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    13. Re:here's an idea by LordLucless · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and that should be applied to the original "crime". They're both the same crime, in nature, and they should both receive the same punishment, in nature. But it's often suggested that you punish the criminal in the real world, but a third party if the crime is committed online. For some reason.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    14. Re:here's an idea by bunions · · Score: 1

      I guess at this point I really don't have any idea what you're talking about or what you're driving at.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    15. Re:here's an idea by LordLucless · · Score: 1

      I'm drawing a parallel. The original article was about someone taking photos of other people, and posting them on MySpace. People were saying that MySpace should be held responsible for this. I said that was analagous to someone photocopying the photos and dropping them in letterboxes, and then punishing the owner of the photocopier. I said the punishment for both "crimes" should be the same, meaning that if you punish the person who made the copies in the real world, then you should punish the same person for the crime committed online; the punishment should not be shoved off on to MySpace (or PhotoBucket or any other internet middle-man).

      You then made a comment about two different scales of larceny not deserving the same punishment, and the conversation deviated.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    16. Re:here's an idea by bunions · · Score: 1

      a harmless prank is peeking into the girls shower at camp. 'really nasty' is taking pix of girls showering at camp and posting them on the internet. I assume you can see the difference.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    17. Re:here's an idea by bunions · · Score: 1

      So I looked back over the thread. What I'm saying is that since the potential for harm is so much greater now with tiny cameras everywhere and the ease with which you can spread images on the internet, I agree with whatever camps have decided to ban cameras and cameraphones. Obviously MySpace isn't responsible for what people post on it.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    18. Re:here's an idea by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      We're talking peers here, boys and girls at the same camp, and not some pedophile starting with child porn before escalating to molestation, right? Then it seems to me that the harm, unless you've got some weird hangup, comes from the embarassment, right? You know, from being seen by people you know, and knowing they saw you? Sounds like 90% of the harm comes before the internet is even involved then....

      In my experience, when somebody can't actually explain something and have to resort to saying "I assume that you see..", that person really has no rational reason for thinking what they think. Just an irrational belief. Stop thinking that something is 'obvious' and put some thought into why you're so certain. Please, tell me what actual harm comes from an anonymous picture ending up on the internet that is worse than what comes from being embarrased in front of all of your adolescent peers. Keep in mind that you probably never find out that the picture is on the internet, and nobody who sees it knows that it's you.

    19. Re:here's an idea by bunions · · Score: 1
      Please, tell me what actual harm comes from an anonymous picture ending up on the internet that is worse than what comes from being embarrased in front of all of your adolescent peers.

      I don't know, what's worse, being embarassed in front of 10 people or 10 million? Remeber that "Star Wars Kid" with the light saber video?

      Keep in mind that you probably never find out that the picture is on the internet, and nobody who sees it knows that it's you.

      I don't see how that's even close to a safe assumption.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    20. Re:here's an idea by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      I don't know, what's worse, being embarassed in front of 10 people or 10 million? Remeber that "Star Wars Kid" with the light saber video?

      My assertion is that 10 million is worse, but only very slightly.

    21. Re:here's an idea by cndrr · · Score: 1

      I think it's just a tad easier to upload something to Flickr than to go and waste time photocopying and distributing the same picture. People (kids especially) tend to use less judgment on a decision that can be enacted in less than a minute.

      --
      cndrr
    22. Re:here's an idea by LordLucless · · Score: 1

      Does the fact that it's easier make it them any less responsible?

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    23. Re:here's an idea by soft_guy · · Score: 1

      Dear school,

      Susie is not allowed to take gym.

      Signed,
      Parent

      --
      Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
    24. Re:here's an idea by soft_guy · · Score: 1

      My assertion is that 10 million is worse, but only very slightly.

      Right. The Star Wars kid gets teased about the incident years later by random strangers on the street - and this will probably continue for the rest of his life.

      --
      Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
    25. Re:here's an idea by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      You would have a compelling argument if I believed for a second that was the case. In a few more years, he'll have aged enough that nobody will recognize him, even on the off chance that they actually remember anything about it.

      Besides, 99.9999etc% of the crap that gets posted to the internet doesn't become nearly as widely viewed and recognized. So I maintain my position that it's only slightly worse.

    26. Re:here's an idea by bunions · · Score: 1

      ok, well, I guess I'll just continue to maintain my position that it's a -lot- worse. I don't see how asking kids to leave their goddamn cellphones at home for summer camp is asking too much. Frankly, it's probably good for them to ditch the phone at home for a few weeks.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    27. Re:here's an idea by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      I don't see how asking kids to leave their goddamn cellphones at home for summer camp is asking too much. Frankly, it's probably good for them to ditch the phone at home for a few weeks.

      That's something we can both agree on.

  7. Need to blame someone by wiz31337 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I'm getting sick and tired of hearing parents, school counselors, child psychologists, etc blaming MySpace for virtually everything bad that could occur in a teens life.

    "[Camps] worry about online predators tracking children to camp and about their image being tarnished by inappropriate Internet juxtapositions"

    They claim in the article that predators will use MySpace to discover summer camps where children are going and then possibly kidnap them or something worse. Summer camps don't suddenly pop-up over night and contact parents via ESP to get their children to come; they advertise in the paper, on the Internet, and by fliers. MySpace isn't tipping anyone off to these "secretive" camps, anyone can go to Google and find 30 summer camps without any problem. As for predators using the information to choose their specific target, probably not.

    The article then goes on to say:
    "[Kids] were some things that we found that some of the kids posted that were really kind of nasty, saying bad things about counselors"
    If they have to list this as one of the reasons to abolish MySpace, they need to grow up.

    If someone can point me to some concrete facts about the number of abductions that have occurred solely as a result of a kid using MySpace (without any other factors) I will get off my soap box. I agree
    one case is too many, and it is horrible, but would it have happened anyway without MySpace?
    --
    /whisper/ Thanks for the candy!
    1. Re:Need to blame someone by TubeSteak · · Score: 5, Insightful
      "[Kids] were some things that we found that some of the kids posted that were really kind of nasty, saying bad things about counselors"
      It's called CYA (Cover Your Ass)

      All kinds of shit goes on at summer camps that would cause parents to freak.

      The administrators running these camps don't want those kinds of details to come out, since we know that people (regardless of age) are stupid when it comes to pictures on MySpace, FaceBook, Etc. It'd be a huge liability issue on their part. parents would be asking "how could you let [bad behavior caught on camera] happen?"

      "For the children" is just the easiest way to get everyone onboard.
      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    2. Re:Need to blame someone by bcat24 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Amen! Parents/schools/camps/etc. want a scapegoat, something they can blame for their incompetence. MySpace is the perfect thing to blame: it's new, it's different, and it's on Teh Scary Internet where Bad People hang out. Of course, the media doesn't help any with their scare tactics.

      Sure, MySpace can be dangerous, but so can anything other forum, or social thing in the world, for that matter. I guess I just wish people would spend less time attacking MySpace and more time teaching kids how to be safe and smart online.

    3. Re:Need to blame someone by zephc · · Score: 1

      Everyone knows predators use personal cloaking technology, vision-guided energy blasts, multi-wavelength heads-up displays. Much more effective than MySpace.

      --
      "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
    4. Re:Need to blame someone by hackstraw · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm getting sick and tired of hearing parents, school counselors, child psychologists, etc blaming MySpace for virtually everything bad that could occur in a teens life.

      Me too. The ironic thing is that those are the parents that simply should not have kids either.

      I mean, since when will the old standby of waiting at a school bus or going to a shopping mall and pulling the "I'm sorry Johnny, your parents were just in an accident, and I was asked to take you to the hospital to see them" or similar trick stop working?

      Yet again, more evidence that logic and reason go out the window when "computers" or "online" is involved. Every week I see kids missing on milkboxes or on those token mailers with the "Have you seen me?" on them. And you know what? I'm pulling this number out of the air, but its probably pretty close, over 90% of those missing kids were taken by most likely a parent or someone else they know. The others simply had such shitty parents that they just decided to fend for themselves.

      Lets just put all kids and their parents in prisons and call it even.

    5. Re:Need to blame someone by ottothecow · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I think you hit it right on the head of the nail there

      they are covering themselves from people saying bad things about problems with the camp but much more so, they know exactly what goes on at the camp. They probobly know that some parents also know what goes on and dont care but there are parents who would care if they knew and would at the least not send their children there and at the most, take legal action against the camp. I'm not sure exactly what is going on at these camps but if its not bad enough for the camp to actually do anything about it then its probobly not bad enough that the kids with overprotective parents cant experiance it.

      --
      Bottles.
    6. Re:Need to blame someone by Jim_Callahan · · Score: 1

      I don't think they're worried about people hanging out at summer camps and trying to grab kids at random, as that crime is virtually untouched one way or the other by the internet. They're worried about stalkers of specific children being able to identify a time and place when their target is vulnerable, which is a dramatically increased concern in this situation. Other than that, I think you've pretty much summarized accurately.

      --
      ...it's really a sad day for America when we require a goddamn ACT OF CONGRESS to make our DVD players work properly. ~
    7. Re:Need to blame someone by russellh · · Score: 1
      Amen! Parents/schools/camps/etc. want a scapegoat, something they can blame for their incompetence. MySpace is the perfect thing to blame: it's new, it's different,

      Parents don't want someone to blame for problems, they want to prevent problems. It doesn't matter who is to blame when your daughter turns up dead, because blame won't bring her back. Parents know there are fucked up people in the world, and the last thing we want to do is fuel their fantasies. but at the same time we don't want our children to be turned into suspicious, world-weary cynics.

      I guess I just wish people would spend less time attacking MySpace and more time teaching kids how to be safe and smart online.

      It's an ongoing problem. Communication and empathy is a lot of work.

      --
      must... stay... awake...
    8. Re:Need to blame someone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      All kinds of shit goes on at summer camps that would cause parents to freak.

      Like what? I don't recall anything worse than Truth or Dare games and some pretty vicious pillow-fight raids on other cabins. Actually, compared to what we got up to after school the rest of the year, it was like living in Mayberry. The healthiest and best supervised environment I can recall.

    9. Re:Need to blame someone by clem · · Score: 1

      I mean, since when will the old standby of waiting at a school bus or going to a shopping mall and pulling the "I'm sorry Johnny, your parents were just in an accident, and I was asked to take you to the hospital to see them" or similar trick stop working?

      One means of protecting your kids from this trick is to discuss this possibility with them ahead of time. Then come up with a passphrase for strangers to use if they really are supposed to pick up the kids. It's what my parents did for me and my brother.

      --
      Your courageous and selfless spelling corrections have made me a better person.
    10. Re:Need to blame someone by bhiestand · · Score: 1
      One means of protecting your kids from this trick is to discuss this possibility with them ahead of time. Then come up with a passphrase for strangers to use if they really are supposed to pick up the kids. It's what my parents did for me and my brother.

      My parents did that too. It was "hey kid, want some candy?" We only had to use it a few times, but the strangers always got me home afterwards... Come to think of it, my parents really were looking out for my best interests, even if they seemed disappointed every time I came home.
      --
      SWM seeks new sig for a brief fling
    11. Re:Need to blame someone by mpe · · Score: 1

      They claim in the article that predators will use MySpace to discover summer camps where children are going and then possibly kidnap them or something worse. Summer camps don't suddenly pop-up over night and contact parents via ESP to get their children to come; they advertise in the paper, on the Internet, and by fliers

      This is what is know as a "movie plot" something far more likely to happen in fiction being portrayed as a real world risk.

    12. Re:Need to blame someone by rbochan · · Score: 1

      Lets just put all kids and their parents in prisons and call it even.

      This is the USA... we're working on it.

