#TwitterProbz Teenage Girl Arrested for Tweeting a "Joke"

If you're a parent and your pre-teen or teenager is using social media, it should be a priority to not only explain the dangers of social media, but also the seriousness of its use.

According to an article on www.cnn.com, a 14-year-old girl was arrested on Monday after tweeting American Airlines that she was part of Al Qaeda and had had plans to "do something big."

The Twitter user @QueenDemetriax_ sent @AmericanAir, "hello my name's Ibrahim and I'm from Afghanistan. I'm part of Al Qaida and on June 1st I'm gonna do something really big bye." The Twitter account has now been deactivated.

Of course, American Airlines took this as a threat and quickly tracked Sarah's IP address and forwarded the information to the FBI. At this point, Sarah realized she was in trouble. Deep trouble.

Sarah also pleaded that she was "just a girl" and it was a joke made by her friend. According to the CNN article, Sarah, a 14-year-old girl from the Netherlands has been charged with "posting a false or alarming announcement," but punishment is not clear at this point. She currently is in questioning.

On the flip side of this, Sarah's Tweet was retweeted hundreds of times, and she gained 20,000 followers before Twitter deactivated her account. In a sense, she has become a "celebrity" due to this alarming incident.

This is an example of how social media can be misused, in one of the worst ways, and cause serious consequences for teenagers or even adults who think what they say has no importance or is just a joke. What you do online and on social media can have many affects further in your life than you may realize at this time, and I think it's something everyone needs to be aware of.

The Media Through the Eyes of a Young Girl

Let's take a look outside the box for a minute. Look through the eyes of a young girl. What does she see?

Maybe this video will help you. Is it the thousands of advertisements she sees on TV, showing scantily clad women? Is it the diet pills and diet fads she sees people taking and reading about? What about the advertisements for make-up and beauty products that always need to "brighten, tighten and tone?"

She sees all of it. But how does she make sense of it?

 As a society in our adult lives we have become desensitized to all of the marketing ploys and advertisements for women to constantly improve their looks. I'll admit it, until recently I didn't pay close attention to the message media is always sending out to women. In a sense, I am a victim myself.

In order to be happy, you must be thinner, taller, smaller, wear make up, wear sexy clothes, take diet pills...and so on, and so on, and so on...

My classmate, Michelle Manning, recently created this remix video on body image for our video editing class. I was so moved when I saw it, I was almost in tears. 

Take a look at the video, and see the media through the eyes of a young girl.

Beauty Mash-up from michelle manning on Vimeo.

Michelle is currently writing a blog on Ways to Prevent Child Abuse. To read more, click here. 

Girls on the Run- An Organization Founded in Charlotte that Helps Promote Confidence and Life Lessons

Girls on the Run was founded in 1996 in Charlotte. The goal is to create confidence by providing per-adoloscent girls life skills and lessons to help during when they need it most. At the end of the 20 week program, the girls participate in a 5k (3.1 mile) race. The 501C3 organization is now international, and has thousands of volunteers every year.

Mission

"We inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running."

 I sat down with Jessica Otto, council director of Girls on the Run Charlotte to learn more about the wonderful organization.

   

 For more information, visit Girls on the Run Charlotte at www.gotrcharlotte.org