> Mrs. O'Neill's Blog: Are your parents interested in your blog?

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Are your parents interested in your blog?


Sunday, October 29, 2006

Recently Ewan McIntosh made some very interesting comments on how little many parents know of their children's online experiences. You can read his post here:http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2006/10/internet_and_so.htmlIt got me thinking about how young people would feel about letting their parents look at their blog or their page/website. I'm struck by pupils who think that the stuff they publish on the net is actually private. Let's face it, complete strangers are reading it, so it's not exactly like that diary you used to keep under your bed...I'm going to do a survey with my nieces and nephews -incredibly bright and fascinating, talented group, so not exactly typical. Would you mind your parents looking at your site?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure. If it was just me talking about things everyone knew about, then that would be okay.

If I was writing about private stuff I wouldn't want them to look.

But then if I was writing about private stuff I would make up a different name.

12:14 PM

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...

That's actually a very good point. People quite often use pseudonyms (fake names) when they're blogging. A good example of that would be the people in countries where there is a regime that frowns upon contact with other countries. Bloggers from those countries have to use a pseudonym or else they might be put in prison!

However, I suppose that's a bit off the subject... I think the fact that blogs can be read by complete strangers can actually help people to share private stuff, as they're sort of distanced from whatever they're talking about by the facelessness of the medium.

I'm skipping demographic targets in this comment, I know.

3:18 AM

Anonymous said...

Fred Bowllama said...
I don't understand what you are saying. If you could put it in a simpler way I will understand it because my brain is as big as a sugar bowl (true).

Could people really get put in prison for blogging?

12:10 PM

Anonymous said...

rach h said...
i dunno really! maybe its just a way of people letting out all their emotion or something, but if that was me, i don't know if i'd want the whole world knowing about my life!
so yeah, maybe people just feel the need to to share their life with people, which is totally fair enough! i totally agree it would make for good reading, especially since i'm a nosy git! lol
no but seriously, i don't know what blogs are supposed to be, i've never had one myself, but i may one day have one, who knows?
it confuses me, but my question is, how can people put so much private stuff on their blog? don't they realise it's not, well, private?

4:44 PM

Anonymous said...

MegJ said...
I agree with Sid. I think that some people find it hard to show their parents because their parents know them so well, it's hard to explain. However, if a stranger read your comment you don't feel you are oversharing because they don't really know anything about you. From an intellectual point however, I believe if you have to use a fake name then you should really look over your life. Why do you feel the need to use another name? If it is your point of view, are you ashamed of it? I believe that you should be able to show your parents your blog. Who knows you better than your parents?
Also, I might add that you can be sent to prison if you say or do anything illegal online. Anything you do online is recorded, not on your computer, and can be used as tangible evidence in a court case. Just incase you were wondering.

5:47 PM

Anonymous said...

lucy jackson said...
my first instinct is to say YES i dont want my parents reading everything i write, i mean a little privacy ! but then if i think about it , why wouldnt i want my parents to read what i publish on site's? i mean i would only really object to it if i was worried that i would get into trouble, and if i was worried that i'd get into trouble then it would probably mean that i had written something wrong/unkindetc. and made it public, And, if i had done all that then i would probably come to the conclusion that im not quite the person that i should be and i would change. wow i've came a long way with that one, does it make sense ???
8:42 PM

Anonymous said...

hannah said...
I dont think I would mind my parents looking at my blog(the only thing I have is bebo,which i think you refered to) because I have opened it up to let people view that dont know me,whether or not that's a good idea, im not sure.Its a good method of keeping in contact with people that you dont see regularly,but its also addictive for talking to people who you see every day.
Originally I would have been a bit sceptical about letting them on to look at it,but then I wondered why.Its just a bit about me,technically I shouldnt put anything on it that I was trying to hide.But then i have no secrets!!:)

I'm not sure there is much wrong with it,as long as you dont disclose any majorly personal details.

Sid what do you mean?
12:58 AM

Liz O'Neill said...

These are great comments you guys!
Thanks for being so honest.

I'm not quite sure what sid means either!

Sid?

Anonymous said...

Of course, you could have more than one blog. We're starting student learner blogs that are just for learning and teaching, with a bit of fun thrown in, of course! With them we want parents to be interested - "parents as partners" - because it lets them get involved without having to send a huge personal learning plan backwards and forwards between home and school. Here's an example of what can happen:
http://exc-el.org.uk/blogs/mgscraigr06
I'm sure he'd appreciate a comment!