It'll Stop Rohan From Luring Young Girls

[Paul Tao]

A bill has been introduced (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1531635/20060512/index.jhtml?headlines=true) in Congress to ban kids under 18 from accessing social-networking websites at public schools or libraries. Under the broad definition of "social network", it looks like AP could be included in that category and thus affected.

[Melie]

eh, my school already blocks websites like that.

[fedhed7]

This will never pass.

[snowtires]

hahahahahahaha

[neo506]

What the hell?

is it 1984?

[TheLifeMelodic]

makes sense.

[GAD_guy]

as much as i am against pretty much any law restricting anything, this may be a good idea. kids (in general) are fucking idiots and myspace is just out of hand. i think that site should be banned from the internet.

[joeshmoe909]

Yeah my school bans most but AP.net still works :D

[kissible&quiet]

eh, my school already blocks websites like that.
mine, too.

[nfggc10]

as much as i am against pretty much any law restricting anything, this may be a good idea. kids (in general) are fucking idiots and myspace is just out of hand. i think that site should be banned from the internet.
agreed

[josiahh]

really, i don't have a problem with it. school computers should be used for school work.

...but maybe i'm just getting old

[shane hennessey]

I knew I went to a boarding school for a reason. To
A) avoid this goverment involvement shit
and
B) not eat government cheese

[Ruggiero2oo8]

i hope not.

[TasonJate]

the blocks at my school are out of control, its next to impossible to do any kind of research on the internet

[_kelly]

my school already blocks most of that anyways
i cant get on myspace or livejournal from school, but i can still get on AP :)

[marchfaster]

eh, i mean it sucks...but it doesn't seem like that bad of an idea.
though, i did hate researching anything while using the ocmputers...the blocks were terrible.

why did you say this would never pass?

[popdisaster00]

my school bans AP.net, along with most music related websites. however, we students have found filters.

www.fastfoodstamps.com

[suburbn_thrills]

the blocks at my school are out of control, its next to impossible to do any kind of research on the internet
Same here. Half the time even the websites that our teachers tell us to go on are blocked. They hate it as much as we do.

But AP is one of the few websites that I can actually still get on, so hopefully this doesn't pass or else i might actually have to do....school work.

[minusthejosh]

Ah, to be in college where nobody cares about that.

[Oeightyfour]

Maybe they could stop blaming an non-human internet sites and start blaming humans.
Start blaming parents for not raising their kids correctly.
Start blaming the sickminded fucks in the world.
Start blaming shit that is really to blame.
Stop trying to make non-human objects scapegoats for the real problem. :)

<3

[Scuba Chris]

I am fine with this bill. Kids shouldn't be on myspace etc at school or in libraries. At home, that is another story.

[LTJ182]

as much as i am against pretty much any law restricting anything, this may be a good idea. kids (in general) are fucking idiots and myspace is just out of hand. i think that site should be banned from the internet.

i didnt even really know what the net/email was even as a senior. (1998) and webcrawler was the main search engine...

i do agree with this bill too...kids spend way too much time on social sites anyways. they can wait till they get home or sneak their sidekicks out in home-ec

[Jason Tate]

The people going "good" are the people no longer in school. Haha. Everytime they'd block something at my school I'd set up proxies and pull up porn. I was a hellian. I wish I had my sidekick back in highschool, I'd sit there telneted into a linux machine the whole time ... life would have been sweet.

/uber-dork.

[costello.]

That doesn't seem like a bad idea, so long as it isn't abused...
Like, for example, at my (Catholic) school, they have content-filters and whatever, and I swear that every single Pro-choice website is blocked, as is anything relating to religions other than Catholicism, and most news websites are deemed "inappropriate for students to read".
Ridiculous or what? And this is from a school that claims tolerance and open-mindedness, despite being labelled Catholic.

[waggy]

The people going "good" are the people no longer in school.

isn't that how it always works? i'm sure most adults are against the idea of teens drinking legally and kids voting, but the kids who fall in those age brackets always feel like they're entitled to these things. as usual the people complaining are the ones whose fun is going to be ruined by this bill passing, but can anyone honestly come up with an argument that kids should be allowed to access myspace in schools?

