We have a new youtube video of a song I wrote about Jessi Slaughter. In case you haven't heard of her, she's an 11 year old youtuber who told the internet community that they could say whatever and it wouldn't phase her. She said this plus numerous expletives and allusions to using a gun on people.
Of course, any wise internet user knows that people are ruthless under the protection of their IP addresses. Terrible things were said, rumors started, and Jessi broke down. To make matters worse, her father came to her aid and said things that exposed his lack of knowledge about the internet. In the end, his defense of his daughter came out more humorous than threatening.
Watching these videos of Jessi and her father, I felt unsettled. Part of me thought it was funny and that Jessi asked for what came to her, and the other part thought it was sad and that no young girl should have to be put through that.
I wrote this song so that people would feel as uncertain as I felt. I wrote it so that people could see a new perspective. I wrote it so that people would see a father, desperately trying to protect his daughter from something so intangible and complicated to him as the internet.
Yes, this is growing pains for Jessi. But will she learn from this coming of age tale? Now that she's back, will history repeat itself? Or will the consequences never be the same?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLdppR8w1rA
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