From Duncan at The Blog Herald:

Michigan State Police warn: blogging could mean jail time

Not content to let Michigan School Officials naysay about the dangers of blogging (as reported here on Feb 11), Michigan State police have joined in the blog bashing fun warning that blogs could result in kiddies going to jail.

Lt. Tim Lee, Michigan State Police Department warns:" [Kiddies] can say horrible things about a principal or horrible things about their parents, or horrible things about the kid next door, and they feel like no one's going to find them..But what kids often don't realize is that saying horrible things about a person on the internet could get them into trouble with the law."

But not content with warning off kiddies from using name calling on blogs, Lee goes one further: "That person goes out there, reads the posting and says, yeah I'm nervous about this, or I feel uncomfortable, I'm afraid for my life. They contact law enforcement, and that's when we get involved…If we can identify those individuals, and there's enough information to believe that person's threat is accurate, that person could actually carry out that threat, then that is a threat that would be prosecuted."

When I was a kid, back in the dark ages, parents used to remind their kids that "Sticks and stone may break my bones but words will never hurt me." Now I don't buy into the concept that words never hurt, but when did we swing the pendulum all the way over to the idea that all words hurt all the time? Seems to me that devoid of any eminent and plausible threat; the parents, school personnel, etc. should use this as a teaching moment and help the youth see that their actions have impacts and consequences. However, jail time is just over the top in most situations.

Posted by prolurkr at March 18, 2005 07:33 PM

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