      --
      ...Rob
      The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
    13. Re:Need to blame someone by lord+sibn · · Score: 1

      I respectfully disagree. One case is NOT too many. It is a tragedy.

      Ask yourself please: At what point are you willing to sacrifice liberty and privacy to prevent "one case" of child abuse?

      If you said invading the privacy of every citizen of the United States of America, then I would claim in turn that you voted for Bush.

      One of the quotes attributed (perhaps falsely, but is still a great quote) to Benjamin Franklin is "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

      My point is that it is indeed a tragedy when parents do not rise to their task of parenting, or that mistakes are made with all good intention. But I don't want the NSA wiretapping my phone and illegally monitoring my internet activity because your illegitimate daughter is positioning herself to be sexually assaulted via the WWW. If you have nothing to hide, please give me live camera feeds to every room in your house.

      None of my business what you're doing? Fucking right, it's not. It's none of the government's business either.

      Do not mistake the phrase "even one is too many" for "one is a tragedy."

    14. Re:Need to blame someone by muzthe42nd · · Score: 0
      --
      Pfft - Sorry, what?
    15. Re:Need to blame someone by WuphonsReach · · Score: 1

      This is what is know as a "movie plot" something far more likely to happen in fiction being portrayed as a real world risk.

      Hmmm, fellow reader of CRYPTO-GRAM? (Or did that idea of movie-plot threats start somewhere else?)

      (CRYPTO-GRAM is always a good place to read about security systems that protect against movie-plot threats but leave the barn door wide open to more mundane and common threats.)

      --
      Wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?
    16. Re:Need to blame someone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sir, have you been drinking?

      The parent never said anything about *you* giving up any privacy, he points out that the parents should watch their children better, not put cameras in every room.

      What does a parent watching their children have to do with the NSA wiretapping or monitoring *your* internet activity? I don't give a damn about what you are doing on the internet, and if you are over 18 neither should your parents. If you want to be a cock jockey (with persons 18+) on your freetime, so be it, the government and I surely don't care.

      Respectfully disagreeing: I think you lost the respect when you chimed in there with your "illegitimate daughter" comment.

      As far as the difference in phrases, pure semantics.

  8. So much for... by SecaKitten · · Score: 4, Funny

    So much for "What happens at camp stays at camp."

    1. Re:So much for... by maxpublic · · Score: 1

      Yeah, especially when it amounts to the (nearly inevitable) group of young (and sometimes older) male counselors who make it a point to bang as much teenage pussy as they can get their hands on. Now their hot, young, indiscreet partners will describe the encounter in detail on MySpace, putting an end to a revered camp tradition (not to mention an employment perk)!

      Max

      --
      My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
  9. Cyber-bullying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cyber-bullying! The number of social ills that are becoming cyborgs just never stops growing. To the likes of cybercrime, cyberterrorism, and cyberstalking we can now add such things as cyberbullying, cybervandalism, cyberadultery, cyberdomesticviolence, and cyberhalitosis. I'm not sure what that last one would be. Maybe that's the equivalent of an inability to spell. If so, that's definitely a problem that Myspace is going to have to deal with.

    1. Re:Cyber-bullying by Kesch · · Score: 1

      You think it's all jokes until the first time you get your cyberlunchmoney stolen.

      --
      If this signature is witty enough, maybe somebody will like me.
    2. Re:Cyber-bullying by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      "That's Big Dave Diode's bunk. How'd you like to wake up tomorrow morning and find your credit rating slashed?"

  10. Much like the fat guy in "Ernest Goes to Camp"... by Stick_Fig · · Score: 2, Insightful
    ...it sure feels like they're trying to solve all their problems by throwing Eggserronious on them.

    Let's not blame MySpace for any behavioral/discipline/legal problems. The real problem is that, much like the Last Chance kids from "Camp," you spent all your time allowing the older kids to treat them like dirt, and only Ernest (despite the whole posion ivy incident) really cared about them -- enough so that he was able to stop Kramer Construction singlehandedly.

    God, I love that movie.

    --
    ShortFormBlog: Writing a little. Saying a lot.
  11. what could be so bad? by fermion · · Score: 1

    It is like Jason's mom is going to come back the camp and avenge his death after some old guy pretending to be a horny girl seduces him over myspace for a tryst that results in a tragic boating accident in which they both drown. Hey, entire industries have been built on lamer premises.

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
  12. Move the camps to Nevada... by kimgkimg · · Score: 0, Redundant

    ... because what goes on in Vegas...

  13. A new age by celardore · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We all have digital cameras, camera phones etc... It's just a part of technology becoming more and more a part of our lives. It needn't be a bad thing, summer camp is probably one of the best places a teen can capture memories to show the family. Just because bad stuff can be done with these things doesn't mean an outright ban should follow.

    You're not allowed to take a camera into most swimming pools now, however much you want to capture your child first swimming. A few bad apples...

    1. Re:A new age by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      You're not allowed to take a camera into most swimming pools now, however much you want to capture your child first swimming. A few bad apples...


      You must be talking about the USA, land of the free. First amendment. But luckily, there are still countries whose citizens are free.

    2. Re:A new age by celardore · · Score: 1
      You must be talking about the USA, land of the free. First amendment. But luckily, there are still countries whose citizens are free.

      Actually, I was talking about England. And I don't really agree that a ban on cameras in pools is invading your freedom any more than it is anothers freedom not to be photographed in swimwear. I was just saying is all.
    3. Re:A new age by Lehk228 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      and yet the pervs camp across the street (or a quarter mile away) with a 200mm lens and get far better pics than a cheap digicam can get at close range

      yet again regulation solves nothing

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  14. Think of the children!! by Vellmont · · Score: 1

    So in other words, summer camps don't want parents to look at some kids account of his camp experience on myspace about making out with a girl, and then freaking out that it's all one big den of sexual experimentation.

    The whole thing sounds ridiculous to me. Trademarking your camp name, and then using that to try to control speech sounds just wrong to me. If parents are really getting the wrong idea about a camp by reading what a 12 year old has to say about it on myspace, the problem is in the parents listening to a 12 year old on myspace, not the 12 year old being a 12 year old.

    --
    AccountKiller
    1. Re:Think of the children!! by soft_guy · · Score: 1

      the problem is in the parents listening to a 12 year old on myspace, not the 12 year old being a 12 year old.

      No, clearly the problem is that 12 year olds are 12 years old. I therefore propose to solve the problem by making all 12 year olds 13.

      --
      Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
  15. "Cyber Bullying"? by IthnkImParanoid · · Score: 3, Funny

    Proof the internet is now just as much for dumb jocks as it is for nerds. Guess it's time to get started on the Metaverse, where we can be free once again ;p.

    --
    It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
    1. Re:"Cyber Bullying"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's really bothering me now. I've lost my home. Do you know of any possible alternatives?
      i2p.net? Anything else?

    2. Re:"Cyber Bullying"? by MrSquirrel · · Score: 2, Funny

      NEVER! We turned and ran once; we will NOT leave the Internet -- BROTHERS... SISTERS... uh... SECOND COUSINS TWICE REMOVED!!! Let us rise up! Two words will strike fear into the hearts of our bullying oppressors: battle bots. We must build to survive! Metal, plastic, fiberglass, pick-axes, chainsaws, sledge-hammers -- these are the materials from which our liberation will come!

      It should be noted that if that doesn't work, we can always spam their asses back into the stone age.

      --
      A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
    3. Re:"Cyber Bullying"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      We're also concerned about cyber-bullying

      Hmm, seemed a little last-minute. "Yeaaaaaaaaah, we're also gonna need you to come in on Sunday..."

      Needs more specifics. As far as I can tell, "cyber bullying" is limited to, well, the internet from their descriptions. Cyber bullying is not going to increase just because some teens and/or kids talked about camp or posted pics.

    4. Re:"Cyber Bullying"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That was awesome to read in a Professor Farnsworth voice. Oh my, yes.

  16. The BUCK stops with you, the parent... by posterlogo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...and if the summer camps claim they want to help you out, that's their right to do so, and you can decide whether or not they are being overly bureaucratic/paranoid or not. What neither the summer camps nor the parents should be allowed to do, is sue MySpace, etc. because of their failings as parents. In the end, it's almost always inadequate parenting that causes their children to engage in risky behavior.

    1. Re:The BUCK stops with you, the parent... by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      Actually, I'd like to see a few sue MySpace, and lose big time - I mean the judge handing out an absolute arse-kicking to the plaintiffs, utterly shredding their cases, pointing out in no uncertain terms exactly what they've done wrong, what they should have done, and to never even consider suing on similar grounds again.

      With a little luck, it might make a few people think twice and actually take some personal responsibility.

  17. Why the snide tone? by apflwr3 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I know "protecting the children" is a cliche, but doesn't it kind of apply here? Camp administrators are the children's guardians for the time they are there and have as much, if not more obligation as a parent to keep kids safe. They also have an obligation to protect themselves from lawsuits from parents if a fat kid trying to paddle a canoe becomes the next viral video...

    As any Slashdot nerd who's been to camp (or gym class, or any other instance where 8-to-18 year olds are thrown together) there is a lot of pranks, hazing and other forms of humiliation that goes on in these environments. I bet the camps are more worried that photos of kids who had the ol' hand-in-warm-water trick pulled on them by their bunk mates will circulate (and then the potential lawsuits from parents afterwards.)

    1. Re:Why the snide tone? by Vellmont · · Score: 1

      I would agree if you're talking about posting the video online while still at camp. But it's the parents responsibility to control the little terrors at home, and that's the FAR more likely place where the posting to MySpace will happen.

      Right now I'm sure there's a lot of parents that would never suspect their perfect little terror would do such a thing. But I think that kind of thing will change when the first a million dollar lawsuit is upheld against a negligent parent whose kid posted a harassing video/picture of another kid online. Basically if you send your kid away with a video or still camera it's your responsibility as a parent to make sure the kid doesn't use it to harass some other kid. The only difference now is that the internet multiplies the potential power of one kids harassment by a few million.

      Camps trying to control this kind of thing through legal means and trademark will never work.

      --
      AccountKiller
    2. Re:Why the snide tone? by Wellington+Grey · · Score: 1

      As any Slashdot nerd who's been to camp (or gym class, or any other instance where 8-to-18 year olds are thrown together) there is a lot of pranks, hazing and other forms of humiliation that goes on in these environments.

      Right, so shouldn't the camps work to stop the hazing that occurs rather than blame myspace when people find out? People are being snide because the camps are only interested in covering their asses, not doing anything about the real problem.

      -Grey

    3. Re:Why the snide tone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Camps trying to control this kind of thing through legal means and trademark will never work.

      My kids go to a camp that does know how to control this stuff. They forbid all electronic or electrical devices. The kids do not watch TV, make videos, listen to iPods, chat on the cell phone (or land lines either), play electronic games, or even blow-dry their hair. Instead, they sing, stage plays, fish, play sports, read, play cards, ride horses, write postcards, and go to bed exhausted at 9 pm sharp.

    4. Re:Why the snide tone? by bhiestand · · Score: 1
      if a fat kid trying to paddle a canoe becomes the next viral video...

      That actually sounds extremely entertaining. Any idea where I could find such a video? If I can't find one I'll just have to rent a canoe and pay some fat kid to do it, and staged videos just aren't as funny...
      --
      SWM seeks new sig for a brief fling
    5. Re:Why the snide tone? by rbochan · · Score: 1

      I know "protecting the children" is a cliche, but doesn't it kind of apply here?

      No, because that's not about "protecting the children" at all. It's about the "camp" covering its ass so it doesn't end up on the wrong end of a lawsuit once pics/video of what _really_ goes on there surface.

