When bloggers are dangerous
Every so often you’ll come across something on the internet that is more than a funny story, catchy meme or even a salacious & controversial issue. You read. You comment. You blog & you may even discuss it around the dinner table. But what about when the stuff you see on the internet crosses the line & people’s lives are at stake?
Since becoming involved in the blogging community I’ve been a part of the Amazon pedophile scandal. I’ve watched twitter as people have threatened to kill themselves, jilted/abusive husbands wreak havoc with a wife’s blog & even once watched tweets about someone live tweeting the removal of their penis ::shutters::
Last week I was lurking over on GOMI {which I mentioned here about internet trolls} and started reading the story of a homeless or “houseless” couple & their baby who had just been removed from their custody.
The short story is Mom & Dad are homeless & live in their car & flitter from state to state. Their claim is that they want to live “off the grid” & be sustainable farmers etc. But they blog about eating nothing but junk food & I believe they even have collected or are collecting from the government. They’re doing drugs & based on some of the terms they use it’s not just weed. If it was just them it would be fine for them if that is how they truly wanted to live their life. But it’s not. They have a baby girl named Sunshine Rae who is in the middle of all of this.
They recently were arrested & had Sunny taken away from them because they say they picked up two hitchhikers ::RED FLAG:: that had 19 pounds of weed on them. As of the 31st they did not seem to have Sunny back. The mother is also bi-polar & currently pregnant with a second baby. If you want to read the longer version of the story you’ll need to hit the GOMI forums & sit back because those guys have done tons of digging.
Ever since reading the story I can’t stop thinking about them & especially the babies. I even had a dream about them a few nights ago. A few of the members of GOMI had talked about involving CPS but I’m not sure if anyone has.
My question though is if someone did call was that the right thing to do & if they didn’t should they/we have?
If we saw parents abusing a child or neglecting their child in our own communities we wouldn’t hesitate to call but when the only proof of this is an internet blog* what do you do? Do you move forward with being the protector of the child & deal with the possibility that it was a hoax later on or do you turn away & hope that someone IRL sees this stuff happening & does something?
We moderate our comments on our blogs, we unsubscribe & unfollow people who spew hateful things or vulgar things, but should we step in & moderate a situation like this?
*As of Friday the 31st the blog has been removed so there is no way to confirm if Checkers & Kayla have gotten the baby back or not.
Interesting and great story shared by you. There are some nice thoughts shared..
It’s more dangerous to take the comment section seriously. The Yahoo News comments are even worse than what you can find on Fox News. It’s very disturbing.
Turning a blind eye to something like this would haunt me forever. I’d have to do something. If I were wrong – I’d be wrong. But if I were right… Imagine the difference.
Lisa D.B. Taylor recently posted..Knights, Union Soldier, Baseball, & Dinos
Wow, I feel so naive and dumb regarding this! I had no idea these things took place. How terrible. I do think that CPS should be notified. If it is a hoax, no big deal. If not, at least something can be done.
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Alex- In cases like this where you feel like a child’s welfare is in jeopardy, you can always call local FBI or ICE to place anonymous tips…here’s a link to an ICE homepage with contact information. http://www.ice.gov/
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What a great simple advice, “Be curious, not judgmental” but I guess some people can’t help it to be judgmental in everything they see and other people do..
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I absolutely agree with Alexis and Jamie. I would never forgive myself if I turned a blind eye on anybody I suspect is in danger of any sort and then found out that the party in question was hurt or worse.
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Twitter: jamiegall1930
says:
The term “Citizen’s Arrest” comes to mind. The fact of on the professional level, such as teachers, and if they seem something amiss, they must report it.
I believe it is also our duty. We may have been wrong, but at least we know it was looked into, and the safety of whoever’s involved was taken care of.
There is a lot of trolling on the internet, but then there is also a lot of real out there too.
Twitter: NorthOnHarper
says:
I read about this couple as well and frankly it made me sick. I do think it is our duty to keep an eye out for others. At least to make sure something is looked into properly… I wouldn’t want to know that I knew (or suspected) something was amiss and did nothing…
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Twitter: annodle
says:
I will just say that I was once in an abusive relationship; and one evening, received a very public beating–I was crying and asking for help (at a very public event) and received nothing but a black eye for my effort!
So while I might not necessarily jump into the middle of a fray, I would be on the phone, email or something if I thought someone–especially someone who’s not able to defend themselves–needed help.
Sometimes, its just someone looking to create drama and controversy, but sometimes its real.
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