http://kevinhoneycutt.org/
In one of Kevin Honeycutt's podcasts, in his Driving Questions archive, he and some of his colleges talk about the issues that come across on Facebook. Writing mean things about people after getting into an argument/fight with a friend at school, causes issues and effects both parties. The kid that wrote the mean things may regret it the next day and the attacked kid will be humiliated by everyone that reads the comment. The basic question that came out of this discussion, is how to train young kids to be mature enough to use social networks and what do parents do when their child gets bullied on Facebook? One option they hit hard on, was building an advocacy page (support group) that would be available for people who get bullied on Facebook. An interesting point, however, that was pointed out, was the issue of ignorance among parents who do not know what goes on with their child's Facebook page or do not know how to bandage up the issues that happen on Facebook, because they did not grow up with it. All in all, most kids from about 13 and up are using Facebook to vent about problems that are happening at school and to get revenge on their classmates. Adults need to find ways to prevent this type of bullying and to help the attacked students cope.
One last thing to mention is how Facebook can come back to haunt people years later when wanting to get a professional job. Teachers, doctors, and all other people in professional careers or looking for a job, need to be careful with what they post as pictures and comments on their page. Anything that is inappropriate to the employer on Facebook, can deny anyone their job.
This podcast proved to me that Facebook is not always fun but harmful and should be taken seriously.
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