      --
      ...Rob
      The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
    6. Re:Why the snide tone? by Utopia+Planitia · · Score: 1

      Little johnny would never do something like that, it must be the devil myspace that made him do it... People are just looking for a scapegoat to blame their failures on, they cant bring themselves to admit that little Johnny might be an asshole or that little Suzy might be a slut. The truth is if myspace didn't exist we would have the exact same problems as we do now without the word "myspace" said in every other news story. If your concerned about your kids, get off your ass and do some parenting.

  18. Aaaahhh summer camp... by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The bad memories...

    We hear so much about camp sex stories... Alas, it was not the case for us.

    We used to go to a private school who, during the summer, had a day camp, where we were supervised by the teachers.

    Can you imagine? Not only spending the WHOLE GODDAMMED SUMMER with the same teachers we had during the school year (and, somehow, they had to magically turn into our friends and were supposed to have fun with them) but also doing this in the very same school building???

    When I turned 12, we managed to convince our parents that we wanted to stay home, so she hired a sitter.

    A sitter dumb enough to sit in front of TV all day long (cable was new 35 years ago), while we pushed the bed against the bedroom door while we had sex orgie (I'm not shitting you - this was the 70's - yes, I was organizing orgies when I was 12 and yes, there was sucking and fucking).

    The teacher lasted about 5 weeks until, one day, my mother came home early and found the sitter sprawled in front of the TV watching a stupid soap, but none of us around.

    My mother found out where we were when we came back from the swimming pool (a 15 block walk) one hour later. Needless to say, she was glad to save on the sitter (and we could have the orgies in the living room).

    1. Re:Aaaahhh summer camp... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm pretty sure that no one who's been in one-- in the 70s or otherwise-- has ever called it a "sex orgy." That's what the suspicious old lady next door gossips to her friends about when you have more than three people over your house...

      "They had long hair and funny clothes... And I think they were fixing to have a SEX ORGY!"

    2. Re:Aaaahhh summer camp... by Monkeys!!! · · Score: 1

      *holds gun to head*

      Give me your fucking childhood right now or I'll blow those sweet sweet memories away.

    3. Re:Aaaahhh summer camp... by Eli+Gottlieb · · Score: 1

      I'm not shitting you - this was the 70's - yes, I was organizing orgies when I was 12 and yes, there was sucking and fucking.
      I call bullshit. No Slashdotter has ever been in an orgy, let alone organized them at the age of twelve.

    4. Re:Aaaahhh summer camp... by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 2, Funny

      Bullshit yourself. I'm not anglo-saxon. I'm french. We have sex like you eat crumpets. We don't make a big deal of it (sex, not the crumpets).

    5. Re:Aaaahhh summer camp... by glitch0 · · Score: 1

      The bold really emphasizes how you feel you must brag about it.

      Interesting how tone is conveyed over the internet by the way one only makes a single word bold.

      --
      -Glitch "We all know Linux is great...it does infinite loops in 5 seconds." - Linus Torvalds
    6. Re:Aaaahhh summer camp... by Emetophobe · · Score: 2, Funny

      So you've had sex? ... What's it like?

    7. Re:Aaaahhh summer camp... by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 1
      So you've had sex? ... What's it like?
      It's simple, really. You go in, you go out. Repeat if necessary.
  19. It's truly fascinating... by CDarklock · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...how many adults are becoming absolutely PANICKED at the idea that children can TALK ABOUT THEM.

    Adults have always treated children like crap, but there's never really been any concrete evidence of it because adults have played the strongarm card over everything the child is allowed to say or do. If you took a picture of an adult doing something embarrassing, the picture could be taken away. But now that the picture is a bundle of unfettered electrons stored on a web server that belongs to someone you DON'T have the right to bully and coerce, they can't do that anymore.

    It might make being an adult somewhat more problematic, but I'm willing to bet it makes the children's lives a whole hell of a lot better.

    The death of privacy is GOOD. The only people that care about it are the ones who shouldn't be doing what they're doing ANYWAY.

    --
    Microsoft cheerleader, blue flag waving, you got a problem with that?
    1. Re:It's truly fascinating... by assassinator42 · · Score: 1

      I'm just curious, how old are you? Also, how many students have an unreasonable hate of a teacher just because they don't do well in a certain class? The world isn't like the Kids Next Door. ;)

    2. Re:It's truly fascinating... by cyber-dragon.net · · Score: 1

      I take it you are going to be the first to volunteer to have cameras installed in your house and office for people to watch you at their whim?

    3. Re:It's truly fascinating... by rangerfan558 · · Score: 1

      "The death of privacy is GOOD. The only people that care about it are the ones who shouldn't be doing what they're doing ANYWAY." BULLSHIT!!!!! I'll bet you'll change THAT tune when they come for you. Yes, we have lost alot of freedoms in the last 30 years, but I will still fight to keep as much personal privacy as possible. FIGHT THE TRYANNY, don't roll over like a lamb.

    4. Re:It's truly fascinating... by Abcd1234 · · Score: 1

      The death of privacy is GOOD. The only people that care about it are the ones who shouldn't be doing what they're doing ANYWAY.

      How odd... because I'm guessing more kids than not have, at some point, bitched and complained because they wanted their own room with a door they can close, and preferably lock, specifically so they can have *privacy*.

    5. Re:It's truly fascinating... by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      i did that for a while, but after a grand total of ONE viewer (my girlfriend) despite having the link posted fairly widespread i took it down so i could get out of bed in the morning without pants on again

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    6. Re:It's truly fascinating... by jez9999 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The death of privacy is GOOD. The only people that care about it are the ones who shouldn't be doing what they're doing ANYWAY.

      Quite. Now I want you to post videos of yourself masturbating and/or having sex.

      (no i'm not gay :-P)

    7. Re:It's truly fascinating... by Emetophobe · · Score: 1
      The death of privacy is GOOD. The only people that care about it are the ones who shouldn't be doing what they're doing ANYWAY.
      So you don't mind if I install a video camera in every room of your house/dwelling? (since you obviously have nothing to hide)
    8. Re:It's truly fascinating... by Rob+Kaper · · Score: 1

      Some people actually do offer such videos, ranging from the professional and amateur pornography scenes to more innocent non-nudes on MySpace.

      Anyway, voluntarily exposing some private parts of yourself is not a breach of privacy, just a choice not to exercise that right. In tolerant subcultures this right will simply not be exercised as often

  20. The camera ban might be a good idea. by Dioji · · Score: 0

    Go to webshots.com and search for "cheer camp shower". Need I say more?

    1. Re:The camera ban might be a good idea. by Maelwryth · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, why is she wearing bikini in a shower? Probably followed by whats wrong with a picture of a girl wearing bikini in a shower.

      --
      I reserve the write to mangle english.
    2. Re:The camera ban might be a good idea. by QCompson · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Go to webshots.com and search for "cheer camp shower". Need I say more?

      Oh noezz!! A scary intraweb predator is going to see a picture of girls in bikinis and track them all down and rape and kill them! Everyone panic!!! We need more laws and restrictions, quick!

      Need I say more?

      Yes, please do, because I don't know what the hell your point is.

    3. Re:The camera ban might be a good idea. by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Okay. I did.

      What we have here is a bunch of girls who took pictures of themselves and friends in the shower. All were wearing bikinis. In other words, I could get the same "thrill" by going to any public beach.

      I suppose you have to say more. I'm a bit lost as to what is "bad" about this. It looks like all the people involved were willing participants.

    4. Re:The camera ban might be a good idea. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Hey! That's my cousin!!

  21. Treating symptoms? by greatcelerystalk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Camp directors are attempting to do two things, according to the article: treat the symptoms of a problem and censor negative opinions about their organizations.

    If photographs of a camp and its attendees have managed to wind their way onto an adult website, I have no qualms with the camp in questions taking action to have the material removed, however, it seems the camp might want to devote more resources to educating attendees about safety. I also don't see any issue with confiscating digital cameras, even though many children who've gone to camp in the past were able to take photographs.

    I certainly take issue with camps' attempts to censor negative opinion and activities which take place outside of the camp and are unrelated to the camp. The article makes it seem like these camps are asking both attendees and counselors to censor their outside activities so as not to make the camp "look bad."

  22. As a former camp counselor... by SonicSpike · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I actually use MySpace to keep in touch with friends I met at camp and fellow counselors.

    I am an Eagle Scout and after graduating from college last May I decided to serve as a counselor at my BSA camp in Florida as a water ski instructor (cush job, right?). It was the most fun I had ever had in my life. Gettin paid to drive a power boat around a lake.

    They had a computer room setup for staff and adult leaders with a satellite downlink and phoneline for the uplink. The camp is very remote and no chance of DSL or cable. Because I work in the real world now and have a real job I won't get the chance to work there again this year although I want to soo badly.

    At least using MySpace I can keep up with the people I met at camp. http://camplanoche.com/ is the place.

    --
    Libertas in infinitum
  23. Uh oh... by DwarfGoanna · · Score: 1, Funny

    Whatever you do, don't tell this guy.

    (Yes, that is the real Donkey Lips from "Salute Your Shorts".

    --

    "You know why you do not see me styling wit my homies? Because I have no homies!!" -Mojo Jojo

  24. Here's the REAL solution by erroneus · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Hold parents accountable for the mental and physical well-being of their children at all times. I know it might keep the courts systems busy as hell but here's the thing: If people are so worried about that their kids get themselves into, why aren't they just WATCHING THEM?! I have two sons and I don't find it difficult to keep up with where they go and what they do... within reason... "within reason" is my next thing which is the "exception" part of it which should, in the event of a problem, some "professional" should investigate cases to determine if a parent was already doing their best when it comes to caring for the health and well-being of their children.

    We'd end up with some sort of gestapo-like situation with CPS or some other agency breathing down everyone's neck, but this is what people are asking for! They want to blame the world and make a profit through lawsuits. But if people are the first line of blame for their childrens' behavior, there would be a LOT fewer complaints about what kids have available to them won't there? But this addresses all of the concerns from "dangerous video games" to "what they do on the internet." It might even have the added bonus of issues like chilhood obesity and health issues that result from negligence.

    I hate to say it, but we need a law to make it happen.

    1. Re:Here's the REAL solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just like the 14 yr old with the lawsuit because she was dumb enough to meet up with a complete stranger from myspace. Why doesn't she just sue her parents for poor genetics resulting in lack of brains. Obviously we need to make a class on common sense mandatory to teens and preteens. No, nevermind, they never listen anyway....

    2. Re:Here's the REAL solution by kz45 · · Score: 1

      Just like the 14 yr old with the lawsuit because she was dumb enough to meet up with a complete stranger from myspace. Why doesn't she just sue her parents for poor genetics resulting in lack of brains. Obviously we need to make a class on common sense mandatory to teens and preteens. No, nevermind, they never listen anyway....

      Her mother was interviews a couple of days ago and she said "there's nothing we can do to stop this". It's pure stupidity that starts with the parents.

  25. Observation. by Stalyn · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There is a mantra that exists on /. and perhaps society as a whole that the simple solution to problems akin to MySpace is proper parenting. I think it is a gross oversimplification to think being a "good parent" is going to solve all children related problems. In the same way it is an oversimplification to solely blame MySpace.

    I think the solution sits somewhere in the middle. That MySpace should make a concerted effort to work with parents to ensure their children's safety. Also parents need to educate themselves and take more of a role in their child's internet activity. Also there is a third step where all of us need to understand the disconnect between the Internet and RL is illusionary. What you do on the Internet has RL consequences and vice versa.

    --
    The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
    1. Re:Observation. by myyrk · · Score: 1

      That MySpace should make a concerted effort to work with parents to ensure their children's safety.

      Maybe MySpace should chaperone the kids when they go to meet people they have met online.

