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Sometimes article ideas wander through my head while I'm reading. Or come to me
while I'm listening to music. Or are inspired by things I see in the news. And
other times.. they just pop out at me. Such was the case as I floated into the
Greek Theater, only to see a bold question staring back at me from the stage:
"Should Whyville have a dating service?"
Um... lemme think about that. No. Whyville should not have a dating service.
No, never, not a chance. In fact, the day Whyville gets a dating service I will
quit. Fortunately, I think the chance of that that happening is like, nil.
I'm actually not surprised to see the question on the stage, because so many
people seem to advocate the idea. Let me explain a few reasons why Whyville
should never, could never and will never have a dating service:
Whyville is a site for kids. I know there are some older teenagers and adults on
the site. But the majority of citizens are in middle school or below. Some are
as young as seven or eight. These kids should not be dating, least of all
someone they don't know. Kids should
be concentrating on playing, learning and making friends: NOT dating. And even
if the kids want to date, can you imagine how many parents would complain?
Whyville is an educational site. The point is to teach kids about
science, math, social studies, etc. Why would a site that's trying to educate
set up a dating service? Who would want to run it? Where would the money
required for it come from? Our citizens have shown in the past that they are
highly reluctant to pay real money for anything on Whyville. And a dating
service requires real money.
Online dating is pretty pointless. Why "go out" with someone who you can't see,
touch, hear or smell? You can't cry on their shoulder, give them hugs, go to
movies, share milkshakes, gaze into their eyes... you can't do any of the things
that make a relationship special and fun. What City Workers are going to spend
valuable time and money on such a meaningless enterprise?
Danger and Liability. Whyville doesn't know who anyone really is. A person could
pretend to be a teenage boy when they're really a 5-year-old, or a 40-year-old,
or even a child predator, whatever their age. So what happens if Whyville pairs this person up with
say, a teenage girl, she gives out her personal information and agrees to meet
her "boyfriend", and he does something really bad to her? Not only would this be
a tragedy for the girl, but Whyville would be considered responsible and sued
for all they're worth. It would be "Good-bye Whyville" before you know it.
So unless you want to lose Whyville, stop begging for a dating service. Whyville
is an educational site. Just because they've spoiled us with some fun stuff -- chat rooms, face factory, trivia
-- doesn't mean you can demand anything you want.
Please. You will all have plenty of wonderful, meaningful real-life
relationships -- when you're ready. Why sacrifice the real thing for a cheap
substitute?
JasmineK
Picking her OWN boyfriends (ones she can see)
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