This has to be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen it a while. Pope John XIII Regional High School in Sparta , NJ told their students to “dismantle their Myspace.com accounts or similar sites with personal profiles and blogs. Defy the order and face suspension”. Seems as though the Rev. Kieran McHugh thinks this is a good way to protect their students from “sexual predators” who prowl the kid’s blogs gathering information about the kids. What’s next locking up your kids in their home? Putting chastity belts on the girls? Keeping your kids away from priests? Nope, none of these things will protect your kids. The only people that can protect the kids are their families. Thankfully, this is a private school, and parents can elect to send (or not send) their kids to Pope John.
I know my oldest daughter’s blogs (yes plural), read them regularly, and encourage her to blog more. She knows not to blatantly trust anyone that he meets over the web, just like she would not open the front door to a stranger, or get into a car with someone she doesn’t trust her life with. That’s my job, to teach her how to live in the wilderness that we call civilization, not some well meaning, but misguided, priest or government. No matter what anyone else says or does, that job is my responsibility.