    2. Re:Observation. by pla · · Score: 5, Insightful

      the simple solution to problems akin to MySpace is proper parenting.

      Not at all - The simple solution to 99% of MySpace problems rests in recognizing that the "problems" don't exist in the first place. With the exception of the twits threatening to extort MySpace and posting about it thereupon, every other "problem" involved some busybody 3rd party authority-figure overstepping their bounds and panicking over harmless boasting and dick-waving.

      So Little Jimmy posed with a bottle of Jack - Can you prove he drank it and that it contained actual whiskey, rather than drinking cherry kool-aid out of a previously empty bottle? Can you even prove the punk in the poor-quality overly-compressed picture, wearing the same style of clothes and hair as every other 14YO male in the country, as the same Jimmy?

      So Susie has a list of people she hates and wants dead. We all (at least mentally) kept lists of people we hated and wanted dead. We just didn't act on them. Nor would Susie - Her "enemies" stand a better chance of dying in a freak accident involving snakes on a plane, than of her snapping one day and reenacting Doom down her school's corridors.

      So a 40 year old guy has a MySpace page saying he likes cartoons. Ever met a Disney employee? They really do act like that, no hidden pedophile motives involved. And if he admits to playing with Legos - My god! Call the swat team, we might just... gasp... have an engineer on our hands!


      That MySpace should make a concerted effort to work with parents to ensure their children's safety

      Sure - Just as soon as those parents start paying MySpace to act as babysitters. Seriously - We have a basic issue of "responsibility" here, specifically, who bears it. Parents have a responsibility to raise their kids. MySpace does not, regardless of how many "tweens" use it.

      MySpace represents the modern equivalent of playground gossip and note-passing. And, like it or not, the swingset doesn't censor its occupants, nor does the pencil refuse to write down obscenities.



      What you do on the Internet has RL consequences and vice versa.

      No - What you stupidly do on the 'net under your own name has consequences. Not that, if really motivated, you couldn't figure out my RL identity - I've probably given more than enough info without you even needing to leave Slashdot to track me down. But you can't just type in my real name in Google and see 183 reasons to fire me, 26 reasons to arrest me, and four reasons to execute me for treason (hey, don't forget that nontrivial crypto used to count as "munitions"). If these stupid kids would figure out the same thing, and do just a teensy bit to obscure their identities (no real names, blur faces and obvious location-signs in photos), we would all-but-stop-hearing about the evils of MySpace.

    3. Re:Observation. by mantar · · Score: 1

      Today, many children are left to raise themselves, by parents consumed by alchoholism, workoholism, or any other -ism you can think of. Everything about the family structure implies the responsibility of parenthood... it's inherently biological. Does MySpace have a vested interest in the safety of these teenagers? Not really... they'll go only as far as it takes to keep their collective asses out of court. That goes for any other company out there with offerings targeted at our youth. What it boils down to is an issue of trust... can you as a parent trust another person/group/school/company/etc to always have your child's best interests at heart? If not, it's up to you as the parent to regulate and/or monitor their interaction with these entities. Is this a "gross oversimplification"? Maybe... but ultimately, parents are the front line of defense for their children, and when no one else will protect them from these dangers... it becomes their duty.

      Call it a "mantra" if you like... but, just like a famous Hindu mantra: "from non-being to being lead me, from darkness to light lead me"

      ...from ignorance to truth lead me.

      --
      # man tar
    4. Re:Observation. by Stalyn · · Score: 1

      Sure - Just as soon as those parents start paying MySpace to act as babysitters. Seriously - We have a basic issue of "responsibility" here, specifically, who bears it. Parents have a responsibility to raise their kids. MySpace does not, regardless of how many "tweens" use it.

      I never suggested such a thing. I said MySpace should work with parents in some way. Maybe actively educate parents about MySpace. Provide parents with some tools to monitor their child's page. I'm not asking for draconian measures but really simple and pragmatic things.

      Also why do corporations skirt all responsibility? Aren't corporations people too?

      --
      The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
    5. Re:Observation. by mantar · · Score: 4, Funny

      "But you can't just type in my real name in Google and see 183 reasons to fire me, 26 reasons to arrest me, and four reasons to execute me for treason"

      Don't be so sure... Haven't you heard about "Google DirtFinder Beta"? :-)

      --
      # man tar
    6. Re:Observation. by Stalyn · · Score: 1

      What's that other saying... "it takes a village to raise a child".

      I don't deny that parents are on the frontlines and a powerful influence. But there are other factors involved and some are indeed more powerful.

      --
      The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
    7. Re:Observation. by tokengeekgrrl · · Score: 1

      I respectfully disagree. MySpace supplies a framework in which users supply content. They do not and never will completely control the content and no one, especially parents, should assume otherwise. Parents educating themselves and getting more involved in their kid's online activity, now that I agree with.

      I'm not a parent but I have a brother who has 5 kids, including a 13-year old girl, and his answer is simply to set really strict rules on computer usage. First, he has a squid proxy server in place (that I helped him install and configure) that records all of the kids' web surfing and they know it. The kids have to use the computer in the family room in front of their parents and can only use it for specific and limited times each day. The kids can use IM but cannot add anyone to their IM buddy list that their parents have not approved of and they are not allowed to have MySpace or Friendster or any other social networking account, period. If they try to sign up for anything they're not supposed, the proxy server will email my brother and he'll just take away all computer access.

      I realize it sounds extreme but hey, it works. My 13-year old niece isn't getting strange propositions from creepy older men online and the kids know that using the computer is a privilege, not a right, that can, and will, be taken away if they don't follow the rules.

    8. Re:Observation. by Unlikely_Hero · · Score: 1

      I think people are overcomplicating this whole issue.
      I have an idea.
      If your kid is stupid enough to get themselves in deep shit on the internet after you've already made an attempt to educate them, then it probably can't be helped. Your stupid kid will find some other way to fuck up. And they're not going to "learn from your mistakes" that doesn't usually happen. Also, really now, does anybody think they'll be able to stop kids from being able to talk about things online? If it isn't one site it will be another.
      If someone is sufficiently stupid, they will find a way to fuckup.

      --
      Happiness does not come from having much, but from being attached to little.
    9. Re:Observation. by Firehed · · Score: 2, Insightful
      If these stupid kids would figure out the same thing, and do just a teensy bit to obscure their identities (no real names, blur faces and obvious location-signs in photos), we would all-but-stop-hearing about the evils of MySpace.
      Well, as long as typical Myspace page design continues to be considered just a faux pas rather than an evil.

      You nailed the problem though - stupid kids. It's the stupid ones that can't realize that meeting that friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend from Mypsace might not be the best idea, and are undoubtedly the ones that are either too lazy or stupid to take those basic precautions. I could post my picture along with my real name and address, and probably have nothing come of it when I don't open the door for that creepy-looking guy with a license plate from the other side of the country.

      --
      How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
    10. Re:Observation. by JonathanR · · Score: 3, Interesting

      MySpace already works with parents. Since everything online that is public, is accessible to the parents, should they be the least bit interested in what their children are up to.

      Not that I'm saying that parents should merely engage in covert snooping, but it certainly is a tool for them to get to understand what goes through the minds of their offspring.

    11. Re:Observation. by pembo13 · · Score: 1

      Then again, what if all kids problems _shouldn't_ be solved? In that case, proper parenting would go along way.

      --
      "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
    12. Re:Observation. by mantar · · Score: 1

      "It takes a village to raise a child"

      I don't think I should comment on this without first identifying exactly what my interpretation of a "village" is. When I hear the word "village" I am immediately reminded of the small rural community in which I was raised. To me, "village" in this context means a group of people, collectively forming a community, which is also a member of perhaps many higher levels of community. At the highest level is the entire world which is indeed the entire community of human beings. Beneath that can be such abstractions as: country, state, city, neighborhood, church, etc. So which level of community does this proverb elude to? I tend to think it means the smallest community order in which one resides. The reason is this: the smallest community to which you belong is impacted the most by your actions, and the actions of your children. So finally I come to this conclusion: it does, to some degree, take a village to raise a child... but that village does not include MySpace, corporate America, or the internet. (As a side note, this is an old African proverb... a village truly was a collection of only a few dozen tribesmen and family members).

      Secondly, while I agree with the spirit of this proverb given my assumption about what constitutes a "village", the proverb does assume one thing: that the members of the "village" not only have an interest in raising a child, but are also qualified to raise that child. And ultimately, who makes that determination? The parents? I think so... others might argue that it's the state, or government. I absolutely shudder at the thought of this, which brings me to my next point...

      This proverb has taken on a new meaning from what it historically meant and today it is a banner of liberal dogma that so many people gather around... the funny thing is that this saying was popularized among liberals in recent years in a book by Hillary Clinton. Her message was this: our public education system is well equiped to provide a first rate education for our children. Funny... Chelsea Clinton never attended public school. I know this may be slightly out of the realm of this discussion, but to use another tired saying: when one of the major proponents of what I'll call "the country as a village theory" doesn't put her kid "where her mouth is"... it tells you something.

      But there are other factors involved and some are indeed more powerful.

      True... but only if the parent allows them to be more powerful from the beginning. Growing up, my parents made the decision to monitor most every activity in which I was involved outside of the home... it wasn't invasion of privacy, it was concern. And now, as a result, I have a college education, an excellent career, I'm married to a bright young lady, looking to start a family of my own one day, and my relationship with my parents has evolved into one of utter respect and admiration. How fortunate I am that "the other factors" never were really that powerful to me, because my parents never allowed them to be. Left to my own devices, and the un-checked direction of others, I may well be one of the millions of sob-stories in this country.

      If you don't quite understand what I mean about all of this, I direct you to the Blank Slate theory developed by the 18th century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

      I know it's a long post, but one final note: when something goes wrong with a kid... he breaks the law, she flees the country, he brings a knife to school, etc. who are the first people to be contacted, and sometimes eventually blamed? The parents. If I am to be held accountable for the actions of my child, there is no way in hell I'm going to let someone else influence my kid to such a degree that it becomes "more powerful".

      --
      # man tar
    13. Re:Observation. by Infernal+Device · · Score: 1

      Also why do corporations skirt all responsibility? Aren't corporations people too?

      No - they are made up of people, and they have some of the same rights, but ultimately they are not people and you shouldn't go thinking they are.

      Why should a corporation bear any responsibility beyond what is legally required? A corporation didn't have any say in whether you spawned or not - a corporation gains nothing by your child's existence unless it is a customer.

      You really need better reasons for others accepting responsibility for your child and it's parenting than mere existence.

      --
      "My God...it's full of trolls!"
    14. Re:Observation. by Knuckles · · Score: 1

      I realize it sounds extreme

      It sounds worse than jail and would I be the kid I'd take every opportunity to foil this scheme I get, and might just run away with 14. Sounds not very safe to me.

      --
      "When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
    15. Re:Observation. by Stalyn · · Score: 1

      I think parents can only be a limiting case on environmental factors. We can exclude genetic factors for this discussion. But your parents are even influenced by environmental factors. Which in turn can influence their children plus whatever environmental forces their children interact with directly.

      The linear view of the world is just a weaker model. It can not explain how people with "bad parents" can become successful and people with "good parents" can become anti-social maniacs. From that alone you have to admit parents are not the dominating force. Of course given right environmental factors "parenting" can appear to be the dominate force because the other factors cancel each other out.

      However parents can in some ways influence environmental factors. For example choosing what town to live in. Yet other things like culture, parents can do very little about unless they take draconian measures.

      Anyway in essence my view is that parents no matter who they are can use a little help from time to time. I don't see anything wrong with MySpace helping parents out. I never said MySpace should baby-sit other people's children or the like. That is what school and TV are for.

