MySpace experiment sends an instant message

Re “Testing the Bounds of MySpace,” Column One, April 8

I have a question as to the wisdom of Catherine Saillant’s “experiment” with her daughter: Just what message did she think she was sending Taylor? While I have no qualms with Saillant monitoring her daughter’s activities (in fact I applaud her for it), I’m troubled by the idea that she willingly colluded with Taylor to overstep the rules and set up a MySpace account for her underage daughter. By simply allowing her daughter to flaunt the 14-year-old minimum age requirement that MySpace requires, Saillant essentially undermined the spirit of the restrictions she herself imposed.

It seems she is actually teaching her daughter that it is OK to break the rules as long as she’s honest with mom.

RICHARD S. RITSMA

Haledon, N.J.

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If Saillant’s daughter is so smart, why didn’t she do what every other teenager with overprotective parents does -- create a dummy MySpace account that parents can see and a real one that parents can’t? And you mean to tell me that a 13-year-old girl is more interested in boys and her social circle than sitting about the hearth and playing Yahtzee? I’ve never heard of such a thing! I’m also a bit confused as to why a picture of three girls flipping the bird is so offensive to her mother.

Trust me, this is going to backfire. Saillant might think she’s setting boundaries, but what she’s really doing is setting the bar so high that her daughter is going to find a way under it.

JASUN MARK

Los Angeles