Of my concerns comes in two incidents this morning.
Firstly I had an email from a journalist wanting to interview me about Home ‘Teaching’ – he found me through my listing on the EO website as a local contact for our town (on there for our WAG group). The email address listed is at the same domain as this blog – so not hard to find it for him if he wanted to get his info on my day to day life.
Secondly I clicked one of my own google ad links about blogging – and found an ariticle written about blogging and linking to several blogs. Now all of these were anonymous, pretty humourous and had no comment facility – so definitely no permission asked before linking to them and opening them up to anyone who happened to be reading. Which leads me to realise that what I write, what we all write – once written is just ‘out there’ for anyone to do what they want with.
Not sure it could be used as ‘evidence against me’, and I never blog about the beatings I give the children or how I keep them locked in the cellar ( 🙂 ) but similarly aware that to the uninformed or downright ignorant reading on a day when I have done nothing except shout at the children and feel they have been ‘taught’ nothing I am as far away from a good advertisement for Home Education as you can be.
I do feel a bit like I am baling out – I know I have gotten enormous support from being part of and reading the blogring – I have had some lovely off list comments and emails which mean a lot to me but Merry’s comment about The Truman Show hit home a bit. A small spotlight it might be, but a spotlight just the same and I feel I owe it to the children – and Ady and myself to just be a bit more aware about to whom I am laying our life bare.
Personally i think this could all be done by just going back to using nicknames and not doing photos. You could even go back to using blogspot for your domain name.
Comment by Merry — 23 February 2005 @ 11:15 am
yep, I agree with Merry – but that said, you have to do what is right for you and your family.
Comment by Sarah — 23 February 2005 @ 12:31 pm
You are of course right, but first and foremost I write this blog for me. I like to have an online record of how I was feeling at certain times, I like to have a record of the ups and downs of parenting and Home Educating to look back on. In the same way as I love to re-read my old teenage diaries I also like to look back on the last year and remember stuff we’ve done. I anticipate doing that in years to come and letting the kids (if they are interested) read it too – as such things like the photos are there for that purpose and I feel it is richer for their inclusion.
The nicknames and being a bit more ambiguous about other personal stuff such as not writing where we went for a day out, being more cagey about the town we live in and so on are again very feasible ways round it but what Jan said about just knowing who is reading with their current set up struck a chord and is a position I would like to be in rather than the more vulnerable feeling one I have right now.
I did consider all this way back before joining the ring, but as we have all said the ring has grown enormously – it was mentioned on an outside website on HE and I was even linked to from that site. The odd post I have blogged has attracted comments from people I had no idea were reading and yes, I could be more cautious about what I write with that in mind, but as I said before I would rather censor who is reading than censor what I write.
Comment by Nic — 23 February 2005 @ 2:41 pm