What is Digg?190 Comments
- coujou, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10You don't realize. If you let kids have a blog, maybe one day they will learn think by themselves. If you don't stop them soon enough, they can get accustomed to it and become responsible adults. It would be a bad thing for TV producers, the government and the catholic church.
- ndm007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I mean, banish it in schools, but why stop it outside school? Who actually places their address and contact details (besides email) on a blog or MySpace. If i was a student in that school i would encourage others to go start a blog now...
...its always cool to do the opposite of authority. - pyke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The Reverend Kieran McHugh obviously has not learned the lesson that when you tell a child not to do something they want to do it even more.
So let me get this straight, there was an issue where someone on myspace, or one of those sites, got suckered by some lying pervert. I thought we learned in the early days of AOL, when I had a dial up modem, that everyone lies on the Internet. So instead fixing the problem of misinformed youths trusting their on-line "buddies" to much, he decided to tell the entire school about the websites, and then ban them. So now every student who had not previously heard of sites like myspace (probably few) and those that were not interested (a lot more) were given the seeds they needed to spark their interest. In effect, he probably raised the hit count on myspace that night.
Maybe the good reverend could take some time to actually EDUCATE the students in his school instead of banning social outlets. Why not step down off your soap box and teach kids how to properly conduct themselves on-line. How about telling them what they should and shouldn't do. For example, do not give out personal information like names, addresses, and phone numbers. Give the students sound examples of why they shouldn't trust the person on the other end of the computer. Do not make vague statements like the one made in the article; "Popular community sites such as Xanga and MySpace got the school administration's attention when it learned that a student had communicated on-line with someone who lied about their identity, age and where they lived, though McHugh would not elaborate on the specifics of the case." Tell the students the specifics of what did and could happen. Show case examples. Think about when you started driving. Sure people told you that not wearing your seat belt was bad, but that didn't really change your mind. Then you saw the pictures of people that did not wear their seat belts in movies like "Blood on the Highway". I bet you considered wearing your seat belt a little more after those videos. Now I am not saying we should show students pictures of the mutilated corpses that trusted people a little too much and were now no more, but then again it might not hurt.
The bottom line is that Reverend Kieran McHugh is only proposing these measures to cover his school against any liability. If he believes that telling kids not to do something will actually prevent them from doing it he might as well believe that a man can cure blindness by only his touch......wait a minute... - bsoric, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I agree. The school shouldn't be able to control their students lives like that.
- B111, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wait, wait, so you're telling the catholic church is trying to subvert the free exchange of information?
Or that a principal at a high school is trying to subvert the free exchange of information amongst the youth?
The hell you say!
Seriously though, this could only mean one of two things:
1. The principal is trolling myspace constantly for students.
and/or
2. These students must be members of the priory of the scion and possess the secret of the holy grail! They must be stopped at all costs! - Marfanity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How would the school even know if you're blogging or not?
- FunHeadlines, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1LOL as the catholic priest comment.
He says if this saves even one student from a sexual predator, it will be worth it. So will locking children up in cages, right? That will protect them, no?
Bah! All a kid has to do to protect themselves is not provide too much personally identifiable information (identifiable to a stranger). Parents can monitor that, and go figure, that's where this decision belongs: in the home. - drpunkerz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Complete *****. You're paying these guys to teach your children? I've got nothing against catholic schooling, but this principal needs to realize that he can not enforce this rule.
If I were the parents of these children, I'd change schools immediately. - geekologist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Please send the school your comments don't stand for this:
http://www.popejohn.org/content/feedback.htm - ahrefd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is totally typical of my high school, Unwarranted moves or agendas. This quote further stipulates how out of touch McHugh is with his students, but furthermore how out of touch the Catholic Church is out of touch with it's congregation. I fear that Law suits will reign down upon him like some immaculate event. anyone know if the EFF is involved yet??
"I don't see this as censorship," McHugh told the Record. "I believe we are teaching common civility, courtesy and respect." Popular community sites such as Xanga and MySpace got the school administration's attention when it learned that a student had communicated online with someone who lied about their identity, age and where they lived, though McHugh would not elaborate on the specifics of the case."
I saw this on slashdot last night and almost lost it. My world got alot smaller, never thought i'd see my highschool on slashdot or in the news for that matter. PopeJohn is a good school, let's get that straight. However, this is just wrong. - teh_techie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Do... what... you... want... period.
- AzzardX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4«McHugh said he was taking the unusual measure to protect students from online sexual predators...»
And that's coming from a catholic priest.
News about religion... it's always funny to read how some people willfuly keep themselves ignorant and live like it was the 1500s. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My school has blocked all of these websites.
