Teen Gossip Site Shut Down

There have been too many tragedies within the last 5 years or so due to cyberbullying, sexting, etc. Teens now days need to be educated about the consequences of their actions and realize how detrimental it can be to someone the victim of mean spirited comments and harassment over the internet. If this site is up and running again, I certainly hope the gossip board is permanently removed.

damn thought police strike again

Considering what some Adults post. I am sure these young people are thinking... What, they have their nerve... Try some of the message boards on AOL for instance... Hate, crap, etc...

If you had read the hateful comments on Peoples Dirt and the lies you would not make ignorant comments here about "the thought police". Nobody has the right to say whatever they want. When you lie it is called slander and you are responsible for that action. Like it or not sometimes people have to do whats right and not always what feels good. It doesnt matter what adults have to say on a message board that was geared towards teenagers and asked questions like what teacher would you like to see killed or raped. Thats not freedom of speech that just immature behaviour going unchecked. Hopefully "the thought police" can keep some of you people from breeding.

If you had read the hateful comments on Peoples Dirt and the lies you would not make ignorant comments here about "the thought police". Nobody has the right to say whatever they want. When you lie it is called slander and you are responsible for that action. Like it or not sometimes people have to do whats right and not always what feels good. It doesnt matter what adults have to say on a message board that was geared towards teenagers and asked questions like what teacher would you like to see killed or raped. Thats not freedom of speech that just immature behaviour going unchecked. Hopefully "the thought police" can keep some of you people from breeding.

What about thedirty.com??? That site is HORRIBLE.......I have personally seen the damage site like that can do to a person. That site needs to be taken down as well!

This has nothing to do with stifling thought. It was out and out slander, and a lot of young girls reputations were at stake. Since the site was completely anonymous, people were allowed to make up random user names, sometimes using other people's real names to impersonate them. They would then name people at the particular school using both first and last name, and print any type of grotesque story they wanted about them. In essence there was no way to combat or prove the veracity of the poster. These were still minority dependents lets not forget, the kids hurt were someones children, NOT adults.

why is it if you dont agree with homosexualaity all of a sudden you have a mental problem instead of the homo./?

You know how the teenagers are. They would reach to the point of threatening anyone. I think that those who put up websites like this one must observe every comment sent by all teenagers. If anyone sent a threatening email, shut down the account permanently as well as barring the URL address. That would solve the problem.

What is everyone saying... I mean if it was not for this website those people at Walt Whitmam High School would have been killed I think that this website is good because it could help catch the many people out in the world plotting to do tragic things

There is nothing anyone can do to stop teens from doing this. They just ignore ya.

OK people I think that people, especially teenagers, have way to much time on their hands if they are out doing this kind of stuff. Idle hands make work for the devil and here is the proof. My child is very smart and quite and prefers to go off and draw pictures in the dirt or act out movies, plays, or books she has read rather than play with the other kids. I don't care about cyber bullying as no one in my family has or will ever join anything like my space, face book, or any of those places. Just too much personal information that people I don't know quite frankly shouldn't know. She won't be allowed to have a regular cell phone till she is 18. Till then she gets one that allows her to call 5 numbers and 911. It does not have web access either. She does not have a tv or computer in her room. She goes to a martial arts college that stresses discipline. Thankfully she has not really been picked on yet, but if that time comes I have no problem pulling her out for home schooling. I am not afraid of her getting beat up, on the contrary she can kick butt but there are some social things she does not need to learn.

Sad but even death threats online can be the law if someone keeps making threats the law can track them and arrest them it's just bad as much as doing it in person & against the law I have a woman (adult) whos been posting death threats to one of my friends kids & I am fed up with it ! Almost all 50 states has laws as well as some countries & parents needs to start saying something to their kids !

I think anyone who would bully a child, or anyone else for that matter, is a person that is insecure & unhappy with themselves. They can't or won't choose to do something positive with their lives, so they berate other people. We need to lift people up and about all we can do is, when we hear other people saying is to tell them you refuse to be in their company, and walk away from them. It may seem like a small thing, but to the person who is being bullied, it would make their day.

me myself being a teen and having poeple write shit about me on there. i could care less, i actually liked hearing what people had to say. they didnt have to shut it down. god forbid a bunch of kids write crap about each other, we will find a way to do it one way or another.

Thanks for the article.

What did it take to pressure GoDaddy to drop the site? A joint effort by parents, students, school administrators and the Maryland Attorney General brought sufficient pressure on the GoDaddy Group and the “People’s Dirt” advertisers.

Whether protecting kids from physical bullying or cyberbullying, that pressure grouping is always necessary to stop bullies at school or online.

Every society or community limits complete free speech because of a more important value: The balance necessary to maintain the strong sense of community that enables the people to live together peacefully. Neither end of the scale – complete free speech or complete censorship and repression – yields a society worth living in. Some form of compromise, some balancing of individual and communal desires and needs is always reached in communities that move ahead amicably. For example, we agree not to yell “fire” in a crowd and not to incite people to riot.

Stopping harassment, bullying and abuse; slander and defamation; public trash-talk, threats of killing, racial slurs and claims of promiscuity is more important that total free speech.

Disclosure: I’m the author of the books and CDs “How to Stop Bullies in Their Tracks,” and “Parenting Bully-Proof Kids.” See my web site and blog at BulliesBeGone (http://.BulliesBeGone.com). Or Twitter @BulliesBeGone.