Apparently Not Anyone's Space.

Oh yes America. You keep impressing me. Now I am not talking government. No. They've had just about all they can handle. I am talking about the average American. Specifically the teenagers. More specifically young teenage girls who love MySpace. Oh you don't know what MySpace is? You must be an ignorant parent. Did I just say that? GASP.

Anyway, here's the scoop. A 13 year-old girl's mother is filing a $30 million lawsuit against the quite popular website. Why? Well that was the question that I asked. And here's why. She claims that MySpace is negligent in protecting teens. The girl was raped by a man she met through the website. Now I am not saying that I do not feel horrible about what the man did to her. No no. But let's take a look at what really is going on here.

It's a website that specifically, SPECIFICALLY, says that users are NOT to be 13 and under. These ages are NOT allowed. However, the teens who are under the age limit FAKE their age in order to get an account. So let's get this straight. This girl LIED about her age in order to get a MySpace, and then met someone who obviously was a predator and posed as a "friend." You cannot be a "friend" unless you request it. This request is then approved by the actual person who has the MySpace. So therefore, you can deny anyone you do NOT know. It's that simple. Only allow a friend on that you know specifically from school, let's say. Most people even TALK about it at school. So let's say you approved someone who used a title name that was not specific. You ask around ALL of your friends IN PERSON (God forbid) whose name that was. If you can't find anyone with that name, DELETE them from your friends. It's that simple.

Now this is not the first case of people blaming MySpace for the lack of security. And, though I hate saying this, to be fair to those, there is no age "checking" in MySpace. But how is that possible? I mean, how could an age possibly be verified? You want them to use your Social Security Number? That's a little too personal for me, but hey, if you parents absolutely have to blame someone, then there's the way to fix it.

I guess this boils down to my point. I am sick of people blaming. BLAME is used FAR too often. Where has RESPONSIBILITY gone? Since when has someone screwed up, and said "my bad"? No. Nowadays, if you make a bad decision, well that wasn't your fault! Someone influenced you, or was negligent, etc. So you deserve MONEY for it. MONEY solves everything doesn't it? Again, I am not trying to belittle the fact that this girl was raped by a pedophile. I am all for torturing those people until they are about to die, but don't give them the satisfaction of death. That's not what this rant is about. All I am saying is that if the parent may have taken the initiative to just LOOK at the girl's MySpace once in awhile or tell the girl that she should NEVER meet a stranger ANYWHERE. I mean, these are basic tips for survival in the real world. Don't talk to strangers. And yet the girl did. I mean, the girl is 13. She isn't a little kid anymore. Just THINK about what you're doing. If you do that, if you THINK things out logically, normally you make a good decision. There is not going to be security at every point in your life. You can't just assume that everyone is good on the inside. You cannot just assume that everyone will always be your friend. Your closest friends? Yes...they are the good ones. But to believe an absolute stranger and meet him somewhere? Just take a second and THINK. It's just sad because this type of thing could have so easily been prevented.

For the record, I have a MySpace, and it's got Kill Bill colors...it's pretty sweet...