Enjay
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188DarkRevived said:
Kids are less likely to be hostile and mischievous when they deal with you face to face rather than through a screen with a wall of text on it.
It's been proven. I know.
The screen and the wall of text gives them the freedom to speculate and scheme and "have fun trolololz". Whooptydoo. Their generation finds it hip to be reckless and apathetic online, but mine doesn't.
So, the question has been narrowed down from the destruction of human discipline (which is the point that I was trying to answer) to the specific situation of trolling/bullying/douchebagging on Facebook?
Again, I don't think there is anything new or concerning. The youth of today are not being corrupted by modern comfort. They are taking the opportunity to do something stupid and spiteful because they can do it with impunity. I'm not convinced that any other generation would be different if the opportunity was there. There have always been bullies and humans have always been self-interested, selfish and spiteful. As for being more hostile from behind a wall of text than face to face - of course that's the case. I'm sure we've all done it: quite possibly unintentionally or without realising how much the "internet anger" was gripping us.
Indeed, adults make equally stupid "contributions" on social media to those of kids. It's just that there are less adults living on Facebook (etc) and doing it and, perhaps, adults are less prone to being publicly spiteful asshats. Note, this is not necessarily because they are of a previous generation, but because they may be more mature. If they could be transported forward from 1980whatever at the age of somethingteen and given a Facebook account, I'm not sure that their behaviour would be vastly different. Who knows?
On the flipside, I would say that condemning an entire generation simply because of some Facebook trolling is, in itself, a touch uncaring, rude and sweepingly general. I know a lot of young people who are, and will continue to be, valuable contributors to society. Generalised comments like some of the ones in this thread do them a disservice.
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