Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The Internet Is Scary, Just Ask Allison Stokke

This MSNBC article should be a must read for all pre-teen girls. It's a story about a successful high school athlete who has suddenly found herself the object of the Internet's affection and prurient desire.

You should read the story, but you can probably guess from the photo what has happened.

On a lark, high school gymnast Allison Stokke joined the track team as a pole vaulter. Not only did she get good at it, she broke five national records and was the 2004 California State High School Champion. That success even earned her a scholarship to the University of California. Still, she was far from a celebrity outside of the track and field world.

That changed early this May when a year-old photo of her at a meet began showing up all over the Internet. It started simply enough. A fan posted her picture on a UC message board. That photo was noticed by a popular New York sports blogger and he posted it. Next thing you know, her MySpace page had more than 1,000 messages waiting for her and a YouTube video of her at a track meet had recorded more than 150,000 views.

Now, she gets stared at, the phone is constantly ringing and she is getting interview requests from as far away as Brazil.

That may seem great to some, but for a 18-year-old A+ student who just wants to compete in her sport, it's scary -- particularly when you start to read the sexual comments that men are making about what they would like to do to her.
"Even if none of it is illegal, it just all feels really demeaning," Allison Stokke said. "I worked so hard for pole vaulting and all this other stuff, and it's almost like that doesn't matter. Nobody sees that. Nobody really sees me."
A lot of young teen girls would die for this kind of attention and affirmation. They think it would be great if the world thought they were attractive and were constantly writing about them. But one look at what Allison is dealing with should give those girls pause.

She doesn't feel safe. She doesn't go out alone. Her father is constantly on the look out for stalkers. She is living in a fish bowl and feels like the world is staring in at her. And she's afraid that one of them might try and stick a net in and take her.

Warn your teens, in particular your girls. Allison didn't go looking for attention from the Internet, it found her. If your teen and pre-teen girls are posting pictures on the Internet, are playing in MySpace, you need to know what is on those pages and who is contacting your child.

But more importantly, you need to educate them about the beast that is the Internet. It has a collective consciousness that can develop unhealthy obsessions for attractive young women. And that obsession can jump from cyber-space to the real world. Teach them to be smart about what they post on the net because once it's out there, it's too late to take it back.

Just google "Amanda Wenk" if you don't believe me.

Yahoo.com seems to be feeding the fire a bit.

UPDATE: The Washington post covered this story and here is a little discussion about that coverage with reader reactions. The Debate: The Allison Stokke Story

8 comments:

Jim said...

When I was just wee bit younger, I used to go out to bars and never get noticed. Oh how I wanted to be noticed. I wanted to be the guy that when I walked through the door, music would stop and literally EVERY PAIR OF EYES would turn and gaze at me with desire.

One night I was feeling particularly good about myself and as I walked through the door, I could feel the charge in the air. People were noticing me. Everyone noticed me! (no, I didn't have toilet paper stuck to my shoe)

But the funny thing was, though I was noticed by all, only the scariest of people were brave or bold enough to come over and talk.

I spent an entire night fighting off scary people who seemed to form a wall around me keeping out all the people I really wanted to be with.

I guess I had never thought it through, "everyone" includes a lot of freaks.

One small taste of that, and I changed my fondest wish.

I can't believe Carolyn's husband "Dean Martin" has a blog!

Anonymous said...

Not only does this story illustrate how the power of the Internet can be used for bad, but also how low our society has come.

She is just a kid a track meet. Big Deal! What kind of depraved society makes her into anything else, without her consent? My 8-year old daughter is on a swim team and after reading this article, it would be easy to see how this could happen to any girl at any meet without her knowledge.

The T-Dude said...

Jim,

That does seem to be a lesson we all have to learn at one point or another. I learned mine on a week long bikeride across the state of Iowa.

In huge crowds of people, I wanted to stand out, but the more outrageous I became, the weirder the attention. There was more of it, but it was mostly unwanted. I just hope that young people can learn that lesson in a more protected and less dangerous forum than on the net.

thephoenixnyc said...

I read about this with great interest. Its a weird age we live in. It really is pointing to a no privacy life in the very near future.
And, she is hot.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B361KLb_PlI

here is the vid interview

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

If she doesn't want the attention then she needs to PUT ON SOME CLOTHES. Otherwise, I would say she enjoys the attention, as would most women.