IM-ing in Arizona

Teenagers' avid instant-messaging is still news in a lot of local papers - and maybe even to some parents. In the East Valley Tribune, a Phoenix-area paper, the lead sentence went, "When East Valley teens have something to say, an increasing number put it in writing with instant messaging." The writer adds that IM-ers "write about sex, drugs, homework, parents or even the weather" and even threaten each other in this medium. I suspect this is news more to newspaper people than to parents, but I would like to get your opinion on this - do you feel parents in your community have a handle on what's being talked about among teenaged IM-ers? Email me anytime via anne@netfamilynews.org. [For more on the IM part of parenting and educating young people, see my series on "The IM life of middle-schoolers" - the home front, a school's role, and home tech options.]