Dear Diary,

Once upon a time people had diaries like you.  A place where they could share private thoughts about their life, sometimes to vent at the moment, and sometimes as a place to go back and reflect on times gone past.  It used to be when you wrote in your diary it was a private matter.  If someone violated the sanctity of your diary it was a serious offense and a violation of trust.

With the advent and evolution of the INTERNET the old trusty diary is no longer.  Diaries have been replaced with blogs.  Inner most thoughts are now shared with the world.  People expose themselves and the ones they love for everyone to see. 

Typically younger people have embraced this new diary or as they are now called social networking blogs.  The problem is that people don't often think before they write.  At least in a diary if you said something mean or hurtful no one would know unless they violated your trust and read it and then if they did that they deserve what they get.  Now what is written is set in stone.  If you say something about someone in a mean manner in a blog it is not like you can say someone misunderstood you.  The text is there for everyone to read and even pass along.

When people blog about their feelings that is one thing, but when they discuss internal family matters about their siblings or parents it represents a breach of trust.  While kids may think it is perfectly fine to say things, however true they may be about their parents or siblings, they fail to see what damage may be done or how it would feel if the shoe was on the other foot.  What if parents started blogging about their kids?  What if they said things about them that however true would embarrass them or cause them distress.

What if a parent would write things like...

"My daughter is such a slut, she has two boyfriends and none of them know about the other"

"My son lied to the teachers about his homework today.  He said he was sick, but he just wanted to stay home today and I let him"

"I took my daughter to the doctor to get birth control because her periods are so bad she bleeds 20 days a month"

The list could go on and on.  So my advice if you want to call it that is before you relate personal experiences that involve other people, especially ones you care about that you think about the ramifications about such actions.  Think about how it would feel if someone, like your parents blogged about everything you did or how you made them feel.  Think about how you would feel if your parent advertised to the world how you hardly say you love them even when they tell you that they do.  Would you want your parent crying to the world about how bad a child you have been?

Ohhh one last thought... If you want dirt about someone with kids, look no further than Myspace, Tumblr, or Facebook.  The names may change with the times, but the effect is the same...