If you’re reading this, chances are pretty good that you were made aware of this blog by Facebook. It’s become standard language to most—“I saw that on Facebook.”, or “Her status said her surgery went well”, even “They had their baby–I saw the pictures on Facebook”.
I’ve worked with clients who’ve friend requested me (which I don’t accept, just because of the nature of my relationship with them), who have had affairs that began on Facebook, who have been bullied on Facebook, even those who have decided to deactivate their accounts because of problems they’ve encountered on Facebook. It’s really becoming quite a fascinating part of our culture today.
The other day, I received a “wrong number” text message on my phone. Have any of you ever gotten one of these? This is the first time I have. This one read:
“U don’t deserve ur beautiful room.
I refuse to clean it.
No more money handed over to u unless things change this summer.”
Whoa! After a couple seconds of wondering if this was meant for me, realizing there was no way this was the case, and then feeling slightly embarrassed for the sender, I texted back “wrong number” and received an immediate “sorry.”
I am assuming that this text was sent from a parent to their teenage child. I can only imagine the conversations (or conflict) that surrounded this message. In a way, I was let in to the realities of this relationship that are probably not otherwise shared, even in my therapy office. This was a real interaction.
I remember when I was a young teen and “call waiting” was the technology that was changing how families managed their phone calls. After many frustrating experiences of my parents trying to get a hold of family and friends while I was tied up on the phone, and receiving a constant busy signal, they decided to get call waiting. No instant messaging or texting in these years! I thought this meant that my phone time was now unlimited as long as I attended to the “beeps” of someone trying to call in. I was wrong. Before getting call waiting, my parents sat down with me and together we created a list of agreed upon expectations that went into effect when call waiting was activated—which included no more than 2 hours on the phone in one sitting. Oh, the life of a teenager!
Although I didn’t think it then, I now realize that my folks were on to something in terms of setting appropriate limits for how technology is used within families. Fast forward decades later…I’ve heard it all—2nd graders with their own cell phones, 8 year olds with facebook accounts, 12 year olds playing video games for 8 hours a day during the summer, even families taking road trips with 2 different movies playing and 3 different hand held devices being used at the same time! This past weekend, Maranda highlighted many of the ways that technology can be helpful for families—to stay connected and informed and to increase learning and growth.
Fourth graders at Meadowlawn Elementary School in Kentwood get an interactive social studies lesson each day. Maranda stopped by their class to check it out.
If you’re reading this, chances are pretty good that you were made aware of this blog by Facebook. It’s become standard language to most—“I saw that on Facebook.”, or “Her status said her surgery went well”, even “They had their baby–I saw the pictures on Facebook”.
