Socially Awkward

I just finished reading this article on Yahoo about social networking.

<a href="http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/10-things-you-dont-know-about-teens-and-social-networking-2527367/"></a>

Go look at it...I'm not good at working the link thing. : (


I was so shocked and saddened by comments made by these YOUNG girls. It literally broke my heart. Sure it's all well and good that we want to make sure our students our "tech savvy", but at what cost? It's great that students know how to Google, and blog, and Tweet, but how sure are we that they're getting the work done. One of the girls in this article even said she was on Facebook when she should have been taking notes. Now I know we can't stop this, but how do we help? For starters, we can instill certain characteristics in our children. It's called integrity. Basically what you do when no one is around. So how do we instill that our students?

Another thing that simply broke my heart was that these 13, 14, 15, year old girls, were saying how comfortable they were with lying. Not only lying to other people, but lying to themselves. They were totally ok with just putting up a front. It's important to not lose yourself.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."-Romans 12:2


In one of my favorite movies, "He's Just Not that into You", Mary says, "If I want to meet someone, I don't go out and get a new haircut, I update my Myspace." It makes me terribly sad that we lose that personal quality. So all this means is that when we do actually have to interact with someone, well...we...we don't know how.

Challenge: How do you not let your students (or own children for that matter) lose themselves in the virtual world? Do you set a good example?

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting." --E.E. Cummings

Reality...Really?

So I just finished watching Sweet Home Alabama, bachelorette style...only Southern. After posting my thoughts on Twitter, someone commented, and told me not to believe anything that I see. I got to thinking, can you believe ANYTHING you see on tv? Especially reality tv? Is there anything real about any of these shows? Big Brother...Survivor (all like 15 seasons)...Jersey Shore...Teen Mom... Come on folks...is this what we're teaching our kids?  Merriam Webster defines reality as...

1 : the quality or state of being real

2 a (1) : a real event, entity, or state of affairs <his dream became a reality> (2) : the totality of real things and events <trying to escape from reality> b : something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily

3 : television programming that features videos of actual occurrences (as a police chase, stunt, or natural disaster) —often used attributively <reality TV>

— in reality

: in actual fact 

 

I love that it even includes reality tv. My point is that sure these shows may follow people in their everyday lives, but is it them? How differently would YOU act if a camera and camera crew were following you around all day everyday. 

 

Yeah...that's what I thought.

We have to remember that they generation that we teach will have grown up on these kinds of shows. How can you make sure they keep in mind what "reality" really is? 

It's not blaming others for our actions. It's not acting like we're the center of this world. It's not loving conditionally.

 

So here's the question. In a world of watching others' lives, how can you make your students focus on reality...really?