OnPoint by Keith Ng

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OnPoint: Wrong. Wronger. Wrongerest.

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  • Islander,

    The RNZ ref has slunk away into night&abnegation...

    yeah, agree Russell - I should've put astonishment marks round the whole headline- it was just really strange to be reading stuff here, and then switching to RNZ and finding - gak.

    O, is Poneke's site now permanantly behind a Wordpress log-in? Pity.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Jason Lea,

    Survey finds 25pc of students sexually solicited online

    Think of the children! Especially the 75% of the children not solicited... surely they will have self-esteem issues... "Am I too ugly to be solicited?", "All the cool kids get offers all the time!"

    We need the govt to set up a program where students who miss out can get solicited too. Some sort of public-private partnership, I suppose.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 30 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    And here I was thinking that the headline meant that 25% of students had done the soliciting..

    Some sort of public-private partnership, I suppose

    You mean integrated schools? :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    We need the govt to set up a program where students who miss out can get solicited too. Some sort of public-private partnership, I suppose.

    I am shocked by the idea that you would expose children to trained solicitors. Have you no sense of decency?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • andin,

    It's kinda a cliché that those on the Paul Henry side of the media establishment get a little nuts about ... well, a lot of things. And it's kinda a cliché that those of us on the Russell Brown side of the blogosphere get a little nuts on the MSM for pandering to whatever the fear-of-the-day is.

    Now this isn't going to get ugly is it?
    Cause Im digging a bunker if it is.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    You know regardless of the made up stat this is a sex education story not an evil online story, online is just the medium.

    Why are kids that gullible? Do they need to know more about their sexuality and its place in 2009? Do we all need too?

    and who the hell are these predators? Are they from our generation?
    It's kind of sick shit, whoever is doing that.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Why are kids that gullible? Do they need to know more about their sexuality and its place in 2009? Do we all need too?

    What's been quoted from the study doesn't say the kids are gullible at all. About 95% of them dealt with the sexual propositioning to some degree (including ignoring it). The remainder were upset and didn't know what to do about it.

    The study itself, The Convergence Generation: Management of Cyber Challenges by Teenaged New Zealanders, does what it says on the label. It looks at how young people handle the various challenges of living online. I'll look forward to reading it when it's done.

    and who the hell are these predators? Are they from our generation?

    You have to remember that Netsafe's director Martin Cocker didn't use the word "predator" in the context of these figures. It was some genius at Radio NZ who decided to do that.

    Perhaps some of the communications do come from genuine adult predators. The remainder will be trash-talking, bullying, flirting, or some other kind of behaviour. That's not to underrate the problems teenagers face in knowing what to do, but it's not your caricature predator at play.

    BTW, we have Martin Cocker on Media7 tomorrow to talk about it. Places still open if anyone wants to hear that.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    You know regardless of the made up stat this is a sex education story not an evil online story, online is just the medium.

    Stephen Fry on the internet. (Podcast here )

    But the internet is a city and, like any great city, it has monumental libraries and theatres and museums and places in which you can learn and pick up information and there are facilities for you that are astounding - specialised museums, not just general ones.

    But there are also slums and there are red light districts and there are really sleazy areas where you wouldn't want your children wandering alone.

    And you say, "But how do I know which shops are selling good gear in the city and how do I know which are bad? How do I know which streets are safe and how do I know which aren't?" Well you find out.

    What you don't need is a huge authority or a series of identity cards and police escorts to take you round the city because you can't be trusted to do it yourself or for your children to do it.

    And I think people must understand that about the internet - it is a new city, it's a virtual city and there will be parts of it of course that they dislike, but you don't pull down London because it's got a red light district.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    So it's actually a story that should make us feel a little cooler about the young uns online . I mean they are a pretty tech savvyl generation so it makes sense that 95% would pick up on it.

    Still I'm tired of how"" sex is going to destroy us" stories. Can't we all just have another film night.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones,

    Without having read the study, I'd guess that a very large % of these solicitations are spam, of the sort that I used to get before my ISP's filters kicked in. You know, someone sets up an adult website and spams the universe pretending to be a bored lonely housewife seeking a little action/a Russian blonde/insert cliche here, in order to get users to log on.

    As soon as you realise that the sender neither knows or cares who you are beyond you having a live email address, they're not particularly disturbing. But I can imagine that the younger and more naïve you are, the longer it takes to reach that conclusion (I remember wondering why it would occur to anyone to post a photo of their butt to news.announce.newusers, when it clearly said No Binaries).

    Unfortunately parents can also be naïve, and if they're not aware of that nuisance of an advertising model, they could easily freak out over why some bored lonely housewife is propositioning their underage son or daughter.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    Still I'm tired of how"" sex is going to destroy us" stories. Can't we all just have another film night.

    Anyone hazard a guess to the next societal scapegoat? I'm picking either abortion politics or video game politics.

    Still, what does that matter? Let's all come join the fun.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • FletcherB,

    O, is Poneke's site now permanantly behind a Wordpress log-in? Pity.

    It happened a month or two back as well... usually gets fixed in a day or 3.... no idea if it's a wordpress issue of if Poneke is in-expert at twiddling the options? There was no mention of it from Poneke last time it got fixed... it just worked again.

    I too, hope it is not permanent.

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Staying with our theme, Mr Litterick has a delightful post on Brian Leyland's latest dispatch from the margins of climate denial in the Herald:

    Of course, there is more to Mr Leyland's argument than a reckless notion of "risk." Yes, indeed. He also has that first refuge of a scoundrel, Google numbers. Carbon trading fraud is a real risk and you can see why: an internet search of "carbon trading fraud" gets about 300,000 hits. So, there. QED. Well, no, not exactly. The phrase "carbon trading fraud," put into Google with those pesky quotation marks, produced 203 pages for me. The same words thrown in at random revealed 292,000 pages. That's search engines for you: throw in random stuff, get random stuff out; then publish random stuff as if it proves something. Anyone can do it, and here's how: I searched for catholic treacle factory and received 12,500 pages, in English and Italian. Alarmed, I then searched for corset training feature and received 99,000 pages. Unable to restrain myself, I searched for criminal trope fund and received 21,200 results. Clearly, there is cause for concern.

    Tremendous.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    Tremendous.

    I agree. In the pursuit of enlightenment, I put in Paul Henry is a twit, which produced 14,600 pages (but, with quotes, only one). Not sure what is proves but, to use the city analogy above, we all need good street guides--which ought to be one of the primary roles of education.

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    I must add: excellent Media 7 last week. It is a pleasure to listen into such long and interesting conversations.

    I hope that Media 7 is not being eyed up, in the latest round of TVNZ cuts. For all the talk about the TVNZ dividend to the Govt, Labour really did miss the opportunity to remedy this when it was in power.

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Alarmed, I then searched for corset training feature and received 99,000 pages.

    Pff, and you're going to want one of those the next time you're attacked by an untrained corset.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    Brazen and unholstered, even.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Brent Jackson,

    O, is Poneke's site now permanantly behind a Wordpress log-in? Pity.

    It is not that it is hidden - it is more that it is gone. This is the third time it's happened. But hopefully it'll be back soon.

    So don't bother getting a login, to try and find it, because it'll be a waste of time.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    I seem to remember that on previous occasions, things had run amuck on the comments, and Poneke did not have the leisure to sort them out.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

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