i am OLD?
I just spent a little time checking out myspace.com, and I feel like a used up balloon. Sort of flaccid, and stretched out.
My friend Deb sent a link to her page, which naturally had friends associated with it--including several young people who are not so young anymore. This is a picture of Hunter and Paulas daughter, Ione, from her myspace page. I was 15 when I changed this kids diaper, and took her to coffee in a red flyer wagon, and dyed her green with jello powder to piss off all the uptight old people. Many of whom I now realize were probably, oh, about my age. She is older now than we were when she was born.
But she is sort of beautiful and blank on that site. In contrast, another girl, Aubrey, is vulgar. She is punk and crass, and very sexual in a stupid--no, be fair, 17 year old kind of way.
Which brings me to the crux. Do we want to know these sort of details about our kids? And, what's my fucking problem? See, I was more like Aubrey. And frankly, I was in trouble, but I don't think my folks needed a myspace.com experience to know it. Probably just taking a moment to notice whether I was on acid would have done wonders. I don't mean to rag on my folks though. More just this aspect of the open nature of the internet. I might have needed some positive action from my folks, but I sure as hell am glad they never had to see what a dipshit I was in my head. Oh god, or anyone else. You lucky people. I would have been a myspace junkie.
I don't want to be an old person, who is bugged by kids being crass. But I want those girls to be healthy, and be safe. Which sounds old to me. Sigh.
posted by Unknown at 22:13
4 Comments:
Short answer, yes, you're old. Long answer, thank God, you're old.
It's just a hell of a thing to look back on one's youth, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I know - since I, you know, live with you - that's been on our minds as of late. Coming to terms with, and forgiving yourself for, past stupidity is an important and necessary part of growing up, and therefore old.
But with this myspace business, you can see right inside at least part of a teen's mind. And Goddamn, who the hell wants to do that? Myspace seems to be the virtual living room of America's teens. You see all the dumb-assedness that is adolescence reflected in its constituent pages. Casual sex, stupid sex, pro-ana, drug use, depression, poetry; you can find it all at myspace.
But really, all myspace is a window into the ugly, horrible business of growing up. The problems myspace teens face, and the stupid decisions they make, are eerily similar to what's happened before. The difference is, we outside observers get to see it all unfold.
At work, it's almost standard practice to look for a teen's myspace site, if they're involved in a case. Needless to say, it's also a common source of teen girl / creepy old man contact, which comes into play in other types of cases.
Don't worry too much about these girls, Brat. They'll likely make it through. The difference is, where you can look at old journal entries and cringe, they'll wind up with an online, searchable index of their shame. And in the meantime, who knows - maybe their parents will read their sites and be inspired to take action if their stupidity rises to actionable heights.
I love you, Brat. And I'm damn glad to grow old with you.
I found my first grey hair on Saturday.
Second child, first gray hair.
Coincidence?
Wow, it certainly is a trip to see Ione all grown up!
I don't know if it will make you feel any better, but check out this excellent essay on the role of MySpace in youth culture:
Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace
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