Today the NY City Council partnering with corporations such as MTV, Time Warner and Facebook, announced a "cyber bullying summit", to address the on-going issue of social media's impact and responsibility to protect young people. Many teenagers came to this first meeting, which will be available on YouTube, to tell their stories. They spoke of "sexting" (which in case you don't know is sending naked or compromising pictures over a cell phone) and sexually explicit texts, in addition to sending hateful and bullying texts to other people. Many teenagers use Facebook to start groups that promote hate speech. Twitter has also been gaining in popularity. These are the well known media outlets. But are all of you as parents aware of other sites?
Formspring is a site that allows people to say things to others without having to identify who they. There is no way to trace the sender, so people feel free to say whatever hateful things they want. Tumblr is another site that is especially popular with teenage girls. You can post pictures (called reblogging) and other content from the Web and also ask questions anonymously. There is no filter; you can put up whatever type of obscene and pornographic pictures you want, as well as discuss sex and drug use. It is sort of like blogging for teens. When I look at what some of these young people, especially girls, say and do I really wonder if all of our advances are really worth it. I speak to my kids about it and they aren't part of it, however I know many of these young girls who do use these sites and it is appalling what they say and do on these sites.
Are all of you aware of these sites and the influence they have upon children?
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