      --
      The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
    16. Re:Observation. by mantar · · Score: 1

      That is what school and TV are for.

      God I hope that was a joke.

      --
      # man tar
    17. Re:Observation. by mpe · · Score: 1

      With the exception of the twits threatening to extort MySpace and posting about it thereupon, every other "problem" involved some busybody 3rd party authority-figure overstepping their bounds and panicking over harmless boasting and dick-waving.

      There'd be more to worry about if teenagers were not enguaging in such "boasting and dick-waving". It isn't impossible that some of these "busybody 3rd party authority-figures" are actually highly dangerous people trying to draw attention away from their own actions.

    18. Re:Observation. by Ash+Vince · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "If these stupid kids would figure out the same thing, and do just a teensy bit to obscure their identities (no real names, blur faces and obvious location-signs in photos), we would all-but-stop-hearing about the evils of MySpace."

      And start hearing about the fictitious evils of some other fad that most people won't understand so will believe.

      Lets face it, the original family who are trying to dredge myspace through the courts are only doing it because there is a chance they will get paid. The lawyers representing them just smell a buck, but at least they will work for their money.

      And the only reason this story gets so much coverage in the press is that the media love pandering to ignorance. Especially when it helps their circulation.

      --
      I dont read /. to RTFA, I read /. to offend people in ignorance.
    19. Re:Observation. by Ash+Vince · · Score: 1

      What happens when one of the kids hacks the proxy server?

      My parents tried to keep me from using their computer while they were ate work so I would actually got into school / college.
      Given time (I never actually went to school anyway) and motivation (pr0n) you would be amazed at what you can achieve.

      I do think this is great idea however as you are training the IT professionals of tomorrow from a very early age.

      --
      I dont read /. to RTFA, I read /. to offend people in ignorance.
    20. Re:Observation. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Maybe MySpace should chaperone the kids when they go to meet people they have met online.

      Maybe parents should ask just why their little girl needs a cross country plane ticket. But that would actually require talking to their kid... easier to just leave a couple hundred bucks on the table and head to work, then send an email from work to "have fun".

    21. Re:Observation. by Jasin+Natael · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Draconian Measures are fine, too. The problem is that it's pretty difficult to enforce such things, as MySpace and its ilk have no ID-verification service. And MySpace is so big, it really behooves the sexual predator or paedophile to join up -- there's an excellent chance they can find some dumb schmoe they're interested in attacking or exploiting.

      Children shouldn't expect too much privacy since they're still kind of "in training", and especially shouldn't expect things they share with anonymous strangers to be private from their parents and legal guardians. There should be an API for social networking sites that allows parents to moderate and censor (but not edit) their children's MySpace and Email accounts, et al. Even a chance to put in a wordlist to keep their hometown, school name, last name, etc. private. Maybe all the 'tweenies would flock to some other, less secure service, but if the community is smaller, there's less low-hanging fruit for the predators.

      --
      True science means that when you re-evaluate the evidence, you re-evaluate your faith.
    22. Re:Observation. by soft_guy · · Score: 1

      But you can't just type in my real name in Google and see 183 reasons to fire me, 26 reasons to arrest me, and four reasons to execute me for treason

      Haven't you heard? In the post 9/11 world, we don't need reasons to fire, arrest, or execute people.

      --
      Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
  26. Use Elgg instead by MichaelPenne · · Score: 1

    One thing educational institutions can do is use Elgg's open source social networking software, which provides the features of MySpace, etc. Install it locally or on an institutional server, and block MySpace, etc. at the firewall.

    More http://elgg.net/

  27. Absolutely not. by Skadet · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I know "protecting the children" is a cliche, but doesn't it kind of apply here?
    No.

    "Protecting civil rights" is a cliche that DOES apply. That's why this should be called for the bullshit that it is.
  28. Uphill battle by virgil_disgr4ce · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Guess what, camp directors? If you're so deathly paranoid that someone's going to find out what really goes on at your camp, maybe you might make some effort to take control of it. Not that I would want them to, really; underage drinking and sex is part of what makes camping such a memorable part of childhood. "...we don't want to have to deal with that kind of exposure." Maybe it's time to own up, Mr. Seving, director of Camp Fernwood. With regards to MySpace putting all the information out there: guess what, parents and kids, if you're going to put up a bunch of pictures and information about yourself on one of the world's biggets social net sites, be prepared to deal with the possible ramifications--as well as acknowledge that those are only *possibilities* and not *certainties*. The statements in this article about camps being worried about "online predators" somehow tracking their children down is bullshit. They're trying to find any excuse they can to keep their reputation of normalcy and safety, when in fact, kids have been doing f-ed up shit for years at camp, and they're not going to stop. It's an uphill battle, camp directors.

  29. Remember... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But if they're not doing anything wrong, they shouldn't be worried about this. They're guilty I tell you!

  30. Two words by Skadet · · Score: 1
    yes, I was organizing orgies when I was 12 and yes, there was sucking and fucking
    Teach me?
    1. Re:Two words by Valacosa · · Score: 2, Funny

      "...this was the 70's - yes, I was organizing orgies when I was 12 and yes, there was sucking and fucking." But where did you learn such vile behaviour? That was in the time before video games! *ducks*

      --
      "Live as if you'll die tomorrow." Ridiculous. You could die later today.
    2. Re:Two words by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 1

      I learned it from my father's Penthouses (my parents made sure not to make a fuss whenever I read those), or my uncle's Hara-Kiris and Swank (those I could read when I was really nice).

    3. Re:Two words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, but anyone can learn sex acts from pornography. How did you actually get people to participate?

    4. Re:Two words by hunterkll · · Score: 1

      I'm interested in what sort of pornography 'Hara-Kiris' is.

      Hara-Kiri is Japanese ritualistic suicide, almost if not entierly synonomous (My english is horrible...) with seppuku, which most english speakers seem to be more and more familiar with.

    5. Re:Two words by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 1

      Hara-Kiri, a french magazine that lots of gross nudity often in the form of fake advertisements (for real products).

    6. Re:Two words by Mattintosh · · Score: 1

      I would venture a guess that most Americans (not every english speaker, but a good chunk of them) think Hara-Kiri is a famous (and dead) baseball announcer for the Chicago Cubs. It's easier to distinguish "seppuku" from "Harry Caray". At least, that's the only reason I can come up with...

  31. In other words... by Donniedarkness · · Score: 1

    ...the camps know they aren't keeping as good an eye on the campers as the campers' parents would like... so they're mad at myspace because people are finding out about this. It's about the same as a professor suing ratemyprofessors.com because the administrator found out he took smoke breaks during classes. It's not the website's fault.

    --
    Earn a % of cash back from Newegg, Tiger Direct, Walmart.com, and more: http://www.mrrebates.com?refid=458505
  32. Camps are FUN by kyc · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Just let them post their photos. Being paranoid doesn't work most of the time. And with exponential growth of these sites; can you stop it ? NO Should you stop it ? Questionable; Let these youngsters have fun to the bottom; and share it. How dangerous can it be after all ?

    --
    There's plenty of room at the bottom! Richard P. Feynmann
  33. more likely by alizard · · Score: 1

    they're concerned that the kids might tell the unvarnished truth in public about the food, or more seriously, about abusive counselors or administrators.

  34. So now... by Belial6 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So now you can know that the camp is taking an active role in covering up activities that parents would find objectable. This is certainly not to 'protect' the children. If anything it makes sure that any dangers continue to go on uncorrected.

    1. Re:So now... by Rob+Kaper · · Score: 1

      Furthermore, it's not like those activities do not also take place outside of summer camps.

  35. Operation "Suck All Fun out of Being a Kid" by OverflowingBitBucket · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Excellent! Operation "Suck All Fun out of Being a Kid" is coming along nicely. First we open sites that let kids sign up to potential lawsuits if they speak to anyone else- they might be talking to an online predator! Next, we make sure they can't talk about anything that might affect a commercial interest. Good to see phase two is proceeding according to schedule. Given time, if our operation is successful, all that these kids will be able to post is "Current Mood: Depressed". Which strangely enough, given the crap we're dumping on them, will probably be quite accurate.

    Isn't it time to reign in the lawyers and the mollycoddlers?

    1. Re:Operation "Suck All Fun out of Being a Kid" by freemywrld · · Score: 1

      Given time, if our operation is successful, all that these kids will be able to post is "Current Mood: Depressed".

      Make that "Current Mood: Oppressed"

  36. Good god! Myth Destroyed! by kaiwai · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I thought this whole 'summer camp' thing was a myth, but they actually exist over there

    Why the hell do these places exist? I mean, good lord, when I was a teenager, during the holidays, I worked, went to the movies and kept my self occupied, without the need of my parents spending money hand over fist to some over hyped establishment.

    Geeze, I really wonder sometimes why parents have kids if all they do is boot their kids off to a camp each year, simply to avoid them.

    1. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by Eli+Gottlieb · · Score: 1

      It ain't a myth, I'm leaving for camp on Sunday. Of course, mine's a camp where you actually *study* things, and I volunteered to go. Why people send their kids off to Podunk Random Camp, I'll never know.

    2. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by SubliminalVortex · · Score: 1

      Many years ago, I attended a summer camp. In fact, it was a "Christian" summer camp. It seemed ok for the most part, until the 'competion' phase where all the campers put in teams had to put "clothes" onto the animals in the barn (seriously).

      I still have nightmares of that young calf voiding its bowels after no less than four children tried to stretch over her backside. The same was true of every other goat and barnyard animal that was accosted by several children trying to "dress them up" in garments of varying usage.

      Summer camp left some very bizarre memories with me, on the other hand, I did learn how to churn butter. Too bad I don't remember the details on how to do that. :(

    3. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You 'worked'? Good Lord, what a wonderful society where children need to work to support themselves!

    4. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by Agripa · · Score: 1

      They really do exist but consider the context. The camps they are talking about are for urban grade school children who would be unlikely to work anyway during the 3 months of summer vacation and are considered too young to supervise themselves while their parents work. They spend 1 or 2 weeks in small groups sorted by age and gender living in a cabin with a counselor who is young enough for them to identify with and not be what they would consider an adult. The movie Meatballs was actually pretty close to what I remember if exaggerated. The best time I had was the year several members of my cabin were gamers and we played D&D every day.

    5. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by Grim+Leaper · · Score: 1
      ...urban grade school children...

      Urban grade? Do they taste better or worse than so-called premium grade?
    6. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by kaiwai · · Score: 1
      They really do exist but consider the context. The camps they are talking about are for urban grade school children who would be unlikely to work anyway during the 3 months of summer vacation and are considered too young to supervise themselves while their parents work. They spend 1 or 2 weeks in small groups sorted by age and gender living in a cabin with a counselor who is young enough for them to identify with and not be what they would consider an adult. The movie Meatballs was actually pretty close to what I remember if exaggerated. The best time I had was the year several members of my cabin were gamers and we played D&D every day.

      That being the case, shouldn't the issue then be that the school year in the US needs to be re-examined so that you don't have the holidays all lumped at once - adopt the same 4 term system used in Australia, New Zealand, and IIRC, the UK?

    7. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by Inda · · Score: 1

      Nope, in the UK we have a similar 3 terms a year with 7 weeks holiday during the summer. It's a pain in the arse but there has been talk of changing things.

      I worked my holidays, played with friends, got shipped off to the grandparent's house for a few weeks, went to scout camp.

      Last year I decided to quit my job and look after my daughter for the summer. After two weeks we were so bored that I found another job and let the grandparents deal with the bordom.

