MySpace makes grown-ups crazy

MySpace just can't win this week. First the community of Calabasas was alarmed enough to hold a vigil for two missing teenage girls; the parents insisted they'd been cyber-napped by someone on MySpace. Turned out the two had girls had taken off together for a little romantic R&R.

Yesterday an Orange County middle school student posted threats against a classmate on MySpace; he and 20 kids who viewed the threats have been suspended. Overreaction?

1. Before the internet, "graphic threats" against another student would have been made in a crowded hallway or on a bathroom wall. MySpace is another venue for bullies, but not a more dangerous one.

2. Writing something on MySpace doesn't make it real; in fact, most everything on MySpace is a load of crap.

3. The kids who viewed the threats were suspended. One report we heard said a printout was passed around. If viewing something makes the viewer a party to the act, does that mean millions of people have had sex with Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee?

(4. OK, maybe millions have had sex with Pam and Tommy, but not by watching that video.)

5. The students involved attend TeWinkle Middle School. TeWinkle. We're not making this up.

Some of the parents thought the school's punishment was too harsh — according to Channel 4, because the activities happened off school grounds and after school. Maybe the school overreacted because suddenly everyone has decided MySpace is as scary as the birdflu.

photo of grown-ups screaming by saidunsaids