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Colleges Struggling With the Digital Bathroom Wall
theodp writes "Back in the day, anonymous character assassination was confined to permanent marker scrawl in bathroom stalls. But now, thanks to sites like the student-run CollegeACB.com (ACB=Anonymous Confession Board), which can get hundreds of thousands of hits on a good day, TIME reports that anonymous slander is going viral on campus. Even the most elite universities — normally the land of the politically correct — have been struggling with the problem of anonymous gossip sites and their very un-PC posts, which an Amherst dean likens to 'the worst of junior high.' If he thinks things are bad now, wait until the kids start getting creative with Google Sidewiki."
"For weaker people, this might lead to psychological problems and ultimately suicide."
Wait - you're suggesting that we can clean the gene pool with a little graffiti? Is that you, Mr. Darwin?
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
I have no problem protecting people from physical aggression. I have a serious problem when we start trying to protect them from verbal aggression, because it eventually leads to censorship. I regard freedom of speech as more important than protecting a few sensitive individuals from being picked on.
There are things in this world that are far worse than being picked on or bullied in school. If you can't cope with people saying bad things about you on Facebook, then how are you going to cope with an asshole boss? How are you going to cope with aggressive drivers? How are you going to cope with being the victim of a violent crime? How are you going to cope when your lover sends you a dear john letter and runs off with your best friend?
My wiseass "natural selection" remark aside, I do actually feel for those that can't handle the tougher parts of life. I'm just at a loss for what you think we should do about it. Should we start arresting people who say bad things about their peers on facebook? Should playground bullies be removed from school and tossed into the criminal justice system, where they can learn to be real criminals?
There are ample channels available for people who need help. Crisis hotlines for both adults and children, guidance counselors in school, employee assistance programs in the workplace, etc, etc. Some people are just going to refuse to help themselves no matter how easy you make it for them. You can lead a horse to water......
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
1. CollegeACB.com is NOT managed by schools, it's managed by students, schools have no say in this. Seems to me you haven't read the article carefully.
So what's your point? They shouldn't be allowed to permit anonymous posting on their website? How ya gonna enforce that? Gonna pass a law regulating what privately owned websites can do? Good luck with that.
Bullies usually keep on going because the victim can't handle it anyway. And in the digital realm, simply having to sign in and become identifiable would be a showstopper in the first place.
Yeah, because nobody would ever think to register under a fictitious identity and/or use a service like tor to mask their real identity. You haven't really thought this through, have you?
It's about a general situation which is seen amongst teenagers.
Whom need to grow a backbone. If they can't handle some online bullying then they clearly aren't ready for life and should probably remain in the nest until they are.
I've seen plenty of kids being isolated by society because they looked funny/were poor/had a terrible accent/had strange families/were too short, too thin, too fat/were foresighted and so on. Society rejected them for being non-standard, not the other way around.
You still haven't made a reasonable suggestion as to how you intend to fix this problem. Life is hard. Get used to it.
Lying about a person is a felony, punishable by law.
Got a citation for that or are you just pulling it out of your ass?
war4peace molests children and boils babies alive!
When can I expect the police to show up and arrest me for the felony I just committed? I live in New York State. I'd imagine if you call the NYS State Police they jump right on the case. I'm sure they won't roll their eyes and tell you to stop wasting their time.....
it fouls the logic of the conversation.
The logic of this conversation was fouled a long time ago when you started making suggestions that boil down to censorship.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.