I’ve been struggling with an issue that I finally resolved tonight. About a year ago I created a My Space account so I could look at some images that megmonster had posted there. Duirng this past year several of my underage family members and friend's children have added me to their friends list.

I have enjoyed being able to feel a little closer to them (even though I am so far away) by reading what’s going on. The problem is that people will post almost anything on My Space.

So I struggle with reading certain things and feeling like I am betraying my siblings and friends by not alerting them to problems that their children may be involved in.

So far I have never mentioned what I know. But if anything ever happened to one of them, I would feel partially to blame. That’s why I made the choice to delete all underage relatives from my account tonight. Maybe it’s a wimpy way to handle this, but ignorance is bliss.

Now that only leaves one adult niece and my grown children to stalk. I figure if you’re a self-supporting adult you can make your own choices and no one has a right to tell you how to live.

But when you’re 12 or 13...well someone should be paying attention to what’s going on. I guess what amazes me is how naïve parents can be.

A few weeks ago I was at the little theatre in town and watched the following incident.

My friend Mickey owns the place and he watches out for all the kids who go in and out. One of the rules is, if you leave the building during the movie you can’t go back in. The reason is that parents would drop the kids off; the kids would sneak out, and then come back in about 15 minutes before the movie ended.

On this night a group of girls left to meet some guys across the street. Before they left, they were told they could not get back in. So to cover their asses the girls told one of the mothers that they had dropped their cell phone and had went outside to find it. They also claimed that is why Mickey would not let them back in.

When Mickey and about four other employees (and several patrons) tried to tell this woman that her little angle had left to meet boys, the woman started cussing and screaming that her daughter had never lied to her. This bitch even left and called the police to try and tell them that Mickey had stolen her daughter’s admission money. Of course the police told her to leave and that she was banned from the premises. I would bet good money that this woman’s little angel will be knocked up within two years.

Here is what I tell every parent I know -- If you really want to know what your child is up to, just read their comments on My Space. And if you don’t know what your kids are writing about on My Space (or you do not have access to their account) then you have no one to blame but yourself.