Social Media & the youth of today

I wrote this response to an article by Pat Gleason, a teacher at Red Bluff High School in Los Angeles. He has been a teacher there since 1990. You can see his article and comments from others including my response at: http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/opinion/ci_12748230




Hello,
A very good article but limited in its perspective. I just wanted to present a few contrasts to the things you have mentioned here. First and foremost, most people who use the social networking tools online that list friends do not actually consider most of these people friends. Contacts would be a much clearer label. We all make contacts daily whether with friends, family, coworkers, service personal at local establishments, even strangers on the street at times.

Cell or mobile phones are a great tool for those who have a need to be reached in a hurry. They are also a priceless tool in an emergency situation. I believe all persons who can should have and carry a cell phone. In your situation as a teacher you may not feel the need for an instant communication device. I would bet that if you spoke with your family they would all say they would feel more comfortable and more secure if they had the ability to reach you instantly in an emergency.

I agree being 49 years old we do not consider ourselves old school. It is not our age that makes us old school rather it is our attitudes. So yes we can be considered old school in our outlook on life, technology or change.

The one absolute constant in life, communication and society is change. While many of us will disagree with much of that change in our lifetimes it is inevitable. The shortening of words, names and phrases has been going on for centuries. It is another aspect of change that is and will be. If we were to travel back to 1776 and talk with many people we would also have a hard time understanding them just as would be the case if we went forward in time 250 years.

The generational differences in slang and word usage are also part of the issue here. There are many terms today that are used inconsistently with past meanings or usage. This again is part of the natural evolution of communication through the years and generations. However the texting phenomenon has added a new wrinkle. The acronyms or abbreviations used in texting can totally baffle someone without any experience in communicating in a instant message environment. But just as hair styles and clothing styles are used to set apart one generation from another so can forms and types of communication.

I totally agree with you on two issues here today. First, eye contact is something to watch for in others. However I have always found those who do not make eye contact when speaking to a person do it for a variety of reasons none of which have to do with texting, instant or internet communications.

Second, friends are those close to you, those you interact with personally and those you choose to have in your life. Yet how did you meet those and become friends? Today's social media sites allow many to meet who never would have without the advances in technology and communication. It gives us all a means to possibly meet new friends though most will just stay contacts.

I think the bigger issue here is the value placed on friendship. Many of our young people do understand the value of a true friend, both being one and having one. Yet sadly so many do not and have no experience to use to judge whether a friendship is true or not. Many have neither role models to watch nor examples to use in developing their values. This slack of human interaction at home and lack of meaningful interaction outside the home has helped to lead to a large group of our youth being unable to feel secure about who hey are and this leads to isolation and withdrawal. Yet to try to assign the blame for this on cell phones, the internet, video games etc. is simply trying to blame the condition on the symptoms. Many youth play video games, text friends, surf the web, social network and understand the difference between friends and contacts. It is not the tools and toys we use that are a problem. It is the way some use them and the reasons they use them that make it a problem for them.

So yes you are still a sane, logical, level-headed individual and yet at the same time it does seem that you are also out of the loop regarding certain things. This only makes you as human as the rest of us since we are all out of the loop on certain things. One answer may be to try to teach the youth about friendship and values not try to rationalize the issue through statements such as it is only the bad kids or the ones who did not like me saying this.

Support a Free Iran - Remember NEDA!

Tornado Visits First Monday Trade Days in Canton Texas

Twister Skips across First Monday Trade Days Grounds
Friday Morning about 8:15AM CST May 2nd 2008

