My wife loves Facebook. She says that this is the only way she can contact all of her family, and see recent pictures. But she also reads other posts which make her angry; especially those regarding the mistreatment of animals.
Social Media is all the rage. Millennials do not read newspapers; only some read blogs or news sites on the internet. They spend most of their time on social media and texting incessantly. First of all, no one is important enough to be in constant contact with someone else. There are clouds, trees, flowers, and other items of interest to look at; staring into a phone every minute of every day displays ignorance and prevention of independent thought and action.
That said, I have another reason for despising Social Media; it is an easy way to bully and harm another individual. It takes meanness to another level.
Take the case of Tovanna Holton, a 15-year-old freshman at a Florida High School. Tovanna’s parents will never see her graduate from high school. Tovanna’s father will never walk her down the aisle at her wedding. Tovanna will never give her parents grandchildren to hold and play with. Tovanna acquired her mother’s handgun, locked the bathroom door, and shot herself in the head.
What would cause a 15-year-old so much anguish that she would choose to take her own life? In Tovanna’s case, it was a video of her posted on Facebook and Snapchat.
Her ex-boyfriend had videoed Tovanna in the shower, and posted it on Social Media. She could not bear the embarrassment and humiliation of her naked body exposed on the internet for all to see. “Tovonna would say, ‘Mommy, I owe them; I owe them’. I said, ‘What do you mean you owe them?’ I couldn’t understand what was wrong,” Holton-Teamer told reporters.
A close friend of the young woman said that she knew her ex-boyfriend had filmed her.
“Tovonna knew [her friend] posted the video, but Tovonna’s boyfriend posted it, trying to expose her in a derogatory way,” a friend Christian Coyle-Watts told the Daily Beast. “He did it just because he knew he could, and it would hurt her feelings.”
While Tovonna’s boyfriend did not respond to The Daily Beast’s comment request, he shared his thoughts on Twitter, saying, “She was so beautiful I wish I can go back in time and prevent all of this I will never forget u baby.”
Individuals seeking to harm others use this new form of communication for evil purposes as often as for good. This is an unforgivable situation. The companies which provide these tools constantly talk about “first amendment rights.” They claim that any form of censorship will not be allowed. But is that the truth, or is it all about becoming billionaires?
The NRA gun lobby uses the same argument in its focus on the second amendment, while the true purpose is to increase the wealth of gun manufacturers and gun sellers.
By the way, I’m not allowing Tovanna’s mother to escape from this sad situation without accepting some of the responsibility.
In the 1970’s the real NRA suggested guidelines for gun safety; guidelines which would have likely prevented Tovanna’s death. Its advice was that if weapons were kept in the home, and children were present, the weapon should be unloaded, and the gun and ammunition stored in separate locked compartments.
One more time when a parent loved her gun more than her child.
Op-Ed
By James Turnage
Photo Courtesy of OakleyOriginals
The Truth With No Restrictions 