Published: February 20, 2006 11:30 pm         

Treading on dangerous ground

Enid teens post photos, info on online Weblogs

By Tippi Rasp

Staff Writer



One Enid teen blogs about his life — his birth in 1987, his shy and timid years at Glenwood Elementary School, and his tumultuous time in junior high.

The 18-year-old writes about a defining moment a year ago when he passed out while driving, crashing his car at 2 in the morning on Van Buren. He was arrested for driving under the influence.

Yet, the teen an-swered “yes” to several survey questions on his MySpace.com site about drinking alcohol, doing drugs and getting drunk in the past month.

Although the teen is unnamed in this story, his identity — and that of his parents and younger brother — is clear on the Web site MySpace.com.

Profiles of other Enid students, as well as their photos, are posted on MySpace.com and other blogging sites such as Xanga.com. Teens post pictures of themselves playing drinking games and partying. The Enid teens can be seen drinking, using a hookah (tobacco pipe), and chatting explicitly about sex and passing out prescription medication to one another.

The local teens write how they have logged on to the site to establish friendships, relationships and to network.

Jerry Niles, Garfield County undersheriff, said the local teens are treading on dangerous ground — both with illegal alcohol and drug use — and by posting just enough personal information to allow predators access to their lives.

“The dangers are great,” Niles said. “Across the country, sexual predators are a big problem. People talk. If you’ve got enough information, you can worm yourself into any Web site.”

The teens write about where they are going, plans for the weekend and even exchange phone numbers over the Web.

• One Enid teen is posed in front of a vehicle, its license plate clearly legible.

• The 18-year-old EHS student who crashed his car last year posted his parents’ names. Their address and phone number are listed in the phone book.

• Another Enid teen announced intentions to leave town for the weekend with her family. That family’s address also is listed in the phone book.

• Another teen posted his cell phone number for friends to call.

“Some teenagers will post without understanding that it’s out there for anyone to see and not just their friends,” said Christian Balden, EHS student.

Both Niles and Sean Byrne, executive director of PreventionWorkz, an area resource center for the education and prevention of drug and alcohol abuse, say it’s ultimately a parent’s responsibility to make sure their teenager is acting responsibly on the Web.

“I think the problem is it’s become such an accepted thing — there’s no fear by the kids of promoting what they’re doing on the Internet,” Byrne said. “They ... don’t fear the consequences from parents or law enforcement.”

Byrne said one of the problems is adults may not be familiar with the advanced technology teens use to blog.

Keeping up with advancing technology and looking out for thousands of students is a tough job that requires constant supervision, said Amber Graham Fitzgerald, school and community relations director of Enid Public Schools.

“The technology department does an outstanding job with cyber security,” Fitzgerald said. “They recognize it’s a job that changes every day, and they have to stay abreast of advances in technology.”

Students can’t access MySpace.com or Xanga.com from Enid Public Schools’ computers and each user can be monitored by administrators with filtering software. Students and their parents sign user agreements, which if violated, can result in a loss of privileges on the school’s computers.

Administrators don’t consider sites like MySpace and Xanga as educational or instructional.

In some states school districts have punished students for posting photos of themselves in illegal situations. At Enid Public Schools, the coaching staff or activity sponsor and administrators would consider any disciplinary action with those students who participate in extracurricular activities.

The bottom line, Niles said, is parents need to be proactive.

“Parents need to talk to their kids, know what they are doing,” he said.

But not all the teens maintain their own Web pages to talk about drinking, drug use and sex. Some teens talk about religious beliefs, or chat with their friends and pop culture or other events.

Balden, a member of the PreventionWorkz drama troupe Teens Need Teens, said not all teens use the sites to brag about weekend parties and drinking parties.

“Most teenagers use personal sites to communicate what has been happening in their lives to their friends,” Balden said. “Unfortunately, some teens will take advantage of these sites and post pictures and information the rest of us just don’t desire to see.”

But Balden said he doesn’t know anyone who posts phone numbers or addresses. He said the blogs are more about the teen’s feelings and how their day went.