Parents Need to Take Responsibility for Their Children & Stop Blaming MySpace

Recently a teenage girl from Michigan met a man on Myspace.com, convinced her parents to get her a passport and then ran away to Lebanon to be with this man. When all was said and done the primary blame seemed to be placed on Myspace.
I find it interesting that every time a child does something stupid parents and the media are quick to blame someone or something else. I am left to wonder when parents are going to step up and take responsibility for their own children.

Let's examine a few basics on the girl from Michigan and where her parents might have been at least partially responsible.
One would be hard pressed to find a parent who has not heard of of Myspace. Myspace is on your evening news, the morning talk shows and even the Tyra Banks Show. Myspace has become the new scapegoat for lack or parental involvement. Any parent even remotely interesting in finding out what their child is doing online has checked Myspace and keeps a close eye on those that have contact with their child from the site. Why did this girl's parents not monitor what she was doing online?
The parents also helped their daughter obtain a passport. The explanation was that she was going to Canada with friends.

Most Michigan residents are quite aware that all one needs to get across the border is a driver's license and a birth certificate. A passport is seldom needed or required to cross the border in Detroit. It would also seem like common sense to most parents would want contact with the adult that should be escorting a group of teens into another country for any reason. It just seems odd that parents who went to all the trouble to get their child a passport would not take the time to find out if there was an adult in charge of said trip. A foreign country, including Canada is not the place for teens to go off on their own without some form of adult supervision.

As easy as it may be to blame TV, The Net or anything else for a child spinning out of control and running off to a Middle Eastern country initial blame needs to lay at the feet of their parents. There was a time not all that long ago those children barely made a move without their parents checking in and checking up on them. But in this day and age of being your child's best friend too many parents are worried about upsetting or offending their child by looking over their shoulder. It is time for parents to get back to the business of being parents and let their kids make friends their own age.