When I was teenager I kept a diary. It was blue with flowers all over it and covered with plastic. It had a lock. I wrote everything I did in that diary – boys, drinking, drugs, etc. Out of concern, my mother broke into my little diary and let's just say all hell broke out afterward. In true drama queen fashion, I hurled the diary into the fireplace (with the fire going of course) and watched as the plastic slowly melted.

That preamble was for two very different local stories about how teens are using blogs as online diaries. The first story from The Adviser (Lafayette, LA) argues that teens are spilling too much of their guts online making them vulnerable to sexual predators. The article then goes on to tell parents how to "monitor" their kids' Web habits including making sure they know their teen's Internet passwords. The other story is from The St. Petersburg Times (FL) and is much more positive about blogs using one teen girl's blogging habits as an example. Teachers are supportive (improves writing, critical thinking), her parents are unintrusive and respect her privacy, etc. Personally I think if teens want to use blogs as full blown diaries where they are sharing everything about their lives (especially incriminating info), they should probably do it under a pseudonym. I wish I had a blog back then…

Categorized under: Web

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