Sunday, August 2, 2015

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 2, 2015

When I got onto Facebook, it was the new and cool way of interacting on the Internet. Since then many of the younger generation decided that since their parents and grandparents on Facebook, it is no longer cool. But there are still plenty of people involved with that site and other “social media” sites, and I think their prevalence is something worth noting.

Social media is a great way to stay in touch. My friend list includes relatives, classmates, baseball fans and people with whom I have acted in various theater companies. There are a couple of girls who, in our younger days, were the objects of my crushes (and to whom I have finally been able to admit my earlier attraction) and even a former Major League pitcher. I am also friends with people I had known in various parishes I have served, including a number of young adults who had once been my students, which has led to my celebrating some of their wedding.

Recently I have received a couple of “friend requests” from some of our school students. When I first started to receive such requests in my last parish, I decided to set a personal policy. I only accept friend requests from people who are over 18 and out of high school. One reason for that policy was simple propriety, but it got me to thinking about the need to talk about Internet safety. As the Second Vatican Council reminded us, technology is a two-edged sword, capable of great good but needing to be handled with care.

Among the points that minors especially need to be aware of is that we do not always know whom we are talking to on the Internet. There are predators who pass themselves off as a fourteen-year-old girl to gain someone’s confidence. Our Internet friends, then, should only be people we truly know. We also have to be careful of what information we post. People who look at my Facebook page could easily find my address and phone number from other sources since I am a somewhat “public” figure. But children and adolescents should never make that information public, even inadvertently. For instance, a picture that shows street signs or even car license plates in the background can be used to track someone down. When we post photos on the Internet, we lose control of them, and anyone can copy and paste them. And since people can find one person by seeing someone else’s web page. The more people you have as friends, the less control you have over who contacts you. I also believe that no children should be allowed on social networking sites unless their parents have full access to their information. Parents need to be aware of what their children are doing and who is contacting them. Certainly teenagers want their privacy, but parents still need to protect them.

Used properly, Internet sites such as Facebook are a great tool for communication. But like any powerful too, we have to be very careful of how we use it.

                                               Father H