[Gregkash]

I knew I went to a boarding school for a reason. To
A) avoid this goverment involvement shit
and
B) not eat government cheese

That and your parents just don't love you.

[Melissa Johnson]

The people going "good" are the people no longer in school. Haha. Everytime they'd block something at my school I'd set up proxies and pull up porn. I was a hellian. I wish I had my sidekick back in highschool, I'd sit there telneted into a linux machine the whole time ... life would have been sweet.

/uber-dork.
NERD!

(and yes, I know that's pot calling the kettle black since I live on my sidekick, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. :D )

[Kristina Marie]

My school hardly allowed any website. LJ was blocked, MySpace was blocked, every message board was blocked... even Wikipedia was blocked. Once I pulled up a website when looking for something Brokeback Mountain related (I was writing an article about it) and the Palm Beach County school district had blocked it because for "Gay & Lesbian." It was absolutely ridiculous. Basically, this bill wouldn't affect my school at all; everything's already blocked.

[ETesdall]

Maybe they could stop blaming an non-human internet sites and start blaming humans.
Start blaming parents for not raising their kids correctly.
Start blaming the sickminded fucks in the world.
Start blaming shit that is really to blame.
Stop trying to make non-human objects scapegoats for the real problem. :)

<3


Dude were you never kid yourself? It doenst matter how strict or perfect you parents are, and how well they raise you. That cant keep an eye on that kid for 24 hours a day. We all as kids did shit our parents wouldnt have wanted us to do. This is no different, i blame my space, its a horrible web-site and really seems to have served no purpose but getting young children raped and molested by predators. GOOD SITE!!

[Gregkash]

I remember back in school having to do research on MLK and since almost every MLK site contains the word "******" used in context, it was blocked.

Anyone else have Bessy?
That was the name of our blocking program

and mad props to whoever brought up webcrawler.

basically, I agree with everyone.

School work on school computers at school. Kids today are too fucking stupid for us to not make them do their school work.

[Gregkash]

Dude were you never kid yourself? It doenst matter how strict or perfect you parents are, and how well they raise you. That cant keep an eye on that kid for 24 hours a day. We all as kids did shit our parents wouldnt have wanted us to do. This is no different, i blame my space, its a horrible web-site and really seems to have served no purpose but getting young children raped and molested by predators. GOOD SITE!!


That's terribly ignorant.

MySpace is the sole reason my bands been able to do anything in regards to out of town shows, CD sales, etc..

you're only focusing on the bad stuff that happens, you're like the evening news.

[ACleroK]

MySpace is the sole reason my bands been able to do anything in regards to out of town shows, CD sales, etc..

you're only focusing on the bad stuff that happens, you're like fox news.

That's all good and great but I pay taxes, and my tax money doesn't need to be going to publically funded computers to make it easier for kids to access your bands promotional material. Sites like Myspace are fine for use at home, but if they want to ban them in public schools, that's alright with me.

[Gregkash]

That's all good and great but I pay taxes, and my tax money doesn't need to be going to publically funded computers to make it easier for kids to access your bands promotional material. Sites like Myspace are fine for use at home, but if they want to ban them in public schools, that's alright with me.


That's fine and I agree.

If you read my post before I said kids are too stupid to be going on myspace at school and should be doing school work at school.

[shane hennessey]

That and your parents just don't love you.
Funny since I was a day student and my dad worked there for 10 years basically so I could get $30,0000 per year education for free.

[Gregkash]

it was a joke dude, relax.

[Ponyboy]

if they ban it we just have proxys to unblock it
doesnt really affect me at all

[shane hennessey]

it was a joke dude, relax.
I was one of the few kids that did have loving parents

[snowtires]

aww, cut him some slack, boarding school kids don't know what it's like to have a sense of humor.

[Gregkash]

apparently not.

[atticusfinch]

Funny since I was a day student and my dad worked there for 10 years basically so I could get $30,0000 per year education for free.

Quite obviously, you failed math.

