Want to know what your teen is doing? Go to Xanga.com

[Maddy McCall]

My son's friends are all members of Xanga. Just in our "metro" area, there are 750 teens registered, and a few adults that creep me out.

The kids post about EVERYTHING they do, from whose ass they're going to kick, to who they bipped over the weekend, to how much beer they drank or reefer they smoked.

When I was a teen, I had a journal, but it was PRIVATE--I certainly didn't want anyone--especially adults--to know about what I did on the weekend.

The adults on there--it's like they are moms who want to be in the "in mom crowd." They get all embroiled in the kids' arguments and even threaten the kids! One woman in the local "metro" even talked about her love for a "boy who is much younger" than her, "even though our love is not appropriate." (!!!!!)

I can't believe that other parents aren't reading those xangas and grounding the hell out of their kids. Before my son's first date, I'll know everything his date's ever done!

Have y'all ever looked at the xangas for your area?

[Shakespeare]

1. Sounds like another myspace.com

We're currently embroiled in Major Teenage Drama with my stepdaughter over the whole myspace thing. We told her we look at her myspace page periodically, and she hit the roof. Then a few weeks later, we suggested that she use a little discretion in what she posts, as we've read that colleges and employers are now checking our myspace pages (and some kids have had their admission withdrawn as a result). We complimented her on her page, were totally supportive...just asked her to be a tad careful. You'd think we started world war three....sheesh. :banghead:

She'll just have to deal. We're going to continue to monitor her page; I think it's a dereliction of parental duty to do otherwise.

[Maddy McCall]

2. Good.

Yes, it's like myspace.com.

If I were you, I would monitor it. I think some of the parents of these kids don't monitor theirs. If kids want privacy, they should do what we did when we were kids and write their stuff in a paper journal. It's silly of them to request privacy, while posting their stuff on the internet!

Is your daughter using her real name on the site? I hope she is being very careful about what info she posts.

:hi:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

14. i'm on my sons "friends list" at myspace...i read it daily lol

he is 16 and my 24 year old daughter is also on his friends list ...as is my sister...it's a family affair....friends and relatives across the states all keep in touch....it can be fun if done right.

[MiniMandaRuth]

3. Dangit, am I the only one who DOESN'T HAVE A JOURNAL?!!?!?!?!

My life is private, just like my social security number. And it's STAYING THAT WAY!!!!

[dolo amber]

4. Ugh

My kid does all those...LiveJournal, Xanga, MySpace. I check them frequently and I can honestly say it is not physically possible to roll my eyes as hard as I'd like to while reading that crap... :eyes:

She's unloved. No one understands. Then, there's the "food wars" we have periodically, which essentially is when I refuse to buy her preferred diet of ramen and Pepsi. Seriously, that's all she'd eat if she had her choice. Thus, I'm a horrible monster who "is trying to starve her to death"... :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

Oh well, to her credit she spends so much time online I don't have to be worried about what she's *out* doing. :shrug:

[grasswire]

8. I recently saw ramen noodles..

...listed as the ninth worst foodstuff in a list of top ten worst. All it is is sodium.

[dolo amber]

12. I don't doubt it a bit

But y'know, 15 yr olds are immortal. :eyes:

[MissB]

13. I tried composting some once.

Two years later, I moved the compost pile and there were some perfectly good ramen noodles. Could've rinsed them off and boiled 'em up.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

5. Ugh looks like a good site for Internet Predators to cruise. I don't have

kids now so my incentive to "find out" this stuff is low/zero right now. Just looking at a few entries I suddenly remember how unpleasant adolescent and teen angst was.

/shudder

[Ava]

6. i have a lot of friends on xanga and myspace.

it's awful at both sites. i'm a member of myspace, but it's a profile for my site (peacetakescourage.com)

sometimes i'm amazed by how stupid my fellow teens are.

[ChoralScholar]

7. I've read through our metro area looking for my students Xanga sites.

I don't really know what I was looking for, but I guess I wanted to know how they 'really feel'.

Is that bad? It feels a bit like reading someones diary...

[Suich]

9. My son told me about it a couple of months ago.

His girlfriend's daughter is on there and also MySpace. I was absolutely horrified...I had no idea that kind of site was out there. The daughter is pretending like she's 14 (she's 11); she just thinks of it as a lot of fun but my son is trying to convice her otherwise!

[Ellen Forradalom]

10. That's how Alan Keyes' daughter Maia was outed

When her Xanga page was found.

[cally]

11. I'm going to check

I just can't believe teens post all this in a public forum. Yikes.

[Skittles]

15. I too find this lack of need for privacy disturbing

why do these kids want everyone, even strangers, to know everything about them? It is creepy.

[KitchenWitch]

16. My son has a myspace page

actually two of them, one personal, one for his band.

I read his page very often.