The problem with the internet...

A good friend of mine and I have had previous discussions about an idea involving the internet. One day we were talking about the reality that people say and do all kinds of things they would never say and do when they can hide behind the internet instead of being face to face with that person. And then, the other day, he found this video and sent it to me.

A real person, a lot like you from Derek Sivers on Vimeo.

You might be wandering...Robert, what does this have to do with parenting. Here's what. Every generation from this point on is growing up in the online world. 10 year old's have facebook (forget the problem that they are on their illegally, and that they either have hid it from their parents or their parents have helped them lie about their age...that's a whole other issue). They are growing up "detached" from having to tell people hard things face to face. They can just shoot off a text, fire off an email, or send a facebook message.

We see this even in adults. We've all heard stories of people breaking up a relationship with a text message or leaving a church that has invested in them for years with a short email. We all do this...instead of having discussions face to face or being respectful enough to sit down with someone and explain ourselves, we hide behind the computer...feeling like it would be less awkward. But it's not less awkward...especially not for the person receiving the message...they just think you don't care about them enough to have a face-to-face conversation (and that can be an awkward feeling).

But remember what this video says, there are some things that we would never say to someone's face, that we might send electronically. How can you model and train your children to not "hide" behind the perceived anonymity of the internet and to grow up being careful of how someone might hear what they are "sending" with a few quick finger strokes?.

These are just some of the thoughts running through my head today...if it seems like a jumbled mess of thoughts, it's because that's what it feels like in my brain too. I'm still mulling some of this over...but I think there's a problem with the internet!

Any thoughts?