[Adeniz19]

it may affect this site but i think this is well needed. kids dont need to be searching this stuff at school anyways. i went into my schools library and practically everyone was on myspace when i actually needed it to do homework.

[Gregkash]

lol..

aw cut him some slack, he has 30,0000 per year worth of education under his belt, that must hurt his head

[Ponyboy]

Quite obviously, you failed math.

lolerz

[shane hennessey]

Quite obviously, you failed math.
I'm pretty sure I know my school's tuition. I know its hard to understand. I appologize since you were thrown off by an extra zero.

[Paul Tao]

Quite obviously, you failed math.
you attend a public school, i assume.

[TgE ARTdamage]

[i] "There's so much fear, even in suburban regions, where teenagers aren't allowed to just go and hang out," said Danah Boyd, a University of California-Berkeley graduate student who is studying social networking sites. Boyd said teens, particularly those from poor families or rural areas, need school and library computers to gain access to social networking sites. "Of course there are bad situations. But ... I can tell you a number of kids who have been molested in school by teachers," Boyd said. "Does that mean we don't send kids to school?"[i]

I really wish that I had more time to type out something about this - because I really like the topic, and I think it'd be a great debate topic, but unfortunately for me, i work in 30 minutes. (gay).

But I love how he uses the comparison to predators online, to predators IN school. I think it's great how he makes a point of it to say that there's never a 100% safe place for people short of a padded room that's impenetrable.

But yeah. I have to go to my lame ass job.

[Emoknight]

i think 14 and 16 year old girls should stop dressing like sluts on myspace

[GAD_guy]

The people going "good" are the people no longer in school.

i know. i can't believe i actually agree with shit like this. fuck, i'm getting old.

[VGB]

so we should let good intentions outweigh our personal freedoms, what about poor kids who have no internet? Yes they do exist. My brother says at their high school you can't search google for "AIDS" and its blocked. So instead of getting anything done in school he just goes home and does it, but what about the people who can't do that? Why do we have to let government solve all our problems for us? If kids would rather waste their time on myspace than studying than I say good riddance, you know is just being introduced so teachers have more control over their classrooms, not to stop internet predators, kids can just as easily go home and find some whacko on the internet there if they really wanted to. THIS IS A FEEL GOOD BILL. Its effect will be zero, zip, nada -except that warm cozy feeling that teachers have the right to tell their students that they are "breaking the law." Today its social networking sites...tomorrow? I'm sick and tired of a new bill being introduced every week sfor something as piddly as this when there are bigger problems in the world, just because some parents don't seem to care what their kids are doing on the internet they'll let the schools handle it. I don't mind it being enforced on a a school-by-school basis, but a law? Now get real. LETS SOLVE SOME REAL PROBLEMS!

[GAD_guy]

That's terribly ignorant.

MySpace is the sole reason my bands been able to do anything in regards to out of town shows, CD sales, etc..



if myspace didn't exist, everyone would go to mp3.com or purevolume or whatever and you'd be able to promote your band that way except we wouldn't have to deal with the utter stupidity myspace has created.

i don't blame the makers of the website, but i can't even bear to go to that place.

[oh no its colin]

i too realize how old i am while thinking about all this.

kids need to read books in school. they don't need to read surveys and picture comments. they can't wait for 3:00 to roll around and go home to LOLZ and OMFG?

i say pass the shit.

[kirbs84]

what the fuck are kids doing looking at sites like that at school anyway?

[brandnew423]

you almost had me caring about this...until the last part. you self serving pricks this is a safety issue not a matter of making sure kids know that the new brand new album is going to be amazing from the hours of 8-3. as long as myspace is allowed to exist it will always be a safety issue so stop being dicks

[Manbotisdead]

This will never pass.


Actually they can pass it.

I think it will go through too. the safety of children isn't something they mess around with.

[maledixtion]

I hope it passes.
I don't think AP should be affected by it though.

[*crying stars*]

they already ban it at my school anyways. and it's true, why would you want to check your myspace during school?

but ap shouldn't be affected.

