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MEET CANDICE M. KELSEY
by Bonnie O'Brian

What did you most like to do when you were a child?

Candice M. Kelsey

Take risks! I was born the third child to a devoted stay-at-home mother and a Navy submariner in New England. We were a spirited family with a real sense of adventure. Often my father would generate expeditions that left my mother aghast; for example, at age three I joined my two older brothers and my father on the roof of the house to get a better look at the stars. I think that was the first time I heard my mother mention the word divorce. Nevertheless, my father instilled a true joy for life in his children. Finished with his military service, my father became an engineer for General Electric Co., and we soon relocated to the other side of the world: Hong Kong. From age 4 through 7, I lived on the British colonized island and attended Hong Kong International School where I developed friendships with other kids from places like the Philippines, Guam, Japan, Thailand, England, South Africa, Australia, and such. My strongest memories consist of exploring caves, chasing bats, flying kites in the mountains, riding elephants, celebrating the Chinese New Years, typhoon season, and catching snakes.

If you didn't write as a child, then when did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

Upon returning to the states, we set up house in Cincinnati, Ohio; we traded in caves for creeks, snakes for suburbia, and typhoons for tornadoes. This major transition led to my love for writing. At age 8 I began to write poetry; as bad as it was, I clearly used it to emote. It was this era of my life that could be called “the tackle dummy years.” My 13 and 14 year old brothers were avid weight lifters and football players; they also realized the inherent value of an 8 year old defenseless little sister. Many a night I would end up perched on an old mattress in the basement with pillows tied around my waist and an oversized Bengals helmet on my head – THUMP – acting as a tackling dummy for Tom and Chris. To this day I take a certain amount of credit in their college football successes (and I’m sure they take some credit in my being one tough chick)! When my brothers left for college, I entered high school; lonely for their companionship, I struggled academically. However, once I had Mrs. Klefus for American literature my junior year, and she introduced me to the Transcendentalists, I seemed to come alive intellectually. Many a night I would spend hours in the bathtub reading Thoreau and Emerson – truly a weird kid. An English major at Miami University (of Ohio), I thrived academically. What could be better than spending four years reading literature and writing endlessly about it?

What is the topic of your book?

GENERATION MYSPACE demystifies MySpace for parents, educators, and mentors of teens. It provides much-needed insight into why teens are attracted to the site, offers a solid prescriptive element for parents, educators, and mentors, and is grounded in real life anecdotes, first person narratives from teens and parents, the latest research, and professional advice from child psychologists. MySpace is not simply a vehicle or a medium that may or may not be abused; it is a ripe environment for all sorts of unhealthy adolescent behaviors to thrive. The MySpace culture encourages and glorifies deviant behaviors and shapes teen culture in a powerful way, not the least of which is through relentless marketing. Internet predators are the least of the concerns surrounding the impact of MySpace on America’s youth today. Generation MySpace is a call to action to let parents know they CAN take control of their kids’ cyber habits!

What gave you the idea for GENERATION MYSPACE?

As a high school teacher in Los Angeles who spends eight hours a day with teenagers, I see how involved almost every child is with online social networking, specifically MySpace and now Facebook. I have witnessed it practically taking control of my students' lives, the dangers to which it exposes them, and the dissolute behavior it encourages. Sadly, parents don't have a clue what they're up against. Generation MySpace is my attempt to elucidate, encourage, and empower parents. I have studied the influence of the Internet on youth culture for over eight years now; more recently my interests have been focused on MySpace.com. I have been actively researching its impact on teens for the last eighteen months, interviewing countless teenagers, parents, educators, and school administrators. I have a sincere love for our youth and a growing compassion for the daily minefields they must navigate. In short, I am passionate about this topic, and want to tell parents about it in GENERATION MYSPACE..

What other jobs have you had before you became a writer?

I attended law school. I can sum up that experience with a brief anecdote. In my 2nd year I took a secured transactions class (to this day I still don’t quite know what that is); the professor used an unorthodox method of kicking of the course – he assigned Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Heaven. After one week of reading and discussing the play, we began reading and discussing the legal case book. Hell. As I crossed a busy intersection on the way to class one windy day, I prayed that an oncoming meat truck would mow me down so I wouldn’t have to attend another lecture. I withdrew that day and applied to graduate school for English. From that time forward I began teaching high school English, and I’ve never looked back... well, except for some painful law school loan payments, that is. For the past 8 years I have taught English to 6th through 12th graders in Los Angeles.

Has anyone ever written you a fan letter that you'd like to share?

Dear Candice,

I want to thank you for writing Generation MySpace. You clearly poured an enormous amount of time, energy, insight, caring, experience, and research into this project. And the fact that you did all that while teaching and parenting is inspiring to me.

I'm an educator too--I coordinate a college writing center in Boston. I specialize in working with at-risk students, including those with learning and psychiatric disabilities. In addition to helping them with writing, I also do a lot of time management and study skills instruction. Recently, several students have come to me for help because they're addicted to the Internet (usually involving MySpace or Facebook), and others have revealed a concern with this in the course of our sessions. Unfortunately, I know this will be an emerging issue, or even disability, as you point out in your book. Your book has given me better tools for talking with all my students about their Internet use / addiction and for helping them create a healthier plan.

I'm not a parent, but I'm very involved in the lives of my nieces and my friends' children. I've been passing on the wisdom from your book, and it has already changed the way I relate to children and young adults. I'm especially concerned about the way technology impacts girls' perceptions of their worth, and I love how you address that in the book. Now I only wish someone (you, perhaps?) would make a documentary of all this. It would be great if the world's children--and their healthy development--could become a global cause (much like the environment has, due in part to An Inconvenient Truth).

Again, thanks for caring enough to put your energies and writing talent in this direction.

Best,

Jodi Burrel

Emerson College