      --
      This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
    8. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by naomiimoan · · Score: 1

      Here are some things you can do with your daughter - things I did with my dad when I was young. I remember these times a whole lot better than getting shipped off:
      * Play baseball, with invisible players on the other bases
      * Play basketball, climbing up on Dad's shoulders to slam dunk
      * Make stuff in the work room - my household fixing skills are much better than my fiance's because of this.
      * Put together puzzles
      * Make crafts
      * Coding - yes, this was BASIC and all we did was multicolored varieties of filling the screen with "Hello, world" - but it was fun
      * Board games - there's a reason they rhyme with bored
      * Read books together

      If you're running out of things to do with your daughter, just imagine what you would have done with a son, and do it anyway.

    9. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by Agripa · · Score: 1

      shouldn't the issue then be that the school year in the US needs to be re-examined so that you don't have the holidays all lumped at once

      Some areas have done this and switched to a continuous school year. My understanding is that the long summer vacations originated from the need to allow children time off to help on family farms. I can imagine a debate about the merits of both systems in the distant past being decided by the fact that the rural children would have been kept home in summer to help no matter what school year schedule was used. The farmers would have had too much to lose and the state's interest in universal schooling would have encouraged a compromise leading to a practical if suboptimal solution. I would guess it was applied equally to urban and rural schools for the sake of uniformity.

      Keep in mind that while states like California are known for high technology, their agricultural output is considerable. In the specific case of California, huge would not be an exaggeration. You only have to look at how water is managed to gage the political power involved. Between a growing urban population and fewer small farmers summer vacation is certainly not as important as it used to be but like a lot of government enforced institutions, inertia leads to solving the problems of the past.

      Personally I think the problem is how the mechanics of the U.S. political system lead to poor and inflexable policy but that is a different discussion.

    10. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by Agripa · · Score: 1

      Urban grade? Do they taste better or worse than so-called premium grade?

      I am not aware of a premium grade. The rural grade is a little gamey for my taste.

      I probably could have phrased my original post better to deal with the inevitable U.S. to U.K. translation.

    11. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by turgid · · Score: 1

      Heh. As soon as I turned 13 my mum was on at me constantly to get a paper round. Luckily, I didn't get one. I got a (short lived) job as a water working for some psychopaths when I was 15.

      We weren't exactly short of money, but my mother was of the opinion that programming C and Modula 2 for a hobby was the devil's work and I should go out and be exploited and humiliated by some Scottish Calvinists for a pittence.

    12. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by turgid · · Score: 1

      s/water/waiter/

    13. Re:Good god! Myth Destroyed! by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      Yes.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  37. Amen to that by Julian+Morrison · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nowadays children have negative civil rights. They have the right to demand to be oppressed. Other people's civil rights get taken away to keep children "protected". It's fricken' ridiculous. The world they live in is so much worse than a police state it's crazy. They're herded, imprisoned, propertyless, practically property themselves. Every man's hand is against them. If I were a kid I'd look on digital technology as the last small bastion of genuine personal liberty, and I'd be thinking seriously about organizing an armed revolt.

    1. Re:Amen to that by Eli+Gottlieb · · Score: 2, Interesting

      www.youthrights.org - The Armed Revolt. OK, not so Armed, but Revolt.

    2. Re:Amen to that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      "If I were a kid I'd look on digital technology as the last small bastion of genuine personal liberty, and I'd be thinking seriously about organizing an armed revolt."

      You'll grow out of it...

    3. Re:Amen to that by Geekbot · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That's why I got into technology. I remember back in the days of Q-Link, Compuserve, and BBS. I was 12, I knew no one who could tell me anything about computers. No one also could talk with me honestly. I could get online, find out anything I wanted to, be an adult as far as anyone else knew. It was the only escape for me. 20 years later he I still am, conversing with anonymous strangers in a forum/board format, exchanging knowledge over which maybe many of us would still be a little bit persecuted over in real life.

      In doing so, I think perhaps I'm not the only guy, who as a kid, found that computers allowed us to socialize, learn new things, and do all of this in an open way that mainstream society might fear.

    4. Re:Amen to that by Rob+Kaper · · Score: 1

      This is not new, though. Historically children have been truly little more than slaves. It has only been half a century since they actually acquired purchasing power and a culture of their own. Now Internet helps them to express themselves. That trend will continue. Especially aging societies it is not unlikely that eventually teenagers and young adults will eventually be the ruling class because they will eventually be the largest demographic bracket with actual economical output. The only reason the status quo is doing these things is not because of a desire to extend power, but it's a desperate struggle to keep whatever power it has left.

  38. Must we use Wikipedia all the time? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  39. IMO... by NoScreenNamesLeft · · Score: 0, Troll

    MySpace is a waste of time. There are plenty of other ways to communicate to friends that are superior. Forums, for example. Invisionfree loads faster than any myspace profile. Blogging seems to me to be the new hit way to talk to yourself. Some of these profiles have such malformed CSS they crash your browser.

    --
    It is the owner that crashes the system. If you are enough of an idiot to put 50 background processes in Windows you sho
  40. The problem? by dmdb · · Score: 2, Insightful

    MySpace is a communication tool, no more, no less. It doesn't create these incidents, they have been there all along. Perhaps they have changed with time, perhaps not. That however is fairly irrelevant, I'm sure we've all done things in our time which we'd prefer not to be published on the internet. For me, perhaps fortunatly, the internet had not caught on to social networking during my teens in quite the same way as it has now. All MySpace does, in the same way that other similar sites do is create a little more transparancy in the system and is could be likened to having a delayed CCTV system from the camps piped into the parents home. MySpace is not to blame, should not be held responsible etc for any actions that happen at the camps, it simply puts practices and actions which have happened in the camps more into the public domain. 'What happens at camp stays at camp' is no longer such an easy oath to keep, is this the fault of MySpace, no, this is part of growing up, everyone makes mistakes, most I would like to believe learn from these. We all have experiences that have shaped our current position in life for better or for worse, MySpace does not alter this it simply treads the path where mainstream news cannot easily reach.

    1. Re:The problem? by seanvaandering · · Score: 1

      Exactly. With transparency comes denial. Denial in human behaviours as it relates to teens. Parents and groups are shocked? That is hilarious - parents deny their own youth and what they did as kids, and they deny kids what they really need - communication. I'm betting if you laid it out for them and asked them "When was the last time you actually talked to you kid without them running out the front door", i'm sure they wouldn't be able to answer. That sadly is the state of parenthood today, and they could be the minority, but the 80/20 rule might apply here, as in, 80% of the problems are coming from 20% of the people.

  41. I Read TFA.... by dimension6 · · Score: 1

    Am I the only one who thought this was an Onion article? Either that, or 1984.

  42. Bzzzt. Wrong. by the_furman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Disagree completely. You simply cannot push the burden of chaperoning kids onto Myspace the same way you can't expect phone companies to monitor calls to make sure the conversation is safe. That's silly. All Myspace is is a communications medium and there's absolutely no way they, as a company, can ensure that all the communication that takes place within the medium happens to be safe.

    Also note that in my post above I did not single out parenting as a solution to the problem. In fact, I've never even mentioned parenting, even though it's certainly a part of the solution. The most important factor involved is education, for parents and for the kids. People need to be taught about the risks and ramifications involved in sharing personal information online.
    This is not to say that sharing personal information online is always a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with being a public figure, and each public figure decides for themselves just how much they want to reveal. Some chose to remain anonymous while others post naked pictures of themselves along with phone numbers. What seems to happen quite a bit with Myspace and the like is people don't realize just how much they're revealing and how this information can be used against them. This is where education comes in.

    Baning a communication medium is not the way to go. Not only is it the wrong thing to do, but it's also futile. Kids will post their camp expariences regardless of whether or not it's against the rules. Pushing them underground, so to say, achieves nothing.

    1. Re:Bzzzt. Wrong. by Stalyn · · Score: 1

      I never said ban it or MySpace should take sole responsbility. MySpace should work with parents. See my other reply.

      --
      The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
    2. Re:Bzzzt. Wrong. by the_furman · · Score: 1

      Why should it work with parents? Should your wireless provider work with parents to help spy on kids?

    3. Re:Bzzzt. Wrong. by Stalyn · · Score: 1

      Telecoms have no problems working with the government. But you are confusing MySpace for an ISP, which it isn't. MySpace can be held responsible for its content, just like Slashdot can. Remember when Slashdot removed a posting about Scientology?

      Of course Slashdot opted not to fight the case but they might have lost.

      --
      The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
    4. Re:Bzzzt. Wrong. by the_furman · · Score: 1

      I still don't see your point. I'm not trying to be an as*hole here, I really don't. Myspace is providing a medium for communication. They don't have any processes in place to edit, censure, or verify anything anyone posts about themselves. They're not an online magazine, like slashdot with editor approving stories that get posted. There's no way they can ensure that all their content is safe. In fact, it's almost certain that not all of it is. They're not responsible for it, just like Slashdot's not responsible for comments that people post (as opposed to stories.)

      I see absolutely no reason for them to help parents keep track of their children any more than any other entity that provides a medium for intrapersonal communication like email, web forums, cell phone companies, etc. etc. It would ne nice of them to provide educational material for concerned parents, but there's no excuse to force them to do so. Also, you have to remember that Myspace is not in the business of verifying identities, age, or anything else for that matter. A 13-year-old girl can claim to be 35 and there's nothing Myspace can do to keep her from doing so.

    5. Re:Bzzzt. Wrong. by Stalyn · · Score: 1

      Well you think MySpace is an ISP and I do not think they are. You might be right though and maybe they are not legally liable to provide any safeguards. However morally and at least in the interest of consumer protection, I think they should at least try which they are doing.

      --
      The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
    6. Re:Bzzzt. Wrong. by mpe · · Score: 1

      Disagree completely. You simply cannot push the burden of chaperoning kids onto Myspace the same way you can't expect phone companies to monitor calls to make sure the conversation is safe. That's silly.

      Actually it's not just silly it's highly dangerous to anyone using the communications media.

      That's silly. All Myspace is is a communications medium and there's absolutely no way they, as a company, can ensure that all the communication that takes place within the medium happens to be safe.

      Even assuming that you could come up with a universal definition of "safe" there is still the problem of trusting whoever's doing the monitoring.

  43. Jesus Christ... by tpjunkie · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have mod points right now, and shit, not only is there not an appropriate label to mod that comment, I don't even know what to say in response. If only there was a "+7, rendered me fucking speechless" option.

    1. Re:Jesus Christ... by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      /. needs the fark [HERO] tag

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  44. confused... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Camps are worried about the ramifications of certain activities being associated with their summer programs after revealing pictures or postings are made online.

    so they don't want people to know what goes on at camp, according to that. that doesn't sound like they are worried about safety of kids...

  45. How about we teach them something useful? by TheDreadSlashdotterD · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Teach kids how to misdirect, develop an alias, and spot patterns indicating a predatory nature.

    Most kids are pretty smart. There will always be a group that is pretty stupid, but most understand that some people like to see others in pain or want to benefit from their misery. The easiest way I have ever found to keep my information safe is to simply be someone else when interacting online. I've used several aliases over the years and a google search on those names usually brings up a bunch of gibberish.

    Parenting is probably not a good way to solve this problem. When it comes to kids and teens socializing, no one wants mom or dad in the picture. It's better just to give them tools to help, even if it's a really big knife.

    --
    I have nothing to say.
    1. Re:How about we teach them something useful? by SubliminalVortex · · Score: 1
      "Teach kids how to misdirect, develop an alias, and spot patterns indicating a predatory nature."

      Lawyer: Your honor, my client was the victim of a child predator!

      Judge: But sir, your client is well over twenty-one years of age.

      Lawyer: Yes your honor, but she preyed on my client!

      (Jury mulls about a bit....)

      Lawyer: Your honor, my client here is the victim. The 'real' predator here is the person that preyed on his weakness.

