The idea of being able to link together so many different people through a single location is ground breaking and something that caught on and took off pretty quick. The idea was solid, execution was good, but the one thing that couldn’t be factored in or protected against was human nature. I found a recent study that pointed out some pretty interesting if not just downright scary statistics.
• One study found that 97% of adolescents ages 12-18 use the internet.
• A recent study found that only 16% of the students surveyed regularly spoke with their parents about what they do on-line
• Over 80% of adolescents own at least one form of new media technology
• 68% - 97% of online aggression victims also experience offline relational aggression and 24% -76% also experience offline physical victimization
Take a real close look at some of those statistics dealing with our youth, because the new phase and craze out there right now is to do what is called Cyber Bullying. If you have not experienced this phenomenon I know that you have heard about it. There have been multiple cases on the news involving students who have committed suicide because of what was said to them through FB.
Now don’t get me wrong, FB is not the only source of these problems out there. I mean take a look at the game consoles out there right now. PS3, XBOX, and all the others afford the opportunities for a bully to insert themselves into our young ones lives. There was recently a situation in where kids were lured away from the safety of their home and taken by someone they met through a video game. I mean really, come on now. Let’s start paying attention to what our children are doing.
I am a video gamer; I especially love playing first person army shooter games. My favorite game happens to be a Call of Duty or Black Ops game. I play these games because it is a way for me to transfer some of my emotions onto something that is not real. I play online with other people who have microphones and can talk. Now I can be playing with anyone at any age at any time. I almost always have to mute everyone that I am playing against or with because of the vulgar use of language and just pure evilness that comes out of their mouths. I will be transparent with you, before I accepted Christ into my life I had gotten banned from the XBOX network because I felt it was ok to tell a young child that Santa wasn’t real and that Santa did bad things with his mother. I mean really, c’mon now.
So parents I would ask you to monitor some of these games that our children are playing, they are not all bad but in the same way that are not all good either.
Face Book, Twitter, and other social media devices out there can also be used in the same way. Some of you parents already know what I am talking about, you wake up and turn on your computer, log into FB and bam you are being attacked. I mean someone has come on to either your page or on their own page and just launched a verbal attack against your character either provoked or not. Once the attack happens its already too late. Once the damage has been done it can’t be taken back. It’s just like this article today, once I hit submit and publish this, then anyone and everyone can see it. So I guess the question that I have is this; if you are out there finding yourself more frustrated with social media than being edified by it, is it something you really should have in your life? Another way to look at it is like this, is this relationship that I have with my social media one that brings me closer to God, because if it doesn’t bring me closer to God it is only drawing me away from Him?
As followers of Christ we have a responsibility to rebuke and correct things that are wrong. I honestly believe that if Jesus was standing there in front of a computer, and saw all the evilness that has sprouted from the internet and social media, He would un friend Social Media. With that said think about this passage from the Bible.
He (Jesus) said to them, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it. (Mark 8:34-35)I believe that our Social Media could be used for good out there, please take a moment to watch this video and I think you might agree.
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