I strolled over to the Campus Center on the evening of September 10th for a Stockton Neighborhood Watch sponsored event called “Generation Text.” I didn’t know what to expect from this program and I didn’t care very much because I was just going to get some extra credit in one of my classes. I brought a friend along to keep me company and merely intended on just signing in at the event, sitting there, and possibly leaving early. However, when 7:30pm arrived, I found out what this event was all about and didn’t miss a minute of it.
Jill Brown, CEO of Generation Text Online, has dedicated a large part of her life to educating students on the do’s and don’ts of social media and texting. It is known that cyber bullying is a big issue today but this presentation went farther then telling us to not harass people via the Internet. Mrs. Brown pointed out that since our generation grew up with phones and social media, we were never taught the proper way to utilize them where it won’t hurt others or ourselves. As social media was forming, our parents and other adults in our lives didn’t understand it or know that serious problems could occur because of it. Therefore, Mrs. Brown was teaching and convincing her audience to stay safe and stay smart when it comes to social media and texting.
In the “Generation Text” presentation, we were shown a variety of different sites to demonstrate how they can me harmful. Mrs. Brown showed us real Facebook posts that teens and adults posted. These posts ranged from statuses that said hurtful things about a classmate, negative comments on their job, to inappropriate pictures, and full pages dedicated to making fun of someone. Many of these posts have led to tragic suicides, job firings, or being denied a job or school acceptance.
Many times users post or upload things that aren’t even meant to be hurtful; they’re meant to be funny. Mrs. Brown reminded us of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers student who committed suicide after his roommate videotaped him with another man and posted it on YouTube. Clementi’s roommate didn’t mean for him to commit suicide. Someone who puts up a picture of a turtle climbing a fence making fun of Mexicans and immigrants is trying to crack a joke but they don’t see the big picture. It doesn’t matter what context it is in, it can be extremely hurtful and cause a tragedy like it did for Tyler Clementi. There are tons of cases where something on the Internet had been taken too far. It doesn’t matter who you were, how old you were, or what your intentions were.
Jill Brown was definitely persuasive and convincing. She showed us the reality of social media and texting that we didn’t really know before. Media can be a good thing, but it can just as easily be a horrible thing. We need to think hard before we post or send things because they can harm other people and ourselves.