bebo in the dock

thebaz

Bebo has hit the headline of the Herald tonight , for pretty sick reasons.
Apparently a bunch of pervs up in Drogheda lured some 14 year old girls to a house in Drogheda , plied them with drink and proceeded to rape one of the girls . The problem i see is anyone (adult) can create an account pretend to be 14 or 15, and lure young teens or pre teens, with false information. More control is needed on Bebo end , to stamp false impersonations, particularly for impressionable young girls.

Dave!

Where were the parents? Bebo does its part, it has safety tips and so on, and it allows you to make your profile private. They also tell you not to put up personal information and not to meet people in real life. Most people are capable of abiding by these rules and know not to do sh*t like this.

Now I'd like to know (you probably don't know, so this isn't directed at you) what the parents did to prevent this. I'm sure they at least checked their childrens' Bebo sites. Perhaps sat down with them and asked them to tell them about all of their friends. Perhaps registered their own account under an assumed name, and did some investigative work. Surely.

Or did they just leave their children to it....

seamus

Yes, it's bebo's fault that a 14-year-old girl can be lured to a house and plied with drink without her parent's knowledge.

Look at it this way - how is it any different to this group of people walking up to the girls, sweet-talking them, and inviting them back to a house. Why did her parents not know where she was going?

sonic juice

They sound like idiots

Dave!

sonic juice wrote:

They sound like idiots

Why don't you tell us what you really think

thebaz

The whole idea of bebo being so popular , is that teenagers do not want there parents reading there site .. theres lots of boasting about drink, sex etc . which they obviously don't want there parents reading.
Also a lot of the teens would be more computer literate than there parents , and i assume would be creating multiple accounts .

greenkittie

I met people off the internet at 14 but i would never have ended up this situation. These girls were clearly idiots, something bad would have happened them bebo or no bebo.

Karoma

thebaz wrote:

The whole idea of bebo being so popular , is that teenagers do not want there parents reading there site .. theres lots of boasting about drink, sex etc . which they obviously don't want there parents reading.
Also a lot of the teens would be more computer literate than there parents , and i assume would be creating multiple accounts .

And again, this is BEBO.com's responsibility or fault how?

thebaz's first knee-jerk reaction wrote:

More control is needed on Bebo end , to stamp false impersonations, particularly for impressionable young girls.

Placebo

i blame bebo. just close it down.
plus its badly made.i open new window and leaves comment for that when im posting it in the first, jesus, and now this.
close.

thebaz

seamus wrote:

Yes, it's bebo's fault that a 14-year-old girl can be lured to a house and plied with drink without her parent's knowledge.

Look at it this way - how is it any different to this group of people walking up to the girls, sweet-talking them, and inviting them back to a house. Why did her parents not know where she was going?

Bebo should control more securly the creation of accounts , i know for a fact that pre teens are using it . Bebo offers initial contact , which paedophiles can use cunningly to lure young unsuspecting children , using false accounts.

:|

thebaz wrote:

The whole idea of bebo being so popular , is that teenagers do not want there parents reading there site .. theres lots of boasting about drink, sex etc . which they obviously don't want there parents reading.
Also a lot of the teens would be more computer literate than there parents , and i assume would be creating multiple accounts .

Bebo is just an online version of what happens everyday in life, this is in no way bebo's fault, like someone said its not much different from them luring them back from the street

MrJoeSoap

The Evening Herald is a rag. There are sick people in the world, and bebo did not create them.

thebaz

Karoma wrote:

And again, this is BEBO.com's responsibility or fault how?

Yes they have a responsibilty as the providers of a social network, to ensure adequate security is given to its users , who in the main are 11 to 16 year olds i.e. children .

MrJoeSoap

thebaz wrote:

Yes they have a responsibilty as the providers of a social network, to ensure adequate security is given to its users , who in the main are 11 to 16 year olds i.e. children .

Does boards.ie have the same responsibility so?

Ruu_Old

MrJoeSoap wrote:

The Evening Herald is a rag. There are sick people in the world, and bebo did not create them.

Agreed, this issue was brought up before. Bebo do enough, I don't know what the other features they have but users can keep their pages private and accessible to their friends only. Of course they can't be forced to use the feature, but its there. If people want to put up their phone numbers and addresses, its their own lookout, unfortunately as it is in this case.

daiixi

You are kidding me right? I did plenty of dumb things as a teenager (and young adult) without my parents knowing about it and the only person who can be blamed is me. People need to take responsibility for their own actions and in this case it's the girls who did something stupid.

thebaz

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Does boards.ie have the same responsibility so?

