Cyberbullys

So in class we discussed. I don't know if anyone was paying attention (probably not, but whatever), and I made my opinion heard. Kind of. We do a lot of bouncing around.

Kids will be kids. There's always a pecking order established, it's just the way things work. Human nature and all that. However, there is a certain stigma about it now. There's so much want for the 'good' things to counteract the omnipresent 'bad' that so many are bombarded with that bullying is no longer tolerated.

But that doesn't keep it from happening.

This emphasis on being nice is completely counteracted by the absence of actually teaching kids how to act human. It is the parents, teachers, and older siblings (if applicable) to teach kids how to deal with and interact with people. We're not doing that anymore. Once they can walk and talk and make food for themselves there's an increasing drop off in parental supervision. Once the kid is slightly independent then they're off to learn whatever they can. That wouldn't be too terrible - the latchkey kids and all that noise. But we have internet now. the internet is fricken horrifying. There's too much out there to be potentially found that can warp young minds by itself. Not to mention the people.

Oh God the people out there.

There is no better way to avoid reality than internet. We're demonstrated this through Second Life and probably experienced it once or twice in a chatroom or on a messaging site. We've heard about predators and all sorts of weird crap. And bullies (the creative things they are), have capitalized on the ability to hide behind a screen and harass at their leisure. While I'm not condoning this in any way, shape, or form; this is the INTERNET. The whole of this network is randomly cute or disgusting pictures and trolls. There are a few good things but not really. The majority of people let on here are assholes and they act accordingly. You can't let them get to you so much that they make you lose self worth. This place is full of hate spewing attention mongers.

Basically what I'm getting at is, yeah, people will be jerks and there will be trauma in every kids life. It just happens. While kids shouldn't be taught to be so PC that being called 'stupid' is totally demeaning, there shouldn't be people looking to rip open old wounds either. There should be supervision, parental involvement, something even remotely resembling human to human contact to take away from the impact of screen to screen contact. It's because these computers and whatever (oh God I sound so old) dominating the interaction that these kids are falling apart at the seams over words that can't even be said to their face.

As crass as it may sound, they just need to grow thicker skin and realize that someone is making fun of them through the internet. The Internet. Don't give them the satisfaction of knowing you've heard them. DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.

One World

What I've learned from the internet these past few years is that we are all more similar than we are different. Sure, there are a milion different websites for a million different interests, but the number of hits a website devoted to even the most obscure hobbies show that there are more people like us than we think. That isn't to say that we aren't all unique, as our fingerprints prove, but that even in the midst of so much diversity in this world, we all have a common thread. Music, movies, sports, and even food show us that people share more similaries than differences. The items listed above cross all borders, enter into the minds of all ethnicities, and unite us on the web. It is pretty amazing to see someone from Europe chatting with someone from Long Island via the internet. This is a great tool our generation has been lucky enough to have been blessed with, and I hope we use it for understanding other cultures.

Benefits

The internet is full of resources and information made available to us at our fingertips. So why is it that the most popular sites for people our age are not news sites or online encyclopedias, but Facebook, Perez Hilton, Twitter, and other substance free sites. These websites are the equivalent of empty calories. They provide us with no nutrition, but darn it if they aren't entertaining. I think that we are so busy doing research and writing for school all the time, that visiting these sites is a necessary part of our unwinding process. Sometimes it is completely necessary to shut down our minds and just have fun. I suppose there are worse things we could be doing.

Daily

I'm on a roll with these things, apparently.

I've been reading over and looking over the posts about Facebook and other frequented sites and we've talked in class about the 'need' to visit these sites every day a half a billion times a day and all that good stuff. More or less I've realized I'm just as guilty, if not more so, then many. I do check my Facebook, my dA, my email, my forum posts - almost obsessively. What I wonder, though, is why other people check it so much?

Personally, I can't stand the thought of computer clutter. My room looks like a bomb went off / a tornado hit it / a pigsty, but the computer I constantly maintain. Everything is straight and organized, and if It's not I take time out to fix that. The reason I constantly check everything it prevent clutter there, too. The last time I abandoned facebook for more than a week my request box was flooded.

I personally, just can't stand that mess, so for the sake of cleaning house I find myself obsessed.

Web Doctor

Not long ago I was bothered by a twinge of pain on the left side of my chest. It wasn't much, but more than enough to be annoying. It was late, so just to be sure I checked WebMD to see if aspirin would be alright to use.

Web MD informed me I was having a heart attack, an anxiety attack, had broken a rib, had a peptic ulcer and should go to a hospital. Now.

Now, to be fair, I understand why there are so many serious afflictions listed - putting the option out there, being extra cautious, and namely to avoid lawsuits. My problem with this is that there is an excessive reliance on the internet to solve everything - even potentially fatal medical problems. Perhaps it's just me, but I can't really understand someone crawling over to their computer and logging on to WebMD to see if they're actually experiencing cardiac arrest.

Furthermore - with all these possible options provided, won't that open the door for an outbreak of hypochondriacs, thinking they have all of the twenty - something diseases listed on the results page when they only really have a head cold?

(I had only pulled a muscle, by the way. No hospital stay required.)

My personal addiction to FACEBOOK

So, how many people feel the same way I do? That when you go on to your computer or laptop or anything with internet access, that you have to check your facebook... What is with it? I am on my laptop right now and I'm obviously blogging, but I won't lie - I have Facebook open in another window, and after I've finished writing this blog, you can be certain that I'm going to check if anything changed in the last 5 minutes or I might just look at pictures of an old friend I havent seen in a while - now known as "facebook stalking."
I have to make a conscious effort not to check my facebook too regularly, or automatically open up my facebook without giving it a second thought. I know I go on the computer to do things worth while, and things I need to be doing for class, but facebook is the one thing that I look at without even thinking about it. My hands have just gotten into the natural motion of typing "facebook.com" and then my email address and password. They navigate around the page with ease, and I can't seem to stop them.
Now don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't get work done and it's not like this is a serious issue that I need to seek help for. I'm just thinking that I could probably have a little bit more self control when it comes to me checking my facebook. I mean really, how much can happen in an hour in the world of facebook?