[youcomebeforeyo]

For all the flack people are giving myspace did you consider that the other week it was paramount in stopping a school shooting? A kid planning to do one sent a message to someone in NC who contacted the police and in turn contacted police in his state.

They searched his house and found several weapons and explosives.

Myspace saved lives there.

[niveK]

This will work well becasue kids can't lie. Just like porn sites, you need to be 18 and you have to enter your age in dropdown boxes. The good thing is there is no way around it.

/sarcasm

[snowtires]

they have computers in schools now? and they have the internet on them? man, my high school sucked.

[Frequency]

My school pretty much banned everything. I can see why they did that but I get bored in school and I guess I'm just a myspace addict.

[ishotthepilot]

that's such bullshit. i would love to see the reasoning behind this ever getting passed... haha

my school blocks nyspace and xanga, but not livejournal or any other 'social' site.
oh, and high school facebook is blocked. cause kids here are lame enough to want to use that.

[jeweltosparkle]

I'm not affected being of age and all so I really dont care either way

[Maniac Moses]

I completely agree with this. but not the library part.

[Gregkash]

i think 14 and 16 year old girls should stop dressing like sluts on myspace


but not 15..

15 is perfectly fine to dress like sluts.

[TgE ARTdamage]

i feel old now after reading through a lot of these replies.

and on that note - anyone remember Reading Rainbow?

[Gregkash]

I just remember thinking "What the fuck is Geordi Laforge doing reading books?"

[Aceestrin]

lol, nice gregkash.

yeah, this law definitly needs to be passed for the reasons stated about, and even if ap.net is affected i quite honestly don't care. less hits, OH NOESSS!

and whoever made the analogy of molestations being caused by myspace and molestations being caused by teachers is a moron. School is used for a much 'higher' purpose than is myspace; an analogy cannot be made.

[dan.is.empire]

the only people who are going to hate this are people under 18. i mean what's the big deal? you SHOULDN'T be going on myspace, etc. in a class anyways, and if you are pathetic enough to waste your time in a library at lunch or after school just to do said activities then it'll give you more reasons to go do something useful with your life. most schools already block sites like this from their computers, but there are so many ways around it that it may as well not be. if this goes through (which i think it would be good if it does) then the government will be able to restrict access completely.

[Zoe]

Don't most schools already block Myspace and related sites?

[N8IVIin0rity]

[i] ...because I really like the topic, and I think it'd be a great debate topic, but unfortunately for me, i work in 30 minutes. (gay).

gay is not a synonym for sh!tty.

[ETesdall]

That's terribly ignorant.

MySpace is the sole reason my bands been able to do anything in regards to out of town shows, CD sales, etc..

you're only focusing on the bad stuff that happens, you're like the evening news.

No its not, there are many ways to promote bands and music with out myspace. Sorry but i think the molesting and rapiing of chlidren due to this site is a lot more important to focus on than if you your band sells a few cds?? Thats why there are sites like purevolume and this one for that matter. If your band has talent it will get heard you dont need shit like myspace to force it upon people.

[TheBaroness]

another case of big government gone mad. vote libertarian.

[Ponyboy]

the only people who are going to hate this are people under 18. i mean what's the big deal? you SHOULDN'T be going on myspace, etc. in a class anyways, and if you are pathetic enough to waste your time in a library at lunch or after school just to do said activities then it'll give you more reasons to go do something useful with your life. most schools already block sites like this from their computers, but there are so many ways around it that it may as well not be. if this goes through (which i think it would be good if it does) then the government will be able to restrict access completely.

well you're right with the whole kids shouldnt be on it
but i'll give u a good example of when i use it in school
i have computer art class and once i'm done with my work ur allowed to just be on the internet and do what u gotta do. so i go on myspace durin down time in school. and same goes with 80% of the kids in my school
we go on wen theres nothing else to do
if ur on myspace when you should be studyin then its their own fault
for it to be a law bc of child rape and everything is stupid
everyone makes it such a bigger deal then what it is

[extrajunkmail]

I worked at my local high school tutoring english to hispanic kids, kids were allowed to bring in their own computers and use the school network. Everyday all I saw were kids on myspace for hours. It used up the bandwith of the school and everything became so slow. They then blocked myspace and the internet was fast again. This is a problem and it effects teachers and everyone at a school using the net. If it was not a problem then this bill would not exist. And for crazy blocks on computers, they are there because of cause and effect don't be mad at the school be mad at Jonny Jackoff who was at school looking at smut. Those block were not there in 1996 but they are not because some people can't control themselves and go to means of using trick words and back alleys to find their porn.

