Facebook good or bad? teens arrested for Facebook bullying.

[William769]

ESTERO: Two high school students were arrested after they reportedly created fake Facebook profiles to bully one of their classmates.

Taylor Wynn, 16, and McKenzie Barker, 15, both of Estero, were charged with Aggravated Stalking of a Minor Under 16 Years of Age - a felony.

Investigators say the girls posted lewd comments and obscene pictures of the victim, an unidentified teenage girl, on two Facebook accounts that were created at Wynn's home in April 2010.

According to a Lee County Sheriff's Office report, the profiles, which allowed other students to blog, view pictures and make comments about the victim, were set up to make it seem like she created them herself.

http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=13837734


Lets also not forget Sara Palin & her facebook page. Whats going on with these people?

[Brickbat]

1. Facebook is a tool, just like the Internet and slam books.

I do think school administrators and law-enforcement officials could educate themselves a bit more on how false FB pages can be harmful.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

2. ... and to think when I was in 5th grade, we just had 'Slam Books'

Slam Books gone high tech.... gotta love it.

[seabeyond]

3. my kids dont participate on it. when they are adult adn mature, then fine

but they dont need it now, for different reasons.

and they are fine with it.

[tinymontgomery]

4. Like anything it is good and bad

When used properly it is okay, have gotten in touch with old friends and also family that are all over the country. Used like the two above and others that have been caught doing this type of crap then it is bad.

[RockaFowler]

5. This is Florida again

What is going on in this state?? Kids are bullying each other via text messages in Deerfield Beach. We had that horrible incident in Boca of the kid who was burned with alcohol. What is wrong with these kids?? Could it be their horrible parents??

[William769]

8. "Could it be their horrible parents?? "

That would be my guess. If I had tried anything like this when I was a teenager, I would have gotten a belt on my behind.

[snooper2]

6. I'm PRETTY SURE that these kids

could give a shit less about Sarah Palin


Are we going to start blaming Failin for flat tires and no milk at 7-11 next?

[William769]

11. Sure why not?

:eyes:


If you cannot see the similarities in the two. You have my pity.

[Alamuti Lotus]

7. "Facebook" is not good or bad; only as good as the idiots who use it

Mass generalizations of a program that millions use are not recommended.

[Raven]

9. I don't like Facebook. Never have understood it. I get emails

telling me that someone I do not know wants to "friend" me because they know someone I know (and haven't communicated with for 40 years). Then, when I post which is rarely, I get an email telling me that someone has posted to my post. So now I have all this litter in my email. The town Facebook has become a place where people can post outrageous stuff which is not factual but sticks because it was posted.

Someone tell me what good Facebook does.

[seabeyond]

12. that is what happened to me. i went in once to someones fb to look at pictures. since

i get, so and so wants to be your friend. huge wtf. why do i care. 2 yrs ago, and today i get a notification there are messages or something.

oh, brother

[Brickbat]

17. You can adjust your settings so you don't get any e-mail notifications. It's not hard.

Facebook is great for me; I work at home and it's a useful way to stay in touch with friends, relatives and clients without running my own website. I've gotten story ideas and set up interviews through FB, invoiced clients, found old friends, kept in touch with relatives easily, and so on. You can get out of it what you put into it. It's been a great boon for me.

[Spike89]

10. paper and pencil good or bad?

Cell phones? Regular phones? Functioning vocal cords? Sign language-capable hands?

I really don't want to be snarky, but the problem isn't these "scary technologies". Kids have been bullies since Cain and Abel (if you're a biblical literalist) or since the first biological entities learned to compete. It is wrong and there is a definite need to curb and prevent this type of behavior--exactly what happened in the story you referenced.

Taking away Facebook is no more an answer than "curing" a gun-firing murderer by removing his trigger finger. People will not stop being bullies because they don't have the latest gadget/app, however they may stop if we continue to bring attention to the wrongness of the act, not the method of attack.

[seabeyond]

13. it gets a little more wide spread than just pencil and paper, though. nt

[Spike89]

20. True, but almost all bullying is local

Even younger kids quickly learn to shrug off the random online jerk/troll. Technically, that level of anonymous attack is bullying, but it doesn't have the same power and effect as being bullied by someone who knows you and knows your weaknesses/hot spots. Additionally, "random" people are pretty easily screened/ignored on Facebook, and strangers shouldn't be able to gain enough info to effectively bully a kid.
My concern is that when we focus on the tool, rather than the behavior as the problem, we don't teach kids how to deal with either issue--they won't learn how to protect their identities online, and they'll remain vulnerable to bully tactics. It seems far better to me to teach kids how to deal with bullies, discuss ethics and rules with all kids to curb bullying, AND teach them strategies for being safer online in environments like Facebook.
Banning or keeping your kids away from Facebook doesn't really stop bullies, and if (likely) your kid sneaks onto Facebook, they will be doubly at risk. Not only will they probably not know how to protect themselves through privacy settings, etc., but they'll probably also be scared to come to you for help.
Facebook itself may or may not be around for a long time, but the networking/social connection aspect of the Internet and communications technology is a permanent part of the environment now. Latch-key children can be at risk if "bad people" call on the phone and discover they are alone. You could tell the kid not to answer the phone, but then how do you stay in touch with them? The answer for most parents is to teach their children how to responsibly use the phone and not to give out information.

[William769]

14. My apologies for anyone I may have offended in this thread.

I guess I just may be old fashioned when it comes to bullying. And would rather look for possible solutions than some of the comments I have seen here so far.

Peace to all of you.

[Coyote_Bandit]

15. It's great for

knowing just what kind of shit an estranged family member that tells everything on FB is really up to.

But personally I just check in to read. The old friends I have reconnected with on FB contact me off FB.

[-..__...]

16. People (or should I say kids), either don't care or realize...

is that whatever one posts on a blog or personal/social networking site (even if the content is legal), can come back and haunt
them when making a career decision.

It could even harm ones chances for low paying jobs as the resources and demand for pre-employment background checks becomes more common.

[cynatnite]

18. I hate Facebook...

but I have to use it because of my children and my sister. It's how we keep in touch with each other and they prefer it.

[bigwillq]

19. Facebook is what one makes of it.

Just like anything else on the Internet.


Could be used for a lot of good---staying in touch with friends and family, networking for potential jobs, using it for work-related matters (as I do, at times), etc.

It could also be used for some bad things, like what's posted in the OP.