With access to a phone, one is not far from trouble.
Multiple battles on opinion are now more commonly being fought over the Internet.
With the right words, a post or a tweet can start a social media riot.
On the application Twitter, “retweets” are a way of sharing another post onto one’s own newsfeed. The act is simple and does not require a large amount of support to do. When comparing contrasting arguments, a “winner” may be determined by whoever received the most retweets or favorites. It is not a matter of who is right or wrong, it is who has the strongest mob backing them.
This has made it easier for young people to wash traditional views down the drain. Sayings or quotes can be spread, read and reread so many times that people logging into these sites may believe it, no matter the truth behind it. One minor example of this is “bodies are not sexual unless they are made sexual.”
This statement often arises when discussing the way men view women (or, for this matter, boys view girls), and addresses problems relating to dress codes and whether girls should cover themselves up to avoid being a distraction. The problem with it is it suggests a person is not something until it is decided they are. Who a person is is not determined by others’ opinions. Try replacing ‘sexual’ with words like ‘beautiful’ or even something as obvious as ‘alive’. The value of a person is not decided by other people.
Natural things such as attraction cannot be dismissed with just a tweet and the push of a button. Creating a false blanket for a problem does not make the problem go away. It would be a lie if one tried to say nobody appealed to another unless they decided to; sometimes it cannot be helped.
The point this quote is trying to get across is not completely off the mark. Like many other arguments seen on the Internet, it is just slightly misleading. Those who agree with it might simply be in favor of boys controlling themselves during school hours in order to respect their fellow classmates. I have seen blatant displays of boys looking sexually at girls because it is utterly “irresistible.” There is a clear line between natural attraction and self-control.
This is just one example of disputes on the Internet. Other topics include the use of recreational drugs and politics. Some may spend their night simply arguing their own opinion. As a witness myself, I have never seen an argument end with a civil conclusion. The outcome is usually two or more angry people, a waste of time and no progress on the matter itself.
Debate is important in this country. It is the foundation of important decisions and separates political parties. Without debate, development of evolving views would be slow and painful. Twitter just may not be the most efficient place to persuade others to change their own point of view.
Although social media has a drastic impact on society, many disputes via cell phones will never go any farther than that. It is a dead end; no matter how many supporters there are for a certain notion, people will always have their own opinions.
