Face time... In The Age of Facebook.

 I am so grossed out by this cold, faceless, and voiceless world our children are growing up in. Where did this come from? When did the phone conversation become less desirable than mere words on a screen, devoid of enunciation and emotion? A "smiley emoticon" is NOTHING but a picture, it is not equivalent to the warmth of a smile, LOL, doesn't even compare to the sweet sound of real laughter. In person we can see, feel, appreciate each other. When did we decide to stop feeling?

Another young girl just took her own life because she was bullied over and over. As far as I am concerned, it was the internet that abused her, harassed her, denied her call out for help, and ultimately led her to the dark place where she felt she had no worth. It killed her.

It is my solemn vow, that my children will not own a Facebook account while living under this roof. 13 is the minimum age for opening an account, and that used to be my rule "when you are 13 you can have one", but now they can wait. I don't care how much they cry and beg, or say they hate me for it. I am saving their lives or at least their emotional well being, and allowing their character to develop because of real personal interactions. If some one wants to bully one of my kids, you can do it to their face, where your words have to come out of your mouth, and your eyes see the pain they cause. You will not hide behind your screen. Internet bullying is the lowest form of cowardice, and I will do my best to keep my children from being subjected to it.

When a child dies because of some freak accident, like being strangled by a cord from the blinds, we make new rules, find ways to prevent them from happening again. Remember when you could ride around in the box  of a truck? Not anymore, too many injuries/fatalities. How many children have to kill themselves because of internet bullying before rules are changed? Maybe Facebook needs to up the minimum age to 18? Maybe there ought to be a tougher process for creating an account? With all the technology in the world surely that must be possible?

To all you parents who have kids/teens on Facebook, watch them, know their passwords, check their accounts, be nosey. It's your job to keep them safe physically and emotionally. They will thank you for it one day. As the world changes so do our morals and values, rules get bent, and blurred, or forgotten all together. In my world the one constant will be those morals, values, and rules, the changing times can adapt to them.