'My daughter's Xanga'

Anyone close to a teenager is probably seeing what we are: there's an important online component to the teen social scene - blogs. A Net Family News subscriber and mother in the northwestern US (who wished to remain nameless) recently emailed me: "I read my kid's Xanga, and kept track of it. She was writing dark poetry and disclosing stuff, so I cut her off, initiated passwords and monitored computer usage, and things started to change for the better to stay off of the junk online. [Socializing online] does not let them learn interpersonal skills. Xanga is bad news, parents! Be aware!" (Click here for more from this mom.) On the other hand, another parent, Craig in Pennsylvania, emailed me last December that blogs can be "a powerful tool of insight for parents." That's if the parent doesn't have qualms about kids' privacy issues, as this mom did. What do you think? I'd love to hear from other parents who have experience with this.