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Question: Do you feel the emotional toll Y!A has on, particularly young people!.!.!.!?
is morally justifiable, considering we don't have hard data on how such internet communities affect suicide/attempts by children/adolescents!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
The toll that Y!A has on the young people is a horrific danger and is ethically reprehensible!. Although there may be some benefit gained by many other users, this simply cannot justify such a construct if it triggers inherent underlying proclitivies toward mental illness and moreover suicidal ideation!. It's certainly not the shear responsibility of the Yahoo administrators to guide young people as to the proper use and harmful effects of the internet!. Parents absolutely have a critical role in supervising their children's access to any internet-based material, as the above authors have clearly suggested!.

Having said that, any benefit that such a community subserves to users simply cannot justify the potential damage that it will cause to young people who are susceptible to derision and disparagement!. If my child were to contemplate suicide because of the pain this otherwise helpful community may provide, e!.g!. homework help and so forth, then I simply can't imagine how Yahoo, Inc!. could ethically justify its existence!. The provocation of suicidality/suicidal ideation supercedes even the best interests of such a community!.

There is no need for hard data to become available to edify the notion that such material is dangerous, for it's only common sense!. By failing to recognize the unchartered waters the internet poses to the health of young people is a recipe for disaster and, as such, it is reprehensible!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I for one am amazed at how many kids post their pictures on here asking for advice on if they are good looking or not - and many times they won't get entirely truthful answers because of all the idiots out there that just like to make people feel bad!.

I don't think kids realize that you have to be so careful about getting information on the Internet!.

On the other hand here, I think parents are responsible for monitoring their children's (yes, even teenager's) Internet use!. Not Yahoo, not Myspace, but the parents!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Good question!.!. however it could equally have as much of a positive effect as a negative, and I wouldn't blame any internet website for teen suicide any more than I would blame the influence of society in general, their family/friends, or the biochemistry of the adolescent brain!Www@QuestionHome@Com