[oh no its colin]

well you're right with the whole kids shouldnt be on it
but i'll give u a good example of when i use it in school
i have computer art class and once i'm done with my work ur allowed to just be on the internet and do what u gotta do. so i go on myspace durin down time in school. and same goes with 80% of the kids in my school
we go on wen theres nothing else to do
if ur on myspace when you should be studyin then its their own fault
for it to be a law bc of child rape and everything is stupid
everyone makes it such a bigger deal then what it is

why not read a book?

and everyone makes it a "bigger deal then what it is" because it IS a big deal. kids are obsessive about that crap. i was having a chat with an old high school english teacher that was failing kids left and right because of their second nature to talk like morons in their papers because of the shit they've developed from myspace and a constant need to be on AIM.

[snowtires]

gay is not a synonym for sh!tty.

sure, and nobody ever uses the word 'retarded' as a synonym for 'stupid,' either.

[mysensesfailed3]

myspace is blocked at my school but ap.net and emotionalpunk.com aren't. myspace is blocked for good reason because kids would just go crazy. My school fuckin suspends peoplle for what they say on myspace. I called a gril a pornstar and i was very close to not being able to come to school for a week. There should be a seperation of happiness and school.

[Ponyboy]

why not read a book?

and everyone makes it a "bigger deal then what it is" because it IS a big deal. kids are obsessive about that crap. i was having a chat with an old high school english teacher that was failing kids left and right because of their second nature to talk like morons in their papers because of the shit they've developed from myspace and a constant need to be on AIM.

wen u say read a book look who you're talking to. do u really think if they pass this its really goin to make a large percentage of teenagers say well we cant go to myspace lets read a book. Think of when u were a teen. Did you really want to read a book? i love reading but the fact is most dont. If this becomes a law everyone is just goin to use a proxy just like we do already. and if they find a way around that then theirs a million other sites kids are goin to be on rather then readin a book. As for kids who use net "lingo" in their papers is just stupid
their stupid and should fail for that. but thats not whats being discussed in this situation.

[Ponyboy]

also if this goes through i barely care bc i'm on this site reading about music then on myspace

[1000shadesofred]

This will never pass.

have u met our congress? censorship is counterproductive for a society

[snowtires]

wen u say read a book look who you're talking to. do u really think if they pass this its really goin to make a large percentage of teenagers say well we cant go to myspace lets read a book. Think of when u were a teen. Did you really want to read a book? i love reading but the fact is most dont. If this becomes a law everyone is just goin to use a proxy just like we do already. and if they find a way around that then theirs a million other sites kids are goin to be on rather then readin a book. As for kids who use net "lingo" in their papers is just stupid
their stupid and should fail for that. but thats not whats being discussed in this situation.

one thing i've noticed since the internet started being way more popular is that more and more kids know less and less about grammar.

[Ponyboy]

one thing i've noticed since the internet started being way more popular is that more and more kids know less and less about grammar.

sorry, I didn't know i was being graded on my grammer. I use net lingo. i type u instead of you. big deal. this isnt a sat essay.

but thanks for noticing teacher

[snowtires]

sorry, I didn't know i was being graded on my grammer. I use net lingo. i type u instead of you. big deal. this isnt a sat essay.

but thanks for noticing teacher

You're just showing the main reason why certain parts of the internet need to be blocked from kids under the age of 18. Kids spend so much time online, they don't know basic fundamentals of the English language like the difference between there, they're and their, or that you use the word 'an' before a noun or adjective that starts with a consonant.

