SSScout 1624 Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Washington Post Sunday 30 August 2009, Pg.A1 "Soul Searching On Facebook" by William Wan "For the longest time,the question just sat there on his screen. Cursor blinking. Waiting quietly, like a patient priest in a confessor's box. "Religious Views: ___________." "...Amid the endless trivialities of social networking sites - the quotes from Monty Python, the Stephan Colbert for prez groups, the goofy-but-calculatingly-attractive profile pics - the tiny box has become a surprisingly meaningful pit stop for philosophical inquiry. "... (a selection of religious views from facebook)... Amor...I am a Jedi Knight, like my father before me...Bong hits4 Jesus... It's complicated... Waiting for Godot... God knows... Christ follower... Love God/love others/change the world... Pastfarian... Strong believer in asking questions... Do unto others... "Top Ten Rank of assigned defined views, nationally: Christian (include just about all denominations), Islam, Athiest, Agnostic, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Spiritual, Sikh, Jedi... "....so after several days , she finally settled on this answer: "Mathew 25", the Bible chapter in which Jesus urges his followers to feed the poor and help the imprisoned. His words represent the part of Gordon's faith that she holds most dear. ******** Maybe this self selected sample is not truly representative, maybe it is. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/29/AR2009082902400.html(This message has been edited by SSScout) Link to post Share on other sites
Lisabob 13 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 This is how the topic of a scout's religious views in my son's troop came up. The scout had posted on facebook that he was agnostic, and then invited some trusted scout leaders to be his "friends." One of them noted his religious status and advised him to change it. I know that it has prompted two serious discussions, one among adults about how to counsel scouts and the other with the scout about what he believes. As a parent, I'm uncomfortable in the extreme with facebook - a private commercial site - having "ownership" of a child's profile, including his evolving religious views. Seems like such a personal thing that it doesn't belong in some company's data bases, no matter how benign the company promises to be. And children, by their nature, are less likely to jealously guard their personal information than adults might be. Link to post Share on other sites
Merlyn_LeRoy 72 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I'd be more uncomfortable with an organization which tells children that they ought to change their religious views. Link to post Share on other sites
SR540Beaver 116 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 No one has to list their religious views on facebook unless they choose to do so......just like you don't have to list your relationship, birthday, political views, schools, job, interests, etc. Link to post Share on other sites
Lisabob 13 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Right, Beaver. Not something a lot of kids fully understand though. It is an ongoing challenge to educate, and then (being kids) they often roll their eyes and decide that some stodgy old adult is being paranoid. Well yeah, maybe, but if they really *are* out to get you it isn't paranoia. In my limited experience, kids just don't believe some company would store their info and that it might come back in strange ways later on. Anyway I didn't really mean to hijack the thread to a discussion of internet privacy so I'll stop now. Merlyn, you have a good point there. If that's what is being asked. Link to post Share on other sites
shortridge 184 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 It's not just the issue of third-party storage of personal information, but the issue of putting your personal life out there for everyone to see. The rule "if you wouldn't say or do it in the public square, don't say or do it online" is golden. First Class requirement 12 addresses Internet safety. A presentation on identity theft and cyberstalking wouldn't be inappropriate, maybe led by someone who has been a victim. Link to post Share on other sites
evmori 11 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I don't think it's kids don't understand. I think it's more a case of they want to tell everyone everything! Link to post Share on other sites
Lisabob 13 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 And Ed, they don't understand why they shouldn't. Saying something in a public square is fundamentally different from saying it online. One will fade away; the other is preserved forever, outside of your control. Link to post Share on other sites
evmori 11 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I disagree! I think they do understand. They post things about themselves they want other people to know. What they don't understand is why some adults have a problem with this. Link to post Share on other sites
OldGreyEagle 5 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 No Ed, they don't understand, if they understood they wouldnt get that blanched deer in the headlights look when I ask them their My Space or Facebook name and you can see in their brain they aer going, how does he know about that? Then while lookign at my computer I ask them what would I find if I went to their site, some almost fainted, didnt know I was unconnected. They don't realize that some comments about sex add drugs while in college will mess their chances with a job in 2 years. What about Michael Phelps and the hash pipe? Did he think that photo would surface? Link to post Share on other sites
packsaddle 753 Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 That was a bong, not a hash pipe. Big difference. Link to post Share on other sites
evmori 11 Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 They don't realize that some comments about sex add drugs while in college will mess their chances with a job in 2 years. This I agree with! They know people look at these pages. They just don't get the fact that what they post could adversely effect them. Link to post Share on other sites
Lisabob 13 Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 They want their friends to see it, not everybody else. They don't understand that they have no control over who their friends forward it to, who their friends allow on their site, or how their friends archive stuff. They also don't understand that they have no control over the company that owns the site upon which they're posting their most personal thoughts. Kids (and a lot of adults) view this as their personal property, to be put up, taken down, modified, and shared only as the kids themselves wish. They're wrong though. There was an article about facebook in the NY Times last weekend. Adults were absolutely astonished to learn that facebook was tracking their behavior on non-facebook parts of the web, and then linking it back to their facebook pages. That's just creepy. Kids have no clue that this could or would happen. My son's a good example in some ways. He has been through internet safety programs at school every year for probably 10 years now. He's seen the scouting material. He sure gets an earful about it from his parents. He still thinks I'm just being stodgy and old fashioned when I tell him to take certain things off his social networking sites. His view of internet safety is, you don't post your name/phone/address and you don't post your SSN or credit card numbers (if you have them). He knows what to do about stalkers and cyber bullies. We've talked about the Michael Phelps situation. (Phelps didn't even post that photo, remember, somebody else posted a photo on their site. Phelps happened to be visible in that photo, though not the main subject of the photo.) I tell him about students of mine who have been burned by similar situations and didn't get that job or internship as a result. My (reasonably smart, fairly thoughtful) teen's answer? Yeah, but mom, only my FRIENDS can see my page. Link to post Share on other sites
packsaddle 753 Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 "stodgy and old-fashioned" Well, someone has to do it. There are far worse web-based networks out there. All-in-all Facebook is fairly tame. The concept of 'friend' is mercurial at young ages. And difficult to keep up with if you have more than about 7 friends. Most facebook 'friends' are merely benign acquaintances. And if needed, the status of 'friendship' might not change on facebook until long after the info has been lost to the public. But we already know that...some of us from experience. Young people are often still in need of some guidance and 'protection' by stodgy, old-fashioned persons. Unfortunately, my children were treated to the 'dark' side of facebook early on so they are now super-sensitive to those info-gathering invitations to join that come from their 'friends'. No harm done so far. It was nice to have them learn some of those lessons while they could still recover from mistakes. Link to post Share on other sites
OldGreyEagle 5 Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 "That was a bong, not a hash pipe. Big difference." Hmm, well ok, I guess I am not as knowledgeable as some on the finer points of the drug scene as some. Then again, I never inhaled, ate, injected, snorted or otherwise partook of any illegal substance. Do I have to change my name ot OldGreyStickInTheMud? Link to post Share on other sites
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