      Judge: What weakness might that be?

      Lawyer: He succumbed to his desires of being slathered with chocolate jello-o pudding by an eighty year old woman. He maintains that this sixteen year old was not who she pretended to be.

      Judge: But there was intent.....

      End Note: Don't predators learn to spot patterns?

    2. Re:How about we teach them something useful? by TheDreadSlashdotterD · · Score: 1

      Lawyer: He succumbed to his desires of being slathered with chocolate jello-o pudding by an eighty year old woman. He maintains that this sixteen year old was not who she pretended to be.

      A 16 y/o that looks 80? Maybe an 80 y/o that looks 16....

      End Note: Don't predators learn to spot patterns?

      Yes, they do, but it would still be better than sending them into the web with the naive notion that people are good and honest. Also, why do we hear about those morons that post crimes to myspace with their actual names on the pages? These kids having aliases really does play into this. We wouldn't be hearing these myspace stories if PredX, a 40 y/o man pretending to be a 16 y/o "dude", was talking to SallyY, a 17 y/o girl pretending to be a 29 y/o lesbian.

      --
      I have nothing to say.
    3. Re:How about we teach them something useful? by SubliminalVortex · · Score: 1
      Yes, they do, but it would still be better than sending them into the web with the naive notion that people are good and honest.

      That's the interesting part. "Good and honest" seem to be a subjective notion. However, not many people (I'm referring to parents here) seem to take a stand and note that their little some-teen year-old child is actually out there advertising themselves for the rest of the world.

      It only took a particular incident for me to block myspace.com (or any reference to it) from my router. Any responsible parent with teenage daughters would probably learn this lesson soon.

  46. One word... by still_sick · · Score: 2, Funny

    Burqa.

    And forbid your child from removing it when outside the home, even in the locker room.

    --
    ...Also, I didn't know Buggalo could fly.
  47. It's not my fault by Geekbot · · Score: 1

    Someone please help. My teenage daughter sends naked pictures to men online and chats about sex with adults. I can't be expected to supervise my own child and I'm sure my daughter can't be a slut when she's offline because there is no evidence. Someone help me because if we can't blame technology, someone might notice that I'm an incompetent parent.

    1. Re:It's not my fault by SubliminalVortex · · Score: 1

      ...just wait until she wants the cut of the profits you've been raking in.

  48. Myspace The Next Internet Chatrooms by csscmaster3 · · Score: 0

    Is it me, or does anyone else realize that myspace has become what chat once were during the first few years of AOL. None of the parents had any idea that their kids were using them, and when bad incidents occured, everyone blamed the chat rooms for them. Now, people have learned about chatrooms, and have moved on to a new thing that they know nothing about(myspace). Give it a yaer or two, and parents will be wanting to sue anyone that offers streaming video cams or w/e the next big thing is for teens.

  49. teenager? by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 1

    Where are you getting your info on camp?

    In the US, it's difficult to get a job before you are 15 due to labor laws.

    It is also very uncommon to go to camp at age 15 or older.

    I never went to camp, but my friends went to camp between the ages of 10 and 13.

    --
    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
  50. Wanabe by ghyd · · Score: 1

    If the message if that no wanabe pedophile should be without broadband, i think that they all got the memo by now.

  51. Put the blame where it belongs by obnoxiousbastard · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We try to blame everyone- bad parents, bad teachers, bad coaches, bad dirty ole men on the internet, bad ole technology, etc, ad nauseum.

    BUT WE FAIL TO >>BLAME THE BRATS
    Our society has the idea that anyone under 18 is pure and innocent until something corrupts them and that is pure and simple HORSE CRAP.

    Teens have been and always will be 1) sexual beings AND 2) immature. The combination of both is a recipe for trouble.

    Modern society thinks that teen pregnancy, teen sex and teen crime is all some shocking, new phenemenon unique to our times. Nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps the technologies have changed but the people using them have not.

    People are essentially the same dumb animals that have made the same dumb mistakes for the past 5 millinia of recorded history. All signs show that they will continue to do so.

    The model for Michangelo's [i]David[/i] was a teen prostitute that was one of Michangelo's personal favorites. What does this have to do with this subject?

    It proves rather elegently that this teen drama crap has been going on a long time before MySpace ever reared its ugly head.

    Blame the people, not the black box.

    --
    Is that a SCSI connector or are you just glad to see me?
    1. Re:Put the blame where it belongs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Teens have been and always will be 1) sexual beings AND 2) immature. The combination of both is a recipe for trouble.
      Amen. Yesterday I reduced a teenage girl to tears simply by taking adavantage of a test result to show that not only was she exposed to that particular something, but she could damned well have been exposed to HIV and be just as ignorant. The thought that the behavior she was engaging in was actually RISKY for HER never crossed her mind.

      Beyond, that is, "Did I get pregnant?" which, nowadays, is shockingly well tolerated now... I'm glad these pregnant teens are not the social pariahs they once were, but when 14, 15 year olds are talking about wanting to have a baby now because `they're so cute!' well... Maybe a good ole dose of shame isn't as bad as we thought it was in the 90's? *shrug* I dunno the answer. Teenagers are literally that dumb by default, it's the way the wiring develops, some just manage to develop abstract reasoning faster. I woulda been just as dumb in her place, I'm sure...

      It's wierd out there. Wierd and stupid.

  52. This is a brand new generation by dushkin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This generation is the generation which reveals itself completely with blogs, personal pages and networks ala MySpace. They don't think about privacy all day long. It's both good and bad at the same time. On one hand it's much easier for some company to invent some new service "put this chip in your eye and we'll see what you like to see and then we'll recommend you some artists with a style you might like" and basically take over their eyes (if they don't read the agreement carefully). Last.fm (used to be Audioscrobbler) does something like that, but again, that's the sort of thing they would like other people to know anyway, much like their favorite food, eye color, and cup size - therefor MySpace is pretty much made for them (and they're made for MySpace)

    --
    o hai
    1. Re:This is a brand new generation by ClamIAm · · Score: 1

      They don't think about privacy all day long.

      If/when I have kids, I will most definitely teach them about privacy and being safe. My parents did this for me (and my brother), and I'm glad they did.

    2. Re:This is a brand new generation by dushkin · · Score: 1

      Hmm... I'd do it with John Lennon quotes or something.

      --
      o hai
  53. The War On Reality rages on by serutan · · Score: 1

    What people can't control, they try to pretend isn't there. As the web exposes more and more of what real life is really like, people who don't like what they see are trying harder and harder to cover everybody else's eyes.

  54. How the hell... by Orig_Club_Soda · · Score: 1

    Are kids supposed to grow a set of nads of we shield them from everything that challenges them?

  55. What's summer camp without fucking in the woods? by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Every summer camp movie is about kids banging each other at summer camp.

    Now we're taking the sex out of summer camp?

    God dam Bush Administration!

  56. mod parent up! by bhiestand · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Thank you. That's the same reason I was posting on fidonet, BBSing, etc. Hell, my parents never would've given me an AOL account, so I found some credit card # generators and trial offer number generators and went to town. I had free AOL for a long time, undetected by my parents. I think I talked to a couple of cops who thought I was a child molestor, since I would say things like "12 year old boy looking for girl about the same age", but hey, I was smart enough not to tell some random predator to pick me up at midnight while my parents were sleeping.

    Did I do some illegal and irresponsible things as a child? Hell yes. Who didn't? I've made mistakes and learned from them, and my parents were always able to give me guidance to help me learn how to arrive at the right decision. Isn't that what parenting is supposed to be about?

    Back on topic, though, due to the disparity in computer literacy the internet really is the only place a child can hide from their parents (and most adults) and express themselves. Perhaps the modern generation of emo bloggers posting nude pictures of themselves and giving daily accounts of their emotions, bowel movements, and sexual fantasies will result in a more free and open society. It's certain to have a profound effect on society as these things become the norm. I just wish MySpace would encourage proper spelling.

    --
    SWM seeks new sig for a brief fling
  57. Slashdot should boycott New York Times articles by Ash+Vince · · Score: 1

    Why on earth do people keep posting links to articles on a private site. I know that we would only have to register to read it, but who bothers?

    Posting links to articles which are a pain to read just encourages people like me.

    --
    I dont read /. to RTFA, I read /. to offend people in ignorance.
  58. MySpace the new MTV by a_greer2005 · · Score: 1

    When I was in school everything was mTVs fault, then video games, then "the internet" MySpace is the new whipping boy for the buck passers, give it 3-6 more months and it will pass...like all yuppy fads...

  59. Cheap cover by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I sympathize with the summer camps from a business point of view - if a parent types a camp name into google, the pagerank monster that is myspace is near the top and the page is clad with not just camp names, but (good lord think of the children) pictures of teenagers having parties, talking about sex and drugs.

    Of course teenagers have been talking about drinking and sex and drugs and who knows what for decades, but as opposed to these talks occuring at school, in person, they are now open for everyone to see, including "concerned" parents. It is not myspace that creates the content of the site, it is not myspace taking the pictures and organizing the meets with 40yo men, it is "Dear little Timmy" who you are trying to prtect that is the root cause of this objectionable content - whlilst censoring myspace might mean that organizations like camps can keep parents in their little bubble of ignorance - it is not solving the "problem" completely, the only way to do that, I'm afraid, would be to not have children in the first place.

    I, personally, would prefer to see what my children are discussing with my friends rather than those discussions happening somewhere where I am not - if you see your child "crossing the line" on myspace, wherever your line might be, you could always, heaven forbid, talk to them about it.

  60. you're both off... (at least in the broad strokes) by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 1

    Camp existed long before the advent of the two working parents family.

    There are all-summer camps. But most kids only spend 1-2 weeks at camp. And yes, during this time, the parents are usually on a vacation without them.

    But none of this means the parents don't love their children, and there's still plenty of summer left in which to spend a lot of time with them. Of course, some parents still don't spend a lot of time with them, but it isn't camp that makes them bad parents.

    --
    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
  61. Pedophiles by Mark_MF-WN · · Score: 1
    Although I agree that the government shouldn't take away personal freedoms, pedophilia (the crime) is one of those unfortunate classes of crime that can't be deterred. A certain percentage of any human population will develop pedophilia (the psychological disorder). Another percentage will develop antisocial personality disorder. The intersection of those two groups consists of people that want to have to sex with children and are unable to take into account the possibility of there being consequences to their actions. Putting as many of them as possible in jail has absolutely no effect on the remainder. That means that if you want children to remain relatively unraped, you need to do something before it happens, rather than just trying to scare pedophiles into good behaviour.


    That's why there is so much contraversy around laws to protect children -- it's difficult to find laws and policies that will actually provide real protection to children while not requiring all adults to be treated like criminals. And it doesn't even touch upon the other group of pedophiles, the ones who don't have APD and who would probably respond well to some sort of psychotherapy -- assuming they could get access to psychotherapy or other interventions BEFORE they commit a crime without having to spend the rest of their life being treated like a pariah. As stands, they can't come forward and get help without their lives being effectively over, and so many of them end up hurting a child and have to be locked up for a suitably long period of time. Helping that person before hand could have prevented them from ever acting on their perversion, and thus salvaged an otherwise productive member of society.

    1. Re:Pedophiles by Thing+1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't think you'll eliminate pedophilia without eliminating all humans. It's a simple equation, and evidence can be seen in the animal kingdom:

      1. Females cannot be impregnated for some time after birth (there are (at least) two reproductive stages in the female's lifecycle).

      2. Males prefer to raise children of their own creation (otherwise they're spending their own resources to support someone else's genes--sure, adoption works, even in the animal kingdom, but it's not the rule).