No -- its profile and use is complty different , although there are some children on boards !

Karoma

You cited the main flaws are that the 'children' are avoiding common sense... AGAIN: What on Earth could BEBO do that the 'children' will not avoid?







"I red teh Evenin' Hegald...bebo's evil and rapes me stupid childerun."

destraynor

The blame here lies with the kids lack of understanding about the real world. This has to come from the parents, and to a certain extent the schooling.

One of my nieces has "computers" on Fridays where they learn how to make flyers and write letters in Word. What they should be learning about is the internet, privacy, online interactions, all that sort of stuff.

Incidentally I do believe that Bebo should, by default, make the pages of under 18 yr olds private. When we were building Bigulo, it was the first oddity we noticed. Stories such as this one are precisely why we pulled all the under 18s from the database. We could see rags like the herald writing us up as accessories to crime and the like.

thebaz

Karoma wrote:

You cited the main flaws are that the 'children' are avoiding common sense... AGAIN: What on Earth could BEBO do that the 'children' will not avoid?."

Provide some kind of protection against older predators , who will use bebo to stalk , as has just happened up in Louth.
I'm not saying its bebo fault 100 or 50 % , its obviously the sickos, but bebo play a role in providing a service that can be abused , against vulnerable children.
Most society try to provide protection to there vulnerable.
Put it like this if it was your child that was raped how would you feal ?

Karoma

Sympathetic but embarrassed: s/he went to a private place without supervision or cop-on; to get drunk; with strange adults - by all definitions - an idiot child & I'd be a terrible parent.

It's the "sickos" and the kids+parents. BEBO doesn't come into it. Caring society protects the vulnerable; nanny states protect people from themselves. you're proposing the further of the ever-emerging nanny state. Screw that.

generalmiaow

thebaz wrote:

Provide some kind of protection against older predators , who will use bebo to stalk , as has just happened up in Louth.
I'm not saying its bebo fault 100 or 50 % , its obviously the sickos, but bebo play a role in providing a service that can be abused , against vulnerable children.
Most society try to provide protection to there vulnerable.
Put it like this if it was your child that was raped how would you feal ?

I'd be interested to know how they could implement such protection. I know someone wrote a script to find sex offenders on myspace but that's hardly going to defend against someone who doesn't use their real name. You can't simply ban older people from using the service either.

MrJoeSoap

thebaz wrote:

Put it like this if it was your child that was raped how would you feal ?

Somewhat guilty I'd imagine.

thebaz

thebaz wrote:

Yes they have a responsibilty as the providers of a social network, to ensure adequate security is given to its users , who in the main are 11 to 16 year olds i.e. children .

This has been happening for years in chatrooms.

Anyways, legally I don't think bebo have to do anything. They've pretty much covered themselves with the safety tips.

Sympathetic but embarrassed: s/he went to a private place without supervision or cop-on; to get drunk; with strange adults - by all definitions - an idiot child & I'd be a terrible parent.

That is true. The blame rests more with the parents than bebo themselves. I mean any time I left the house as a teenager, I let my mam know where I was going and that I had my mobile on me if needed.

Karoma

generalmiaow wrote:

I'd be interested to know how they could implement such protection. I know someone wrote a script to find sex offenders on myspace but that's hardly going to defend against someone who doesn't use their real name. You can't simply ban older people from using the service either.

Just to preempt some bull****(not aimed at you,generalmiaow): numerous cases reported didn't involve "older people".

thebaz

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Somewhat guilty I'd imagine.

thats a fairly sick response

Karoma

I believe his point was mine, albeit condensed: I, as the parent, should/would feel guilty as I should/would be responsible. It's a fair response. Stop overreacting.

MrJoeSoap

thebaz wrote:

thats a fairly sick response

If you had a 14 year old child, who had just been out drinking and had been raped, you wouldn't feel at all guilty or responsible?

Thats sick.

Piste

thebaz wrote:

that's a fairly sick respone

How the hell is that a sick response? You mean you wouldn't feel guilty if your precious little darling (fcuking idiot though she may be) went and got herself raped by a guy she met on the internet? Would you not feel you had completely failed as a parent?

GAA widow

greenkittie wrote:

I met people off the internet at 14 but i would never have ended up this situation. These girls were clearly idiots, something bad would have happened them bebo or no bebo.

