Blatant marijuana use, teenage girls posing provocatively in
their underwear, binge drinking
– what used to take place behind closed doors, or at least out
of the public eye, is now posted online for all to see.
Blatant marijuana use, teenage girls posing provocatively in their underwear, binge drinking – what used to take place behind closed doors, or at least out of the public eye, is now posted online for all to see.
Scrolling through MySpace and Facebook profiles for Gilroy teens, anyone with a computer and Internet access can view a host of photos depicting cringe-worthy behavior. From ranting tirades blasting ex-boyfriends for their cheating ways to expletive-peppered conversations glorifying drinking and drug use, many Gilroy teens’ online profiles offer a glimpse into the behavior that takes place when parents and school staff aren’t watching. The content raised questions about how much parents know about their children’s online behavior and how much those posting on the Internet are aware of their public presence.
Under the “About Me” section on her MySpace page, one former Gilroy High School student leader listed “sexual things.” Another GHS graduate wrote “just finished school and just got off work … now im (sic) blazed up,” on a friend’s wall. That friend listed “Smoke Weed” under the “Occupation” section of his profile.
“It’s pretty eye-opening when you log on,” said Christopher High School Principal John Perales. “I’ve seen stuff on those pages that involves nudity, drugs, underage drinking, gang stuff.”
Issues of underage drinking and teenagers’ risky behavior have attracted more attention lately due to the recent, possibly alcohol-related death of 15-year-old Sarah Botill. On Dec. 5, the GHS sophomore attended a sleepover and twice drank alcohol, once when she snagged a beer from the fridge of a friend’s father and again later when she shared vodka and sparkling cider with a 16-year-old friend and 18-year-old GHS senior Kayla Dunigan, who supplied the vodka, police said.
While Botill’s public online presence did not reflect a drinking lifestyle, many student’s do have such content online. These issues then often spill over into reality, something Perales had to deal with as head of South Valley Middle School when arguments that originated online made their way onto campus.
“There was no digital divide,” he said.
However, Perales did acknowledge the positive aspects of sites like Facebook and MySpace, such as connecting with old friends or working on group projects. Perales said he’s seen more problems with MySpace than Facebook.
Teens, on the other hand, said the unsavory photos are nothing unusual.
“I’ve seen my share,” said Ruben Perez, 17, a student at GHS. “Drinking, partying. It’s all about the fame.”
Although Perez’s personal profile is set to private, the profile he maintains for his musical venture is public.
Fellow student and musician Nicholas Olivares, 16, said some of his classmates who post suggestive pictures “think it’s cute” – especially the girls. “They all just want to compete.”
Both boys laughed when asked if their parents monitor their MySpace pages, but acknowledged that privacy can be an issue.
“(Students) think it just stays between friends,” Olivares said, hinting that parents might know more than students think. “But I think some just don’t really care.”
Although the thought of allowing their parents to see their profile might make some teens squirm, Cassie Hernandez, 15, said her parents are just looking out for her. They don’t have her password but they occasionally take a look at her MySpace profile to make sure she’s not “blazing” – smoking marijuana – she said. After getting into trouble when her parents found a photo of her and her ex-boyfriend kissing on her profile, Hernandez said she’s more conscious of the types of pictures she posts.
“Your photos convey what type of girl you are,” she said.
But not all parents are as vigilant as Hernandez’s.
“You wouldn’t believe the number of parents that have blinders,” said Denise Apuzzo, a Gilroy Unified School District board trustee and the parent of three young adults. On the other hand, she said, “I think some parents are aware and they don’t care.”
Apuzzo, who has her own Facebook page, said she takes a look at her children’s profiles regularly.
“If I see things I don’t approve of, I talk to them about it,” she said.
Parents tend to think their children “only know as much as they know,” said Dina Campeau, a member of the South County Collaborative, a local agency that works to address some of these tough issues locally.
Even Campeau admitted she might miss some of what is going on in the lives of her 18- and 21-year-old children.
“I wouldn’t presume that I’m on top of everything,” Campeau said.
Francisco Dominguez, a school board trustee and the parent of a teenage daughter, agreed.
“There’s this subculture where kids are bragging about doing drugs, having sex, getting drunk,” Dominguez said. “People think it’s a private conversation. My biggest concern is that kids are writing about stuff and they don’t see their audience. They think they’re writing in a notebook or a journal of their own, but they don’t see that it’s going out to thousands or millions of people potentially.”
Privacy is something that teens take for granted even though their actions are more public than ever before, community members said.
“You can provide a lot of information for someone that might not have the best interests for you,” Perales said. “It creates an avenue where kids can become vulnerable.”
This issue was highlighted earlier this year, when former GHS math teacher Alberto Vicuna pleaded no contest to four counts of sex crimes with a girl half his age. Vicuna, 33, “friended” the 14-year-old girl, who was not a GHS student, on Tagged.com, a social networking site, police said. After three weeks of chatting online, Vicuna convinced the girl to sneak out of her house and meet him in person. They performed multiple sexual acts and had unprotected intercourse three times over the course of the next several hours – once in Vicuna’s truck and twice at his Morgan Hill home, police said.
Making matters worse, much of the information posted online is impossible to retract, said Donna Aceves, a local family therapist. Impulsivity is a recurring theme, she said. So is desensitization.
“Technology leaves a lot out,” she said. “Having the computer or phone as the medium takes away the human relationship part” and allows teens to do or say something they wouldn’t in real life.
“It gives kids license to be something they’re not,” Perales said. “Parents need to be aware of that.”