They have also blocked any page with blog web journal etc in the coding
My buddy used hidemyass.com to go to one and was suspended... aparently the server activly looks for keywords and ass is one of them!!!! - NiX0n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1gzzz... *rolls eyes*
If it wasn't for the fact that it's a private school, I'd say this was total *****. Even as is, the school shouldn't feel responsible for preventing pedophiles from reaching kids over the Internet. It's the parent's responsibility to teach their kids about such dangers. Once again, another indication of Parents "Slacking on the Job, and the school system picking up the slack."
The fact that they're worried about kids speaking ill of their school on a public medium, that is utter ***** on every level (private or public schools). This is nowhere near a valid argument to prevent kids from blogging about their school. Every citizen of America has the right to bitch about it's authority figures or any other establishment. The fact that it's on The Internet, where there is ultimate freedom, no establishment (except for maybe the web-host) has the right to force anyone from taking it down.
Help! Help! I'm Being Oppressed! - Tullamore, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Someone figure out his email address so we can tell him what we think...
- tastypastry, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Although i think myspace is really gay, thats just not right. They cant take away their freedom of speech, especially when its outside of school.
- konrad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1rofl, that's stupid. my high school's blocked myspace and gmail and some porno sites. I use VNC (remote desktop) and just use my computer to do whatever I please from school ^_^, ***** you BG computer admin team
- Vate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"....and don't forget mp3 also come from hell!"
- agster11, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I live within fifteen minutes of this school, and have many friends that attend. The students ARE NOT accepting the smackdown. They have created Anti Pope John sites, and a slew of opinion article have hit our school (of which i am the editor in cheif.) I tried conducting an interview with the principle, but he wasn't available at the time for comment. Hopefully i can get something out him today
- Superc00kie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"If this protects one child from being near-abducted or harassed or preyed upon, I make no apologies for this stance," McHugh said.
What a load of *****! If you keep kids locked in a dungeon and feed them a bucket of fisheads once a week they will also be protected from abduction. When I was in highschool I also had a principal who thought he could tell the students what they couldn't do outside the school. Eventually, all the teachers turned on him and his ass got fired. - m4v1s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"«McHugh said he was taking the unusual measure to protect students from online sexual predators...»
And that's coming from a catholic priest."
if students or anyone who has a blog is stupid/gullible enough to post their home address, cell phone number, class schedule, fears and other personal information on any public ally accessible media, it is their fault and their mistake. this is why myspace and other services have the ability to post privately so that only friends can view them...students should not be using class time to post on their blogs or IM friends, but the school can not tell them that they are not allowed to have them and use them at home or on their own computers. - Duston, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This a breach of human rights IMO. -- dominiccarr
If you think that this is a breach of human rights you sir are an idiot.
http://www.humanrightswatch.org/ - m0laria, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0why was your wife sitting on radiators anyways?
- covance, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I went to private schooling, and it has gone from "ok" to HELL! Most of those who make such policies are nothing more than ***** who are on a power trip and want to control everything. Adults like that despise the fact that kids today have so much more technology, freedom, and opportunity to become more free thinking individuals they will ever be. It's all about controlling the masses and force feeding "their" beliefs on the kids. Get them while they're young is their motto. This indicates a really bad direction that America specifically is heading. No more "Land of the free" and free thinking.
- pats1237, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I was suprised, then I saw Catholic School
- CaptainBryan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If I were a student there, I'd just organize something so EVERY STUDENT opens up a MySpace account. Every single student gets one. Then, somehow let the guy figure it out. They can't kick everyone out, and if they do, they'd have to shut down, because they'd have no funding for the year. It'd be fantastic!
- bradyjfrey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"to protect students from online sexual predators" -- coming from the Catholic Church? That's realistic.
Get out of that school, or post up your anonymous blog, mini-microsoft style. - bontux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I find it funny how people are saying that the Catholic Church is trying to "control" people. If you want to follow a religion or any political party or movement, it usually means following a set of guidelines/rules to be a "good" follower. So, I guess everyone here is being "controled" by some movement or religion.
And as you can see in our society today, the Catholic Church seems to have a whole wack load of control over people. - agster11, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0http://tinyurl.com/akmef
a pic of teh offending "father" - agster11, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Unfortunately, most of the children i know who attend this school did indeed cancel their profile. Unfortunately with a school like this, the parents belive they are paying for this kind of protection. It's also unfortuante that the school groups everyone with a mob mentality, but hell what can you do
- Arkitan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I can't believe that the parents aren't helping thier kids fight this.
- dominiccarr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0'I agree. The school shouldn't be able to control their students lives like that.'