I agree with greenkittie - people think at 14 girls are "young and impressionable" etc which to a degree, is true. However 14 year olds have a fair amount of health ed behind them at this stage - from not trusting strangers to saying "no". They are not imbeciles.

I remember at 14 meeting two "security guards" at a concert who were making sure that no one wandered down whatever road. A friend of mine introduced me to them having chatted to them the previous night. To me, at 14, they were "old" and dodgy as. They started getting a bit crude and i said to my friend that we should head home. She took no notice and one "security guard" suggested she she walk with hin down the closed off road because there was a fantastic view of the concert down the road.
She took no notice of me and headed off with this guy. I stood chatting to the other security guard in the meantime and basically gave off the impression that i was not up for this crap and wanted to head home. When she came back we said our goodbyes and *shock horror* she told me on the way home that the "security guard" had snogged her etc. but nothing full on.

Regardless of the "security guard" I have to say at the time I was disgusted with her at because it was obvious what type of situation she would end up in and she let herself wind up in this situation. I remember saying to her "did you not say 'no' that you didn't want it to happen" and she said "well, i couldn't really". Poor saddo wanted to be act all "grown up" and be a pricktease - At the time i could just not fathom how she would knowingly let herself get into that type of situation - it made - and still makes - me sick to my stomach.

I had told her this was a bad idea more than once and wanted her to go home but she was having none of it.

Any kid nowadays knows meetiing someone off the net=risky.

I am sorry about what happened to those kids but 14 year olds are not as impressionable and way more copped on than adults give them credit for.

Mossy Monk

thebaz wrote:

thats a fairly sick response

how so?

CiaranC

How I long for the days before the internet, when there was no child rape in Ireland

GAA widow

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Somewhat guilty I'd imagine.

I don't get how that's a "sick response" either TBH

Tusky

Placebo wrote:

i blame bebo. just close it down.
plus its badly made.i open new window and leaves comment for that when im posting it in the first, jesus, and now this.
close.

Eh, what ?

Anyway, I was reading the Herald today and read this article. They dont blame bebo for the crime, they merely mention that its how the bastards met the girls in the first place.

Blaming the website would be ridiculous. Do you blame nokia when you get a prank phone call ? of course not. I would blame the kids to be honest. I know that I would have had way more cop on at 14...hell, even at 12 than to meet random strangers from the internet and go back to their house. 14 year olds are not complete idiots.

thebaz

MrJoeSoap wrote:

If you had a 14 year old child, who had just been out drinking and had been raped, you wouldn't feel at all guilty or responsible?

Thats sick.

i can not believe your attitude , the parents are to blame for the rape !
Shame on you -- i don't mind your constant jibes at me regarding football, but this is a low by your standards.

Piste

GAA widow wrote:

I don't get how that's a "sick response" either TBH

Maybe thebaz thought that MrJoeSoap was implying that he'd be the one raping his kids?

The parents are to blame to a certain extent for letting their daughters get in to that situation, but the majority of the blame rests on the shoulders of the two girls. When I was 14 (like 8 months ago) I had enough cop-on not the be retarded.

Blowfish

thebaz wrote:

i can not believe your attitude , the parents are to blame for the rape !
Shame on you -- i don't mind your constant jibes at me regarding football, but this is a low by your standards.

well they are far more to blame then bebo are, thats for sure.

MrJoeSoap

I'm absolutely baffled!

thebaz

Mossy Monk wrote:

how so?

The girl was raped yesterday.
Her parents/ councellors will be consolling her today.

To the question -
"if it was your child that was raped how would you feal ?"

i get a cheap shot reply
"Somewhat guilty I'd imagine"

Why should the parents have any guilt ?

OK , all the mods will come together now , and protect there own , no doubt , so i'm snookered !

Dave!

thebaz wrote:

i can not believe your attitude , the parents are to blame for the rape !
Shame on you -- i don't mind your constant jibes at me regarding football, but this is a low by your standards.

lol, you're side-stepping the point again with your knee-jerk crap.

You as a parent have the responsibility to look after your child and make sure they're as safe as possible. ESPECIALLY if they're 14! I did some stupid stuff when I was 14, but I was never dumb or naive enough to do something like meet randomers off the internet, and I put that in part down to my upbringing.

