Dangers of Technology?

Nicki was speaking about the ill effects of technology on her blog. She mentioned how our youth are getting themselves into bad situations through the use of technology and inappropriate pictures circulating through email or lost phones. We all have been aware of online predators for awhile now (thanks Dateline), but lately there have been issues with teens and young adults having inappropriate pictures and information loose on the web or email. Oprah has done shows on how some young adults have been disgraced, lost job opportunities, etc. because of their pictures and statements on Myspace/Facebook type social networking. We have also heard in the news about the mother who teased and bullied a friend of her child over the internet to the point of suicide and now a similar situation has occurred. The Early Show this morning shared the story about the 19 year old boy committing suicide in his bedroom with the Web Cam on. This young man who had been diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder took pills and died as onlookers thought his actions were a joke or something for the benefit of the internet site. Some of them even posted comments on his website to that effect and called him names. It is such a shame that things like this are happening at all, let alone in full view of the world. I believe this is another technological aspect that will require adjusting to. We need to educate our youth on the dangers of not only online predators and posting PII (Personally Identifying Information) , but what they post/upload as far as pictures, accounts of partying, etc. because they could hurt their future careers or reputations if something goes wrong. We also need to teach all people to be 'better safe than sorry' and if they see something online (such as a suicide) please alert the authorities and let them decide if it is a prank or not. There are downfalls to every new advancement, even technology. News articles are stating not to blame the internet which is fine, but how can we use the internet to prevent some of these things? This young man may not have died if someone had noticed and spoken up. Not only did he have people near him, but he was there online for the whole world to have a chance to save him....it did not happen. Only the disease is to blame but this situation had the opportunity of ending differently.