Society’s Social Downfall

At the time when the scandal broke about Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton, I wasn’t even old enough to understand what was going on. I do remember it being all over the news and all of the adults talking about it. They never got into any lewd details about it in front of me (because I was just a kid). However, there is a valuable lesson to be learned from the situation. Our society has ceased to care about the feelings of others and now we are living in a world where people are allowed to harass, shame, bully, and profane anyone that they wish at any time without any sort of guilt or remorse. People are killing themselves because they aren’t “liked” enough on platforms where people often portray themselves in a fictional way. It is unnerving. Especially as a parent of two young girls who haven’t been exposed to this “place” yet.

The scandal that we saw in the 90’s would have taken a much different shape if it had played out over social media because EVERYONE on the planet could have commented on it and fought over it in real time as opposed to the media delivering the message. I believe that this is why Monica Lewinsky is speaking up about it so much now. She realizes that she was probably a bit lucky. If this had happened to her now, she may not even be alive today to talk about it or to help others that are going through it.

Another issue that I feel is not discussed enough, is that this behavior does not just happen in teenagers and young adults. This isn’t a “kid” problem. Adults are just as much at fault in this situation. How are adults supposed to teach the children right from wrong when they are practicing the same exact behavior right in front of them? We are watching these events play out in front of us in real time through news stories, politics, and any social media platform that we subject ourselves to.

I think the only real way that we can help others navigate through this muddle of online existence is to educate them. Isn’t that the only want that we can help ourselves or others through anything? Without learning about the world, whether it is the physical one that we live in or the online one that we interact with daily, we are never going to help each other become better at anything. When real education becomes muted and edited because it doesn’t fit a certain agenda real problems begin. This is what we should be ashamed of, and unfortunately, until people realize how important real education is and start to listen, there isn’t much that we can do about it.

I am not sure what it is going to take for people to realize that the way that they act online does have offline repercussions, even if it is not to them personally. This is a really big problem that doesn’t have an “easy fix”. Unfortunately, we live in an “easy fix” society.

References:

Ted-Lewinsky, M. (2015, March 10). The price of shame [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_8y0WLm78U