Wow...

     This article contains the actual conversation the teen girls had on facebook. It's worse than I thought. Quite disturbing. If this were written about my child, I would be terrified! This makes me think I need to again go over what is appropriate facebook conversation and what is not with my daughter.


Girl's parents say Facebook comments scared daughter : Griffith News

Facebook, teenagers and death threats... Oh my!

    I was reading an article in my local paper about three 8th grade girls who had a conversation on facebook with one another (I posted a link to the article below). It seems it started out as just talking about things that annoyed them and then moved on to joking about who they would kill, if it wasn't illegal of course. The problem arose when a parent was alerted to this very public conversation and brought it to the school's attention. The young ladies were then expelled from the school.

     The ACLU is now suing the school for violating their First Amendment rights to free speech. Now, I consider myself to be a very liberal person. I believe that every human being has the right to speech, and I will fight tooth and nail for our constitutional rights to be upheld. But I have a problem with my tax money being spent to defend a handful of girls who did not have enough sense to make what was surely an innocent conversation, private. Let's face it, The world we live in today is completely different than the world our forefathers lived in when the Constitution was written.

    I'm not saying that what these girls did was awful. And I feel expulsion is too drastic, especially if these girls are not the type to get into trouble in the first place. But I do think that this is not the type of conversation that should be happening in a public forum. I have read the article and understand that this conversation was held on their status updates and supposedly only "friends" could see it, but since a parent read it and reported it, obviously that was not the case. The problem with facebook is that ultimately, it is not private. Unless it is sent in a private message, it is out there for the whole internet to see.

     
This is a lesson we need to teach our children. It is important that they learn that once typed and posted on the internet, they are not your private thoughts anymore. And right or wrong we are judged by what we put out there for others to see. Schools, judges, even prospective employers look at sites like facebook when making decisions, and it's important that our kids understand that. Yes, we have the freedom to express ourselves, but they need to understand the consequences of over expressing ourselves. That goes for adults too.


So I guess what I am saying is that while I think the punishment was too harsh for what was more than likely an innocent conversation among friends, by posting it on facebook, it became so much more. In a world where school violence and bullying are so rampant, lines have got to be drawn. Kids today have got to learn that for every action, there is a reaction. And though they may not have understood that this was wrong, ignorance is never an excuse. Let's face it, facebook is not a synonym for private. Just sayin'.

The article in the NWI Times

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

That is the last line in Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not taken. It can be interpreted as being about the author’s life and his choices, including the decision to pursue poetry. This is probably my favorite poem. It always makes me think about my path in life and the roads I have taken, and how have these choices dictated my journey?

             

Recent events in my life have made me question thoroughfare. Where would I be in my pilgrimage if I had chosen differently? But then I realized... my road is still being travelled. I am a long way off from my final destination, with many more forks in the road map of my life.

So why am I sitting here, looking back at the places I have been? Why am I wasting time and energy better used to forge on? I don’t know. But what I do know is that I am ready to continue now. The time for reflection is over and I need to move on. I will use my moral compass as a guide and stay true to myself. That is the best way I know to make sure I reach the end of my odyssey safely and in one piece. Just sayin’.

My new fave song.

Back in the day...

Technology today is amazing and the rate at which it advances will make your head spin. At least it does mine. I have always been able to keep up with the latest in technology, but these last couple of years has been a struggle. It seems like everytime I get used to a new device or operating system, a newer, better version is out, and once again, I am behind. I like to think that things are changing too quickly for me to keep up and has nothing to do with the fact that I am getting older and am just having trouble understanding.

I remember my first computer. It was a Texas Instruments. It was nothing more than a keyboard that you hooked up to a TV set. That was so long ago, and technology was going at a  snail’s pace compared to the speed of today. It was a good ten years later, at least, that the personal computer was no longer a luxury item. Then came the Word Wide Web. The “information super highway”. A plethora of information at our finger tips... as long as you didn’t mind the time it took to just get connected. And heaven forbid someone call and boot you off.

Let’s go back even further, my Mom can remember going to her neighbor’s house as a child to watch “The Wizard of Oz” on their brand new, and very expensive color TV set. When my Grandmother was a kid, they still had outhouses and ice boxes instead of refrigerators. I used to get frustrated when my Grandmother would call and ask for help with her computer until one day when I really took the time to think about all of the changes in the world that she has lived through and adapted to. To go from no indoor plumbing to sending emails and browsing the web, all I can say is wow, that is quite impressive. So if she could manage to keep up at a decent pace with technology, I can too. I’m just sayin’.

This too shall pass...

This too shall pass. At least that is what I keep telling myself. This past week has been a daunting one. I am starting to feel overwhelmed, and trust me, that is not a word that is easy for me to say. As I mentioned before, I have a Superwoman complex. I always take on more than I should and sometimes feel the stress of it all. But this is different. On top of my normally overbooked schedule, I have been making major lifestyle changes, I have just turned another year older, and I am going down a very bumpy road in my personal life. It is almost more than I can deal with.

But this is not about the obstacles in my life . This is about navigating through them and moving on. There was a time in my life, when I was much younger, that I would have long ago thrown my hands up in the air and cried in defeat. But that was a lifetime ago, and I was an inexperienced young woman back then. I have since learned that letting myself get down emotionally is not an option I want to chose, so I have taught myself to just tuck and roll. When the ride is over, I pick myself up, brush myself off and keep on going. I have come to realise that if you have a plan, determination, and faith that everything will eventually be alright, you can get through most anything. A good support system always helps too.

I am having a difficulty dealing with everything this time though. My normal coping skills are not enough, so I am giving myself a kick in the pants. Kind of like an emotional jump start. I have my plans in place and my fabulous support system, but I just need the extra willpower to get my determination going. I have my eye on the prize, but I need to have more faith to help me get there. If anyone else is having a rough time and  needs a kick, consider this yours too. I know I’m not the only one fighting an uphill battle right now, so lets do this together. If you are feeling like me in needing a boost, join me, and let’s decide now that no matter how hard the struggles, no matter what hurdles are in our path, we will not give in to desperation. We will stand strong, knowing that we are not alone, and that this too shall pass. I’m just sayin’.