myspace privacy., gone too far? Options

[pandamonium]

a girl posted a blog on myspace from washington township, a school close to mine, on that blog she posted about 17 people she hated and one of those people she said she wanted to kill. They arrested her as soon as someone saw this blog. But she went away with a warning and won't be attending school for a while.

Do you think it is right they arrested her? I mean there are probably several other people who right on their diaries or journals (online or not) about what happened in the day and say they wanna kill someone but aren't as serious. Do you think they took this too far by arresting?

(ps - I didnt know whether this was serious enough to go to debate, so move it if it is. )

[*mipadi*]

Most time when students say things like "I want to kill so-and-so", they don't really mean it. The problem is, as recent school shootings have shown, in a tiny number of circumstances the person really means it. This creates a problem for the authorities: If they know about a death threat, even a joke, and do nothing about it, and the person carries through on the threat, can they be held responsible? You can bet the parents of the victim would likely bring such a case to civil court. We live in a society where no one has personal responsibility anymore. A death isn't the fault of the killer; it's the fault of the killer, the media, the authorities for not doing more to stop it, and so forth. Arresting people for these sorts of charges is just a cover-my-ass move by those in control.

Do I think a person should be arrested every time they make such a (likely idle) threat? In an ideal society, no. But we hardly live in an ideal society. I don't have tons of sympathy for people who post things like that online, because by now, they should know better. I'm always quite careful about what I say about people online no matter what the context.

[pandamonium]

Most time when students say things like "I want to kill so-and-so", they don't really mean it. The problem is, as recent school shootings have shown, in a tiny number of circumstances the person really means it. This creates a problem for the authorities: If they know about a death threat, even a joke, and do nothing about it, and the person carries through on the threat, can they be held responsible? You can bet the parents of the victim would likely bring such a case to civil court. We live in a society where no one has personal responsibility anymore. A death isn't the fault of the killer; it's the fault of the killer, the media, the authorities for not doing more to stop it, and so forth. Arresting people for these sorts of charges is just a cover-my-ass move by those in control.

Do I think a person should be arrested every time they make such a (likely idle) threat? In an ideal society, no. But we hardly live in an ideal society. I don't have tons of sympathy for people who post things like that online, because by now, they should know better. I'm always quite careful about what I say about people online no matter what the context.

I know where you are getting at but like i said its a journal/diary people need to vent those things out. thats kind of like their way of taking action. People who get teased everyday might just brush it off but online they try to release that anger, some people play sports to vent.

And i also know if she did kill that girl we would of been like oh yea she should of been arrested when they found out that she wrote that blog on myspace. But i think this went a little too far cause its her blog, her privacy.

[*I Shot JFK*]

I know where you are getting at but like i said its a journal/diary people need to vent those things out. thats kind of like their way of taking action. People who get teased everyday might just brush it off but online they try to release that anger, some people play sports to vent.

And i also know if she did kill that girl we would of been like oh yea she should of been arrested when they found out that she wrote that blog on myspace. But i think this went a little too far cause its her blog, her privacy.

no, sorry. wanting to rant in a journal isnt an acceptable excuse when the person has full knowledge that what they write will be published on the internet. NO ONE could reasonably assume that no one would read it... if you want a private rant, go all low tech and buy a notebook, and hide it under your mattress

It's her private space on the web.

naivety strikes!

i agree with michael. the idea of reporting myspace postings to the police seems distasteful, and over the top. but, in today's society, one cannot assume that a threat is nothing but a joke. the police have to think ahead, to cover their own asses, and to protect against a potential threat.

and has anyone considered that their may be more to this story? everyone has said that it is normal fo rpeople to say 'oh i wanna kill him' when they're pissed off, which i agree with. do we not think that the police KNOW that? and so there was something different about this instance that called for special attention?