[Ponyboy]

You're just showing the main reason why certain parts of the internet need to be blocked from kids under the age of 18. Kids spend so much time online, they don't know basic fundamentals of the English language like the difference between there, they're and their, or that you use the word 'an' before a noun or adjective that starts with a consonant.

alrite but take into account that i wrote that half asleep. If it was anything that mattered i would make sure to have proper grammar. and seriously this whole thing is about myspace and other sites of that nature being blocked. This site or myspace does not really effect your spelling bc at most you're typing a paragraph in a comment or reply. Aim is what makes bad habits if you ask me.

[Aceestrin]

you're wrong, ponyboy. Just like everything else in life, practice will determine performance, and whether you like it or not, writing in comments (even only one paragraph) will affect your writing. not to mention it just makes you look dumb when you type 'u' or have blatant grammer/spelling mistakes. I doubt you are in such a hurry that you can't type the extra two letters in 'you'. Then again, looking stupid doesn't mean you ARE stupid, it just means that people are more likely to judge you incorrectly.

[gracelikelions]

interesting.

[Ponyboy]

you're wrong, ponyboy. Just like everything else in life, practice will determine performance, and whether you like it or not, writing in comments (even only one paragraph) will affect your writing. not to mention it just makes you look dumb when you type 'u' or have blatant grammer/spelling mistakes. I doubt you are in such a hurry that you can't type the extra two letters in 'you'. Then again, looking stupid doesn't mean you ARE stupid, it just means that people are more likely to judge you incorrectly.

dont get me wrong i understand where YOU "lol" are coming from. All i meant was i feel you pick up your bad habits while using aim. it's more of a casual conversation and laid back for the most part. i know i may not look the most intelligent when i type like that but when coming on this site i dont feel the need to show my intelligence with grammar. If it was a classroom it would be a diff story but here i'm all for the slang unless you're an ass who "typez lyk diss". i agree with everyone who says myspace doesnt belong in the classroom but i just wanted to show an example when i feel it is ok to use it and give an example from personal experience.

if you're going to be molested online
it was meant to be

[splitsecond]

This wont pass constitutional muster for multiple reasons, so I wouldnt worry too much about it.

[heyRomanticA__x]

If they pass this...what's next? This is them one step closer to taking away our civil liberties; all in the promise of safety. Look at all of you saying "kids need this" "kids are stupid" "the kids need protection", undoubtly this may be true, but the protection needs to come from home first. If the parents would keep watchful eyes on children..quite possibly these things wouldn't happen. If the children could trust their parents...quite possibly these things wouldn't happen. I am against this law, because we need to build better relationships with our children, instead of letting them become raised by the state.

Also, what's the point of blocking "myspace" and other social sites at school when the kids STILL have access at home?

[Aceestrin]

romantica, I believe you missed the original purpose of this bill. It's not meant to control children by making sure they don't use social websites. It is mostly meant so kids will spend their time in libraries researching or reading. Also, i'm pretty sure the main reason why this WILL pass is because of the bandwidth it is taking up and how slow it is making public school district's servers/internet.

There was a community college in texas (i believe corpus christi cc) that had their internet literally turn off due to overactivity of one website (myspace). 75% of all hits on the community college's computers were myspace....75% (this is supposed to be a higher learning institution)!!!. I believe situations similar to this will also start occuring in high schools, so chances are they won't have a choice but to limit activity away from these sites.

[Ponyboy]

how do you think they're going to rid the system of myspace?
from what i know most schools block it anyway

[irthesteve]

my school already bans it, all you need to know is you can get to any site through www.kproxy.com

[costello.]

You're just showing the main reason why certain parts of the internet need to be blocked from kids under the age of 18. Kids spend so much time online, they don't know basic fundamentals of the English language like the difference between there, they're and their, or that you use the word 'an' before a noun or adjective that starts with a consonant.

you use the word 'an' before a noun or adjective that starts with a vowel.

[cahrishurr]

proxy proxy proxy

big deal, my small college blocks myspace..but remember proxys are the trick

[elvis]

so theyll have to wait till they get home from school to log onto AP. i dont think its a big deal