In case you haven’t heard about it, ChatRoulette basically randomly pairs you with someone else in a video chat. It’s attracted a lot of attention, a lot of curiosity, and its fair Interwebs-share of weirdos.

Danah’s piece is basically what I wish I’d written:

And so I simultaneously am amused by ChatRoulette and depressed because I realize that so many folks would prefer to keep themselves and their teens/college-aged-kids sheltered rather than giving them a way of thinking about systems like this and teaching them to walk away when things get weird. And this deserves a Le Sigh Royale.

The best way to protect your kids from weird situations is to let them learn how to get out of them themselves. Sure, there are weirdos on ChatRoulette, but there’s an interesting opportunity for social growth too.