Let's Blame the Internet Again
There is a big flurry of activity on my local TV station about the myspace.com incident and controversy. These stories usually consist of "oh, you have to keep your kids away from the nasty internet."
I get so tired of stories like this. First off, lets get real. The "internet" isnt a person, its a method of communication. "It" cannot do anything unless a living human being wants it to do something. Second, lets put blame where blame really belongs, which is with people, not computers or the internet.
You never hear an outcry about other things, but computers and the internet are easy targets. I think this is because most adults do not have a clue what is on the internet (or how to use a computer) so its easy to point at what you don't understand. Here is an analogy to think about: if a person is murdered by being beaten over the head with a hammer, do we blame the hammer? Of course not. We blame the person who used the hammer as a weapon. A hammer by itself is nothing.
We cannot blame myspace.com for the actions of people. The people are responsible for their actions and decisions. I personally am a myspace.com user. I got my account to support new and independent music. I am a member of the "Bass Guitar" group. Nothing unusual happens there.
But...and this is important...there ARE people who abuse myspace.com. I think its totally wrong for someone to put "99" as an age when they are really 14 or 15. This does happen. However, this is not the fault of myspace.com. This IS a reflection, however, on the poor moral values the young person has, both by lying about their age, and by manipulating a quirk in the system.
The real problem, as illustrated above, is not with the internet or with myspace.com. It is with the moral values of young people. Now, before you think I am going to dump on young people, I'm not. Young people can only have the values they do if ADULTS FAIL THEM. When adults only care about making money, and ignore actively raising their children, they have failed them. Or, in the case of the movie, television, music and video game industries, when adults care more about making money than being responsible for the lives of future generations, then the adults have failed the young.
The real issue here is adults who are not responsible for their actions. It has nothing to do with computers or the internet. When parents fail to instill values in their children, and the children act on the negative values from TV, movies, music or wherever, don't blame the internet. If we in our society want real solutions to our problems, the adults need to start pointing their fingers at themselves.
I get so tired of stories like this. First off, lets get real. The "internet" isnt a person, its a method of communication. "It" cannot do anything unless a living human being wants it to do something. Second, lets put blame where blame really belongs, which is with people, not computers or the internet.
You never hear an outcry about other things, but computers and the internet are easy targets. I think this is because most adults do not have a clue what is on the internet (or how to use a computer) so its easy to point at what you don't understand. Here is an analogy to think about: if a person is murdered by being beaten over the head with a hammer, do we blame the hammer? Of course not. We blame the person who used the hammer as a weapon. A hammer by itself is nothing.
We cannot blame myspace.com for the actions of people. The people are responsible for their actions and decisions. I personally am a myspace.com user. I got my account to support new and independent music. I am a member of the "Bass Guitar" group. Nothing unusual happens there.
But...and this is important...there ARE people who abuse myspace.com. I think its totally wrong for someone to put "99" as an age when they are really 14 or 15. This does happen. However, this is not the fault of myspace.com. This IS a reflection, however, on the poor moral values the young person has, both by lying about their age, and by manipulating a quirk in the system.
The real problem, as illustrated above, is not with the internet or with myspace.com. It is with the moral values of young people. Now, before you think I am going to dump on young people, I'm not. Young people can only have the values they do if ADULTS FAIL THEM. When adults only care about making money, and ignore actively raising their children, they have failed them. Or, in the case of the movie, television, music and video game industries, when adults care more about making money than being responsible for the lives of future generations, then the adults have failed the young.
The real issue here is adults who are not responsible for their actions. It has nothing to do with computers or the internet. When parents fail to instill values in their children, and the children act on the negative values from TV, movies, music or wherever, don't blame the internet. If we in our society want real solutions to our problems, the adults need to start pointing their fingers at themselves.
posted by Rock'n'Roll Kid at 8:30 PM
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