Facebook aunt/niece argument

[Gordon_Sims]

I don’t even know what this “facebook” is, but I do know that Bishops have spoken out against it saying that it leads young people into ‘Transient relationships’ where “quantity becomes more important than quality” and is “a key factor in suicide among young people”. Sounds like something that I wouldn’t want my children getting involved with.

Sounds to me like he’s an alarmist making broad generalizations based on a tiny number of cases. I’ve heard of a single case where a girl’s suicide was linked to Facebook, and that was because of a family’s targeted deceit/bullying of her. One instance hardly constitutes a trend.

As for his other accusations, for me it’s actually increased the amount of “rounded” relationships I have, leading to reunions with old friends and family members, get togethers, lunches, etc. Family and friends that both my wife and I had lost complete track of are now at least a semi-regular part of our lives. For the most part these aren’t people it’d be practical to visit and we lead different enough lives in vastly separated time zones that regular phone calls aren’t going to happen. Thanks to Facebook we’re now keeping in touch with these old friends and family members.

For all the negatives he brings up, I could easily give you 50 positives. The point is, like anything else, it’s all in how you use it. If you have kids on there, as long as you monitor what they do and make sure they’re using it in a moderate, positive fashion, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.

 

[yellowbird]

If you have kids on there, as long as you monitor what they do and make sure they’re using it in a moderate, positive fashion, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.

You hear that sound? It’s the voice of reason.