      3. If a male impregnates a female the instant she is able to, then his genes will be carried on by the offspring.

      4. If a male attempts to impregnate a day later, then the chances that another male has impregnated are higher, and not only is the sex act wasted energy, any additional energy the male spends in child-rearing is wasted energy as well (from the perspective of the male's genes).

      5. If a male attempts to impregnate a day earlier, then only the sex act is wasted energy.

      Therefore, males tend to "prefer" to err on the side of "too early" because it results in the least wasted energy/resources. One day early will not matter much, on a human time-scale; a few years likely will matter, in terms of potential scarring (physically and emotionally).

      I've been modded down when presenting the above equation before. I don't mind another down-mod, but I would like an explanation: what in the above is inaccurate?

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    2. Re:Pedophiles by BootNinja · · Score: 1

      The fallacy in your argument is blindingly obvious. Unlike members of the animal kingdom, procreation is not the driving force in the lives of the average human male. Fornication is not performed exclusively for procreative purposes, thus your argument does not hold water, because the pleasure factor counterbalances the "wasted effort" factor.

    3. Re:Pedophiles by Thing+1 · · Score: 1

      I don't believe you've refuted my argument at all. You may have modified it somewhat, but there are no gaping holes.

      Humans take pleasure in sex; that does not change the fact that human females have (at least) two reproductive stages, and catching the female as soon as possible after she enters the second stage will result in that male's genes being carried on.

      You're right in that the "wasted effort" portions can be eliminated when discussing humans.

      I was not focusing on the energy expended, although once I typed it for one item I decided to go back and add it to the others, for consistency. I was focusing on the decision by a male to seek out a female who had only just entered puberty. This is the natural way of things; males are more attracted to females of puberty age than they are to, say, females at 40 (even though 40-year-olds are generally still capable of bearing children). I started the post out with "I don't think you'll eliminate pedophilia without eliminating all humans", and I still stand by that statement.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    4. Re:Pedophiles by BootNinja · · Score: 1

      males are more attracted to females of puberty age than they are to, say, females at 40


      Maybe I'm just odd, but 10-15 year old girls generally don't attract me. Most of the people I socialize with are similarly inclined. I have trouble accepting this premise, and therefore your argument, at least with regard to humans. While humans are mammals, and therefore part of the animal kingdom, there are many comparisons that are just not quite "apples to apples" when comparing man to his evolutionary forbearers. I think this is one such case.

    5. Re:Pedophiles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am gonna say this just once. You CAN'T cure paedophilia. It is always there. Even after a castration... I wont see this a sickness, it diminishes the gravity of it. It is a deviance, a warped crazyness, a ultimate sexual narcissism bent on destroying the pure, an evil manisfestation, if you are so inclined to beleive so, BUT NOT a sickness. My Father worked in social services with abusing parents and none were cured by so called therapy. These bastards deserve a fate worse than death, imo.

    6. Re:Pedophiles by Sunny7L · · Score: 1

      Human females are capable of bearing children for some 20-30 years. There's no need to get in early. Especially considering the burden that may place on a child's body.

      Animals mature for a reason, it is at the end of puberty when child bearing is most natural. Not during the starting phases.

      The same way infants have teeth but are not yet ready for solid foods.

      As for sex being a "wasted effort" for men and women, I simply have no comment.

    7. Re:Pedophiles by Thing+1 · · Score: 1

      Did you read my original post that the above is a reply to? It's an (admittedly cold) analysis, from a genetic perspective, as to why males prefer females who have just crossed from the first to the second stage in their reproductive cycle.

      Your comment is no comment? That's amusing. I was not talking about men and women in the original, I was talking from an animal perspective; animals have a limited amount of resources and they desire to spend them doing those activities that will most efficiently provide for survival of the organism, and also maximize their offspring. Having sex with a female who was just impregnated by one's competition is wasted effort from that perspective.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    8. Re:Pedophiles by Sunny7L · · Score: 1

      You are comparing humans to animals. But, unlike animals, human females do not go into heat and it is some while before you even know she's actually pregnant. As is often the case in the animal kingdom, in general. As you might have noticed, monogamy is rather rare.

      Anyways, it isn't a "cold" analysis, it's simply a stupid one with absolutely no basis in science. There is no male animal, that I know of (that isn't also a bonded mate), that will disregard any willing/available female. Excluding most human males.

    9. Re:Pedophiles by Thing+1 · · Score: 1

      Your last paragraph made no sense. Of course the male won't disregard, and I never stated that he would. My point was, the male gains no benefit from the sex act as the female is already impregnated. But whatever, enjoy your existence calling other people stupid.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
  62. Not about blame by fm6 · · Score: 1

    Scenario: A sexual predator trolls MySpace until he sees a choice target that's spending the summer at Camp Runamuck. He gains the target's confidence, then persuades them to sneak away from the camp for a little "adventure"...

    I don't know how often this scenario happens in real life — but it's not that farfetched. You can hardly blame the camp staff for wanting to prevent it from happening on their watch.

    Anyway, why should kids spend their time at camp logging in to social networking sites? Isn't the main point of summer camp to do stuff with other kids in the real world?

  63. Pedophiles by Mark_MF-WN · · Score: 1

    I don't think many people actually mind the idea of killing (or permanently incarcerating, in civilized countries) serious pedophiles. It's just that it isn't exactly trivial to create a good system for identifying which offenders are beyond recovery (the psychopaths and those with APD) versus those who are still within the realm of basic humanity, and could be salvaged after receiving a sufficiently deterring punishment and going through some sort of treatment.

  64. Thoughts by AriaStar · · Score: 1

    "We are asking local police enforcement for more of a presence and are beefing up internal security, all of that directly because of MySpace."

    Yeah, way to make it sound like MySpace's fault that campers aren't being supervised online by their parents and are posting pictures.


    Camp Nashoba North in Raymond, Me., allows digital cameras, but is banning iPods that play movies because "a child or anyone could put something inappropriate on it."

    Yes, but "a child or anyone" can also sneak in an "inappropriate" magazine, or "inappropriate" material on a computer, or an "inappropriate" book. Anyway, isn't the point of most camps to encourage interaction and to be away from technological things and to not hole up in the bunks?


    Island Lake camp in Starrucca, Pa., recently asked campers to take its name off Web sites, concerned about ... image.

    If this camp is concerned with its image, then perhaps the directors need to rethink how they're running the camp. If campers are so unhappy with their experiences that they are using their right to free speach to give their reviews, the directors need to take this into consideration instead of all but demanding that they are running things the right way and shouldn't have complaints posted.


    "One camp director called me in a panic," said Christopher Thurber, a psychologist who advises camps. "She had Googled her camp's name and linked to a soft-core porn site where she found pictures of her campers in their bathing suits. And what's in the background? The camp banner."

    The only legit concern I found in this article, and it had nothing to do with MySpace, and I doubt a child posted in a soft-core porm site. As these are minors, the owner of the site and the poster should be prosecuted for child endangerment.

  65. Re:Aaaahhh faaart in your general direction... by RalphTheWonderLlama · · Score: 1

    I'm French! WHY do you think I have this outrAAAGEOUS accENT you silly king!

    Now Go Away or I shall taunt you a second time-ah!

    --
    simple, fast homepage with your links: http://www.ngumbi.com/
  66. Let's solve the "Print Predator" problem first! by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 2, Funny
    "Some camps, like Camp Fernwood, a girls camp in Poland, Me., are trademarking their names, logos or slogans so they can legally order others not to use them online."
    Good luck with that ... so now people will use the names in a satirical context, in which case, the use of the name - even when trademarked - is still protected by the 1st amendment. Furthermore, blogs are also protected by the 1st amendment. They can send cease and disist orders all day. They may as well send the NY Times an order saying they cannot use their companies name in any news articles.

    Which brings me to ... did anyone notice how newspapers are tools for "Print Predators." Why, any pervert could buy a copy of the N.Y. Times and find out that: Xander Green, 15, of Manhattan, is a longtime camper at Island Lake in Starrucca, Pa. They even provide his picture! Something has to de done about these newspapers; they should be stopped! Can't you see? They are a "Print Predator"'s dream!
    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  67. or.... by widget54 · · Score: 1

    are they afraid how their camp may seem lame by comaparison?

    --
    sic transit gloria mundi
  68. Banning intelligence works fine! by fm6 · · Score: 1

    We seem to be in irrelevent cliche mode on Slashdot lately. Nobody's trying to ban anything. If you'd read TFA a little more carefully, you'd notice that people are not telling kids they can't use social networking sites. They're telling kids they have to be careful about what they put on social networking sites. Which strikes me as simple common sense.

  69. WTF? by lorcha · · Score: 1
    I'm french. We have sex like you eat crumpets.
    I pity the French, then. I'm American, I have lots of sex, but to my knowledge, I have never eaten a crumpet.

    You French should really go out and get laid sometime.

    --
    "Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
    1. Re:WTF? by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 1

      Er, the american definition of sex is a tiny subset of the french one...

    2. Re:WTF? by lorcha · · Score: 1
      I don't want to even think about french sex. Too many hairy legs and armpits.

      At any rate, everybody knows that in western europe, it's Spain where the serious sex is. France, as usual, is totally irrelevant.

      --
      "Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
    3. Re:WTF? by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 1

      Spanish sex is raw, animal. French sex is elaborate and refined.

    4. Re:WTF? by lorcha · · Score: 1
      First of all, there is nothing refined about armpit hair and leg hair on a woman.

      Secondly, who wants elaborate and refined sex when raw and animal sex is available just to the southwest?

      Besides, Spanish women love American men. I have no idea why. Seriously. None. I go to a club in the states and come home empty handed 90% of the time. In Spain, it's like I'm some sort of god.

      France is a great place to go to admire the scenery and wish there weren't so many french people around. Spain is a great place to go where the weather sucks but the women are hotter than the weather.

      --
      "Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
  70. Reality by Mark_MF-WN · · Score: 1

    Well, a lot of people make the naturalistic fallacy and the moralistic fallacy. That is, they think that what is natural is right (the naturalistic fallacy), and that what is right is what natural (the moralistic fallacy). The fact that pedophilia is natural obviously has nothing to do with whether it's right or wrong.

    I get the same reaction when I tell people that it's better for society as a whole when babies die than when young adults die. After all, a baby has had very little time and effort invested in it. It probably wont provide any productivity or utility to society at all for twenty years, and may not last long enough to ever be productive. So if the baby dies, very little has been lost. We can always produce more babies. A young adult, on the other hand, has already had a great deal of time, money, and effort invested in them. If they die, it's all wasted. Society really needs that young adult to get productive and repay that investment. Now, all of this is undeniably true, but most people can't accept that, since they think that if it's true then it must be palatable and morally acceptable.

    So I offer you a high-five for being able to discern the difference between reality and morality. Nice work.

    1. Re:Reality by Thing+1 · · Score: 1

      Thanks! And, I agree with you on the relative value to society model, although our brains are wired to see faces with large eyes as cute (which is why we don't murder babies when they completely destroy our sleeping patterns).

      Tangent: this is why anime is attractive, as the eyes are disproportionately large compared to the rest of the face. Almost every species has this characteristic, which from a developmental view I would imagine means that it's much easier to create eyes fully-formed, than it is to create them small and grow them.

      The Eels had a great album cover using this idea, "Beautiful Freak".

      Back from tangent: this is why people react so strongly negatively to your analysis: they are wired to "like" babies more than they "like" young adults, mostly for the same reasons you state: a baby needs to have resources expended on it if it is going to become a young adult, so people accept that.

      It doesn't matter how right we are; in today's child porn database thread, someone said a paediatrician was targeted by hate crimes because the mob got confused by the leading "paed" and thought ... well, I guess they didn't really think much at all, actually.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.