Smalltown discovers the Internet

Sheesh Gaffney, Open your eyes,.. I listened to a portion of your broad-clash this morning.... Your small town listeners don't know the difference between the Internet and a toaster. "I'm shocked mr. gaffney! Little Graham promised us he'd be a good boy. Sorry Andy, your son, Huck Finn, is out cruisin' for a racist boozin' and slipping darling Sally a Mickey Mantle. "I can't believe it, my confederate flag shirt is chaffing me."

Press Released received from WGMD Radio...

“Blatant operating racists, wanton sexual activity, alcohol and drug use... This is about more than just one kid,“ said Dan Gaffney, host of WGMD Radio’s Dan Gaffney Morning Show.

--editor's comment: calm down tiger.. what a sensational broadcast

During his Thursday, Oct. 20 broadcast, Gaffney alerted local parents of the troubling social trends, disturbing actions and hostile posts of local high school students on Internet based blogs.

Gaffney exposed Web sites, such as Myspace.com and Xanga.com, as world accessible outlets used by local teens to express hate, racism, profanity, self-loathing, alarming violent ambitions and explicit sexual exploits.

“I’m not so naïve to think that teenagers have never done anything wrong or engaged in risky behavior, but what’s mind numbing to me is the blatant publication of it. What does that kind of narcissistic behavior say? You’re going to break the law and then tell the world about it? Talk about a lost generation,“ Gaffney said.

In a letter e-mailed to the principal and superintendent of Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes, Gaffney detailed one student’s online profile that concerned a possible gun threat to the school and it’s students.

“When I read a kid writing how his life sucks and he’s holding a gun and says he want to quit life, I am concerned,” Gaffney said.

Janine Hanwell of Cape Henlopen’s Facilities Task Force said, “As soon as we were aware of that, we took immediate action. The administration acted quickly to identify who the student was and make sure there were no safety risks to the school.”

However, the scope of the issue reaches further than one troubled student.

During the following days broadcast, Gaffney fielded a myriad of phone calls from concerned Sussex County parents.

“Oh God,” said one local mother after accessing her son’s online blog. “It was mortifying. One kid was taking pictures of himself setting fires at his grandma’s house. And the things that he was saying were the most disgusting things. I don’t know what they are thinking. It was insane.”

editor's comment: The Melodrama Continues

In addition to the shocked response by local parents, Gaffney also heard from outraged students who cited Gaffney’s broadcast as an invasion of their personal privacy.

"Surprising are the false feelings of anonymity and privacy these students believe they have," said Dan Gaffney Morning Show Producer Jared Morris.

--editor's comment: "Suprising are..?" Thanks for your comment Yoda. Go back to Del Tech.

“These kids are acting like we’ve blown the door off their secret club house,” Morris said. “Maybe they don’t realize what they’re publishing is up for the entire world to see.”

After viewing the Web sites, Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf stressed the need for parents to be involved in their children’s Internet activities and for corrective action to be taken by parents.

“I urge parents to go on these Web sites, urge them to look up their kids and be involved and understand what their kids are doing,” Schwartzkopf said.

He said he sees these Internet activities as warning signs that parents should heed.

“Some of these kids, like the guy that’s talking about how he doesn’t like his life, that’s a cry for help.” Schwartzkopf said. “He is posting something on a Web site that anyone in the world can see, with his picture, he might as well just put his name and address, this kid is asking for help, he’s a troubled kid.”

--editor's comment: Right On, Schwartzy

Dale Thaxton of Ameritechnologies, a local computer support firm, echoed similar sentiments. He said parents need to be aware of their children’s Internet use.

“I’m sure there are parents out there that really don’t have a clue about how to get on these sites or how to set parental controls, but, these kids nowadays are so fluent in the Internet,“ he said.

--editor's comment: Let the sales swindle continue

For more information and audio resources, visit http://www.wgmd.com. The Dan Gaffney Morning Show broadcasts live local talk and community issues mornings on WGMD Radio 92.7 FM beginning at 5:30 a.m.