Vandalism and Violence

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Catharine Munro[Edit][Delete]: Vandalism and Violence, Sydney Morning Herald [Edit][Delete] October 16, 2006

This article has begun making the rounds of the discussion lists. In this semi-literate copy we read, "An informal subcategory of school fights and graffiti-spraying are attracting tens of thousands of users to the site." What is most interesting, I think, is that anyone familiar with YouTube will know that while the videos are of dubious quality, they do not in the main feature vandalism and violence. So why the attacks on YouTube, especially when you can find worse, much worse, watching CSI or Cold Case? So why is the site "impossible to access at public schools" in Australia? If they're going to ban anything from the schools, why not ban commercial media, including the Sydney Morning Herald (I write this as they broadcast a melee at a football game on the morning news). Commercial media are much more demonstrably offensive to our sense of truth and morality. More...