I was in the process of getting ready for work today when my sister-in-law came and and told me she had found a video I HAD to watch. Now judging by most of the other vids that we watch I was totally expecting to see something hilarious. Much to my surprise and disappointment the video was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. An 11-year old girl used her webcam to broadcast on youtube a video chock full of foul language and what I can only guess was drug induced idiocy. She spouted to all of the “haters” that they were jealous because she was perfect and so pretty. I will not name names as I truly believe this girl has very effectively just messed up her life without me adding to it. The initial video, that as I said included foul language, her talking about having intercourse with a 26-year old when she was 10(seriously!?!?!?), and how she would put her glock in her haters mouth and make brain slushies, was followed up with two more. The second two videos were so completely different from the first it was almost comical (almost). She was on crying about how all of the haters had ruined her life. Her video had gotten peoples attention, and though I think she wanted the attention, I don’t think she had any idea what it was actually going to entail. A hate group hacked her computer, peoples comments on her video posts were fairly brutal and sometimes violent. So the next two videos showed a very different picture, an 11-year old girl who bit off more than she could chew and was not emotionally equipped to deal with the fall-out. I am sure that her father screaming for everyone to leave her alone or he was going to call the police really didn’t help the situation.
So here is my question……when is a child old enough to handle the responsibility of having not only a computer in their room but also a webcam and unsupervised internet time?? I can tell you honestly that my daughter will under no circumstances have unrestricted, unsupervised access to the web at that age. Period. Not only are there more sicko’s out there than I think nyone can wrap their head around, but also children are children, they need their parents to help guide their moral compass. I mean seriously where was this girls parents, did they not even bother to check on her internet activity. That is a joke! While I think she was responsible for her actions, I also feel sorry for her, a child does not always have the common sense or the thought for how it will impact their future before they make a decision. That is how I feel about it. My daughter will not have a computer in her room for anything but homework and possibly games, but it will not be connected to the net and there will be no internet connection. We as parents have to make decisions that will keep not only our children but our children’s futures safe. I apologize for rambling, I just don’t understand how things like this are allowed to happen. I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!
Hi — stopping by and following from MBC’s Simply Follow group!
The youtube video you describe does seem very sad — won’t even bother to check it out after hearing about it.
Your question about when is a child ready? When my daughter entered junior high (12/13 years old), AOL was big — aim instant messages, livejournal, myspace later, etc… You are right that there are so many more things available now.
She begged to be online, so we stuck our computer in the family room (with visibility also from the kitchen) with the computer facing anyone sitting or walking nearby. We did it:
1. to discourage her from searching for or landing on inappropriate sites. (in elementary school, a classmate entered a search for “candy” and ended up on a porn site)
2. to keep an eye on what was going on
It’s not easy being a teenager or the parent of one! I’m sure you’ll know exactly what to do when the time comes! No matter how much my daughter hated it (and us at times) — WE were the parents and did what we thought was best.
Dee
http://newenglandnanny.blogspot.com
Thank you so much for the follow, I am following your blog as well. I appreciate the feedback and suggestions, as a first time mom, not to mention going it alone, I can use all the free advice I can get my hands on. Lol I hope you have a wonderful weekend, I look forward to reading more of your blog.
When I grew up there were only 3 TVs in the house: family room, my parents room and a black and white super mini TV in the kitchen. We only had ONE computer which we all had to share, and by all I mean 4 kids! And I will do the same at my house. My boys won’t have a tv pr video game stations in their room. And the boys will have to share a computer. In a way I am old school I guess.
Sometimes I think parents nowadays care more about themselves than their children. Letting their kids do whatever they want and never saying no or never showing they care until it is a little bit too late. I feel sorry for this girl. I hope she learnt her lesson.
BTW Nice blog, found you on MBC…following you now!
Sofia
http://frompdxwithlove.com
Thank you so much for the follow! I am following your blog as well. I definitely think some parents have become slackers when it comes to raising their children. I don’t want the TV or video games to raise my daughter. Thank you for the comment! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!