Friday morning just after the Vendors had opened up and the crowds started arriving a Tornado decided to visit First Monday Trade Days In what appears to be a very fortunate set of circumstances, First Monday Trade Days and all the people there were spared the wrath of mother nature for the most part.
The May event is one of the busiest of the year for the Canton Trade Days, bringing in as many as 7,000 to 7,500 Vendors and upwards of 300,000 to 400,000 Visitors some years. This year it also brought a sudden and unexpected visitor in the form of a springtime Texas Twister. The Tornado touched down in two areas of the Trade Days Park luckily missing the main shopping areas and sparing the crowds and structures for the most part.
The Tornado first touched down in a parking area on the southwest side of the grounds. Snapping trees and telephone poles as well as trapping one person in their vehicle under a tree. The vehicles occupant was freed shortly after the Tornado moved on.
Thankfully the Tornado then lifted back up into the air instead of traveling on the ground through the park. It hopped across the main Pavilions and shopping areas where most vendors and visitors had gathered to get out of the rain from the sudden Thunderstorm. We very grateful that the storm decided to skip over these areas. This could have been a tragic day yet has instead left us all feeling a sense of awe and wonder at being spared the worst.
There have only been a few confirmed injuries, no deaths and only a small amount of structural damage (see the damage on a slide show from a channel 5 helicopter flyover). The majority of damage was done to the trees and power poles with some damage to a few vendors goods after the tents or tarps they used to cover their lots were torn away.
There was at least one RV overturned, one vehicle wound up upside down on Highway 19 and one vehicle was overturned on Interstate 20.
The Thunderstorm that produced the First Monday Tornado also was reported to have produced as many as 8 to 10 Tornadoes during its swift rampage across East Texas. It started as a small thunderstorm that rapidly grew in intensity and seriousness from a small rain storm to a Supercell Thunderstorm towering well over 50,000 feet tall and spawning Tornadoes, high winds, hail and torrential downpours.
There were reports, some unconfirmed of tornadoes touching down in Canton, Ben Wheeler, Lindale and several other towns in the area. The north end of the storm was producing straight line winds up to 70 and 80 miles an hour. The storm was moving eastward at somewhere near to 40 or 45 miles per hour giving people in its path little warning between seeing it and the weather turning seriously dangerous.
Canton emergency personnel responded rapidly and were assisted by by many of the agencies in the area. The City of Canton employees, helped by volunteers began the clean up almost immediately. Thanks to the great response from all involved and to the fortunate turn of events that left most unscathed, First Monday was back in full swing Friday afternoon and will be open for its regular schedule with no missed weekends.
Once again I want to say how thankful we all are that this Tornado spared so much and so many by hopping over us. The weather over the last 6 to 8 weeks in East Texas as well as North Central Texas has been producing many of these storms and quite a few Tornadoes. It seemed it was only a matter of time until one hit close to home and now it has. Yet we have weathered the storm and are ready for business at the:

World Famous First Monday Trade Days In Canton Texas, Over 155 years old!

Intolerance And The Harm It Causes

Intolerance and the Harm It Causes

While I understand that people all over the world have been taught to believe the way they do by their teachers, parents, and religious leaders. I do not necessarily agree with what they believe. Yet I do understand that most are taught to believe that way and therefore know only what they have been shown. Therefore their differences are a product of their society, culture, training and beliefs not a lack of intelligence or willingness to learn.

Tolerance is something that is taught extensively in Christianity and yet many Christians I have met are some of the least tolerant people I know. Yet radical or fanatical fundamentalists in many religions can be severely intolerant and oppressive in how they rule a country or run a group, church or other aspects of their life as well. Intolerance is not just a problem for Christians or Americans; it runs rampant throughout the world’s population. It affects all countries, all races, all religions and all cultures.

However my beliefs are most likely as foreign to them as theirs are to me. So I can not fault someone for standing up for their beliefs. I can only fault those so intolerant as to refuse to even listen to another opinion or another person’s thoughts on a matter. I can only fault those unwilling to consider another’s point of view or beliefs. I can only fault those who have little or no tolerance for others or other opinions than their own.

Tolerance is hard for many people especially in America where the average person these days seems to think they know best how others should live and act. As evidenced by the proliferation of laws in the last couple decades that force more and more conformity and segment our society into ever widening gaps between those who agree and those who do not. So many forget that just because they do not like to do something or think it is silly or pointless does not mean others feel the same way. Just because one person believes something is bad or wrong does not make it so for others. There are as many opinions about most things as there are people. To try to force others to live, act and believe based on your personal opinions is more wrong than anything others may do. By trying to impose your standards, your beliefs or your sense of right and wrong on others is more of a crime than most other action anyone could take. It is the cause of more strife, war, tragedy, sadness and dysfunction in societies than anything else.

This is creating deep divisions in America and yet the vast majority refuses to even consider that their own intolerance is at least allowing this to go on if not helping or enabling it. It is destroying the fabric that makes America such a free and open society. It is undermining the very principles that America was founded and built upon. It is the single most important problem in America and most of the world that exists today. Yet the vastly overwhelming majority refuses to see or even consider it as even possibly existing in themselves. While so very many good decent human beings fail to recognize the problem or the danger it encompasses for all humanity, we continue to fall deeper into a recurring cycle of going overboard first one way then another.

Yet anytime someone disparages another person for their beliefs or opinions. Every time another person gets up and says I think this is wrong so we should make it illegal for everyone. Every time one belief says we are right and we need to force the rest of the world to believe as we do. Every time it only adds to the issues and forces the solutions to become much harder.

We must all work to understand each other whether we ever agree or not at least we must strive to understand that others can and do believe differently from us. We must remember it is okay for them to do so. Every person has a right to their own opinions and beliefs. It is our responsibility to be tolerant and understanding, not to be condescending or demanding of others simply because we disagree with them in some way.

One of the keys is to understand why another believes the way they do, even if we will never believe that way. It is still possible to understand others, other cultures and other beliefs even when we do not believe the same things. It is possible to be tolerant of another’s beliefs while disagreeing with them. It is possible to stand up for our beliefs without having to belittle others or be demeaned and degraded by others! It is still possible to agree to disagree while remaining friends and neighbors. It is not to late to start the pendulum swinging back towards tolerance and away from the repressive, the oppressive and the intolerant.

Douglas Wolfe
© February 6th 2008

Check out my Guestbook!