Damn right, what they do outside school is none of their business, This a breach of human rights IMO. - Bocaj22, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If I went to that school - i would get a friend of mine that went to a public school to put up a myspace with pictures of me on it and badmouth ALOT. "its not my website - i dont know the password, i have no ability to change it" lol
- Swift2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It may be constitutional to restrain a minor's extracurricular activities, but it sure as hell is anti-American.
- jbrocket99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Can someone please explain to me how suspending the student from school protects them from Internet predators? Wouldn't it be prudent to teach the students about what they can and can't post on the Internet, personally I just use common sense. However, I guess that would only work as well as those sex ed lectures they give. Maybe they should start suspending students for not having safe sex.
- rajt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I do understand the school's angle on this. At the school at which I work as a tech, there have been problems with students providing personally identifiable information on their blogs including phone numbers, addresses and details of how they get to school (train times etc). Our school, however, has not banned blogs - any ban would be completely ineffective and pointless. We have tried to educate them instead about the possible dangers and indeed their legal responsibilities about the publication of such information. For instance, it is illegal in the state in which I live to publish any personally identifiable information about someone under 15 years of age - this includes photos amongst other things - without the permission of their parents. There is no free speech defence in this matter.
- trunkster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Don't see that in the Bible. Wait that's right it's a Catholic school.
- BillGates, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"If this protects one child from being near-abducted or harassed or preyed upon, I make no apologies for this stance," McHugh said.
WTF? Incredible. Shutting down the Catholic church itself, will accomplish this MUCH quicker than shutting down Bloggers.
What a fukkin bonehead. - nymphetamine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0mtv? meh. do digg just for that.
- p00p, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0We all need to be writing letters to this school. Remember, "No one is free when others are oppressed." Here is the letter I sent, if anyone wants to use it as a reference.
Dear Sir or Madam:
As both an atheist and a student of another high school, I do not expect my opinion to carry much weight. However, as your school is producing adult citizens with civic responsibilities, a responsibility also falls on your educational process to create citizens who are informed and not apathetic. I believe that there is widespread support nationally for my opinion as the news gains momentum, and not voicing it would do injustice to the students enrolled at your school.
I am writing to you to voice my utter contempt for the new policies your school has implemented regarding students' online activities outside of school. Restricting the freedom of students not only in school but also outside of school sets a dangerous precedent that teaches students to expect their rights to be eroded. The educational system, whether intentionally or not, provides a four year civics lesson that will have lasting impacts on its students. By enforcing tyrannical policies on its students, a school generates students who are fearful of authority and unlikely to challenge it.
It is the responsibility of any educational system with such a lasting impact on children to ensure that it does everything it can to turn them into capable citizens who will not allow usurpations on their rights. It is important that you immediately cede this rule and restore the extracurricular freedom of your students. - habfan29, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If that happened at my school I would laugh at him. Then I would open as many blog accounts as possible and blog about this without using names and locations. I'd then try and get out of that school as fast as I could, I want to learn for myself, not be tought how to think.
- G-Force, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Well it's about control kids these days are being taught that it is better that someone run their lives as long as their entertained or to better their convenience. I heard about a 7 year old girl who was tasered by police for simply not behaving like she should. These kids are guilty of nothing short of thought crimes. I find that the United States is in a decline morally, economically, and socially these problems must be fixed.
America is becoming militarized like Nazi Germany did before the war started. Infact many similarities between the 2 for us observers. Hitler got his men to burn a government building to the ground and then blamed it on the jews and cited he would'nt tolerate terrorism creating Fatherland security which is in every way shape and form exactly like Homeland security. America is taking a turn of desperation trying to control their populous. The Christian right all the way to the fascist government work in tandem. You ever notice that when Bush nominates a crony he ussually makes it a point to say their "Super Christy". - Brak710101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Rajt, I feel for you.
I don't know about you, but most school techs are blind to whats going on.
People like me can clear all logs in seconds, you'd have absoultly no idea, let alone that we used the PC.
My schools grades are publicly online thanks to someone in the school.
I have no idea who that someone is. ;) - dacompmandan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Crazy Catholics... With your 3 Hour Long Services are your No-Blogging...
- TheAttacks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Leave it up to the catholics to ban blogging. wtf?
- charmedguy18, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You know I'd be getting suspended. Crazy ass republicans.
- Tweekster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0stevejabs:
actually you have no clue what you are talking about.
they cannot limit students outside of school, it is a SIMPLE FACT get over it.
they can ban it during school but after that, they are *****. - TheAttacks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Funny point there breakfree!
- breakfree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wonder how many of those sexual predators are actually priests?
- moth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think that this is a bad call, but being a high school student, I know what kind of stuff high schoolers are putting on My Space. Many of the girls in my grade regularly post pictures of themselves doing drugs, making out with other girls, and other inappropriate pictures. I think that some action should be taken against this, I just don't think that this was the right one.
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