I can't believe you're spouting this b*llocks about "children are more computer literate". THAT'S BECAUSE THE PARENTS NEVER BOTHERED THEIR ARSE TO LEARN ABOUT COMPUTERS!!! I have no problem with parents not knowing about computers, but if that's the case, and then in a situation like this they start blaming sites such as Bebo for not protecting their children, because they weren't motivated enough to educate themselves, then they're pathetic parents.

GAA widow

Piste wrote:

Maybe thebaz thought that MrJoeSoap was implying that he'd be the one raping his kids?[/QUOTE/]

maybe, but the baz seems to have read into it inaccurately! i agree with you piste - 14 year olds are innocent but copped on enough to know if they're taking a risk and going to wind up in a compromising situation or not..

Piste

thebaz wrote:

OK , all the mods will come together now , and protect there own , no doubt , so i'm snookered !

Yep, us mods all have a secret alliance with each other, now made public by you.

Of course the parents will feel guilty, parents are meant to protect their children, these parents did not, they will feel guilty.

thebaz

Blowfish wrote:

well they are far more to blame then bebo are, thats for sure.

yes its defintly the parents fault , lets charge them with rape ,jail them , give them no sympathy ... amazing attitude !

GAA widow

DaveMcG wrote:

You as a parent have the responsibility to look after your child and make sure they're as safe as possible. ESPECIALLY if they're 14! I did some stupid stuff when I was 14, but I was never dumb or naive enough to do something like meet randomers off the internet, and I put that in part down to my upbringing.

I can't believe you're spouting this b*llocks about "children are more computer literate". THAT'S BECAUSE THE PARENTS NEVER BOTHERED THEIR ARSE TO LEARN ABOUT COMPUTERS!!! I have no problem with parents not knowing about computers, but if that's the case, and then in a situation like this they start blaming sites such as Bebo for not protecting their children, because they weren't motivated enough to educate themselves, then they're pathetic parents.

well said

DMC

thebaz wrote:

Why should the parents have any guilt ?

The parents will be asking themselves how they let this happen to their little girls, how this could have been prevented etc. They will be distraught with guilt.
Natural human reactions, tbh.

Xavi6

thebaz wrote:

yes its defintly the parents fault , lets charge them with rape ,jail them , give them no sympathy ... amazing attitude !

Now who's being ridiculous?

Of course the parents have to accept a lot of the responsibility for not taking enough of an interest in what their children get up to. Why do the parents deserve sympathy? They didn't fulfill their role.

Dave!

thebaz wrote:

yes its defintly the parents fault , lets charge them with rape ,jail them , give them no sympathy ... amazing attitude !

yes its defintly bebos fault, lets charge them with rape ,jail them give them no sympathy ... amazing attitude!

Tell me thebaz, if you brought your child to a carnival and said "you go ahead and have fun, I'm gonna go talk to this person over here for a while" and left her on her own, and she ended up getting abducted -- would that be the carnival's fault or would it be yours?

MrJoeSoap

thebaz wrote:

Why should the parents have any guilt ?

Because their child was out drinking at 14 years of age, and they had no idea!

If it was like the two young schoolgirls in England, Holly and Jessica, who were innocently walking home from the shops and were so brutally attacked, then it would be a different story completely.

thebaz wrote:

OK , all the mods will come together now , and protect there own , no doubt , so i'm snookered !

Whats that got to do with anything, I "moderate" possibly the least active forum on boards! Don't know anything about most of the posters on this thread, have never directly talked to any of them in my life (I think!) and have no real recollection of even agreeing/disagreeing with them in threads before!

Karoma

thebaz wrote:

OK , all the mods will come together now , and protect there own , no doubt , so i'm snookered !

And the non-mods! It's a conspiracy! (He's actually a lowly HMOD. How dare you make that mistake?!)

You've pretty much embarrassed yourself here, Ted. You've tried desperately to appeal to emotions, and spouting silly accusations of conspiracies (Ed: and now ad hominem attacks) to simply cover for the fact that you're taking a rather silly stance on this one. Give it some thought and see if you still think the same way tomorrow.

thebaz

Piste wrote:

but the majority of the blame rests on the shoulders of the two girls. When I was 14 (like 8 months ago) I had enough cop-on not the be retarded.

is it not past your bed time or are you drunk ?

Why not jail the young girl that got raped along with the parents , and let the rapists go free -- keep studing for that junior cert !

MrJoeSoap

thebaz wrote:

Why not jail the young girl that got raped along with the parents , and let the rapists go free -- keep studing for that junior cert !

And Bebo should be drawn, hung and quartered.