When I wake up in the morning - one of the first things I do is grab a cup of coffee and my laptop and check out the day's news online. From politics, domestic and international, to breaking news, to celebrity gossip - It's not so much the headlines that have been catching my attention lately, but the comments posted in the comments section after the articles.
I believe in freedom of speech. BUT- what's with the hundreds of disparaging comments and posts that follow just about every article. I have seen everything from extremely vulgar comments to comments wishing violence and death on another human being. When did it become so easy for people to treat each other this way? When did it all of a sudden become okay or even legal to threaten someone else?
Interesting to note, is that despite the subject matter of the article, the comments almost always lead to political issues and political parties.
Political articles certainly get their fair share of obscene commentary but they are in good/bad company. If you have teenagers take a look at some of the celebrity articles which tweens and teenagers frequently read. Take for example, the whole Twilight Saga phenomenon - have you ever read some of the articles online about "ROBSTEN"? If you haven't -at least check out the comments section following some of these articles - it seems that kids are learning by example how to be hateful, mean, and disrespectful.
More than ever our kids are being asked to do a great deal of the research for their homework assignments online. It's bad enough that one innocent word typed in google could bring them into a world of obscenity not suitable for adults let alone kids - but when they research an article for homework written on any online news source - they shouldn't be exposed to the displays of hatred and violence as an "accepted" means of communication. Sadly, our very impressionable kids are being exposed to and desensitised to this form of violence and disrespectful behavior on a daily basis.
