Monday, March 06, 2006

Re-evaluating

First of all I want to say how flattering it was to realize that you all noticed my blog was missing posts, and that you showed such concern for me personally. That meant a lot.

A few weeks ago we had Stake Conference. The Stake President met with our Bishop to discuss the state of our ward, and if there was any problems that we're facing in our ward. Our Bishop informed him that our little ward was doing well. That wasn't the case for two other wards in our stake. After meeting with the bishops from these other wards the stake president learned of a growing problem amongst the youth. Yesterday our bishop spoke with all the adults in the ward about it.

As parents we should know what are children are doing and be involved. (Parents - The Anti-Drug.) Apparently there was a whole lot of parents that didn't know what their youth were involved in. We as parents were warned about the dangers of myspace.com. We were told the horror stories of events happening to children in other parts of the country because of this website. Teenagers didn't think twice about sharing personal information. Not only were they putting themselves in danger both physically and spiritually (who knows might use that information to make themselves appear to be the perfect "friend") but were also putting their families in potential danger. (If someone knows the information for Jane Jones, they also know the personal information of their parents John Jones) We were warned that even if we don't have teenage children right now, or they're not using myspace.com not to turn off our attention. There are real dangers out there with people using the informations we so innocently share on our blogs. I wish I could share with you the seriousness of the discussion yesterday, but I just can't put into words here to tell you the importantance of what was said.

After the hour was over, I could have just blown off what the bishop had said. But instead I thought seriously about what I was putting out into the world. I have always thought myself careful of what I put out there available for strangers to read, but I have decided to try to be a little safer anyway. I may think that only the people on my blog roll (my friends) are reading my posts, but I can't know that for sure. Talking with my husband I realized I had two choices, I could either take my blog off completely or I could go through and do some major editing. I knew the second choice would take long hours but I am just not ready to stop my blog writing all together.

I have changed my template. My blog is no longer available to be searched for on the blog search engine. My profile will no longer have my real first name. (And I would please ask that you don't refer to me in my comments or yours by my real name either). And my husband and children's names have been replaced in all my posts with initials. I also looked at the amount of time I spend a day on the computer. I am only giving myself an allotted time a day. I have to have all my other household chores done before I can get on the computer, and even then I will only allow myself to be on the computer during my daughters nap.

I know you may think I am being overly cautious, but I am heeding the counsel of my church leaders and also do what is best for my family. I hope you can understand the basis for my decision.
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 3/06/2006 10:57:00 PM :: 10 Comments:

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