social media

Ignorance or Negligence

I saw this disturbing article yesterday about a mom that has been accused of exploiting her three-year-old daughter on Tik Tok. The article featured other Tik Tok videos of women who were digging into the rabbit hole of her account. They were exposing the horrific comments that GROWN MEN were leaving on her videos, such as “do another bath video with less bathing suit” and other disgusting posts.

Others on social media say that the mom who is posting these videos of her daughter is definitely aware and sees these comments, yet still continues to post her to their millions of followers. There are videos including her in a bathing suit having bath time, as well as her trying to put a tampon in??? She is clothed but even so, how on earth is that necessary and why would you post that knowing there are sickening people on the internet, let alone on your page?!

I can understand that kids are kids and taking videos of them being adorable and loving is 100% normal; it makes sense to want to save these memories for yourself and to show them later! Also, wanting to share these memories with friends/family is normal and they all usually appreciate it! However, the random people on the internet who don’t know you or your child, they don’t need to see into your every day life. Most people can agree that it is absolutely NEVER okay to sexualize a child and this is a problem with “society,” but unfortunately this is the reality, and we have to live in the world as it is.

Child sex trafficking is happening in every U.S. State, as well as everywhere around the globe. I understand that ignorance can be bliss, but when it is YOUR CHILD who is involved, it is your duty as a parent to keep them safe! If you are aware of the risk, and you see 400,000 creepy men saving your toddlers videos, at what point does ignorance turn into negligence? Is the money and attention earned from posting her really worth risking her safety?

Speaking of monetization, the article I read also briefly discussed how there’s a lot of grey area with child labor laws and social media. Of course again, you assume or hope that a lot of the videos posted are honest moments that were caught on camera, but when you’re forcing your kids to do/say certain things for the camera while you’re being paid for the views, is that breaking a law?

Technically no, because they aren’t protected by any child labor laws… but that doesn’t mean that will last forever. Another thought I had was what if those children turn 18 and then decide they want to sue their parents for all the money they made off of them? Could they do that? Children can’t make certain decisions and they aren’t considered an “adult” until 18, so could they sue for exploitation?

It’s impossible to know what the future holds; I’d like to believe that most people are doing their best with the information and resources they have, but when I see innocent children being put in harms way it sometimes makes it harder to believe that. I hope to be a parent one day, and although it is impossible to protect them from everything, there are still reasonable, common sense steps that can, and should be taken. Likes, follows, attention, money… none of that is worth a child’s safety. #SaveOurChildren #RISEUPGETLOUD

SOURCES: https://www.dailydot.com/irl/wren-eleanor-exploitation-tiktok/ https://www.unicefusa.org/child-trafficking-us

Check out these organizations working hard to Save Our Children:

Our Rescue: https://www.ourrescue.org/ Thorn: https://www.thorn.org/ CAST: https://www.castla.org/

Another day, Another post

Today was my second Wednesday off after starting my new schedule! I got breakfast with a good friend for her birthday this morning, and once I was home I did some dishes and laundry. I made sure to get my groceries yesterday after work instead of today, so I had the whole day free to do whatever!

I listened to a few podcasts, went on a walk, and even was able to join Gabrielle Bernstein’s zoom call where she recorded an episode of “Dear Gabby!” I honestly almost chickened out, but I was so glad I didn’t! There were about 80 participants in the meeting, all of us could chat and we remained muted unless we were picked to ask her a question!

It was nice listening to other people and remembering that we are all truly so similar; imagine what we could accomplish if we’d just take the time to listen and have real conversations with others. I honestly even cried listening to her speak and answer questions, and again it was just happy tears feeling like I was where I was supposed to be!

Over the weekend I picked up a couple of Gabby’s books, one of which my mom was nice enough to get for me as an early birthday gift! We had gone out for breakfast together and went to the bookstore afterwards, and that’s where I picked up “Judgement Detox,” and then I found “Happy Days.” I was originally looking for “Happy Days,” so when I finally found it my mom said that would be my gift from her and my dad for my birthday, and I am so grateful!

I haven’t started them yet, as I am already currently reading two books, but I am ready to dedicate time to reading more again so I can move onto her books next! I have been feeling good lately and plan to keep it that way; I had to mute some accounts on instagram just to escape from some of the negativity and drama, and honestly I am proud of myself for setting that boundary.

For a while now I haven’t followed any news or radio shows, because I am tired of consuming tragedy after tragedy and feeling like everything I see is horrible. I’d rather feed my brain with positivity, growth, and happiness. I prefer to not be ignorant to the current events, but I can also seek information out on my own and try to find unbiased sources, rather than believing everything that people share on social media.

Social media definitely has major impacts on mental health (just google it), which is why I do my best to keep everything on my page positive and I like/save positive posts to help the algorithm share more of those things to my feed. We choose what we consume on a daily basis, make sure you pay attention to what you feed your brain.

Realization

After stepping back and deleting platforms, I am falling out of my addiction to social media. I have felt overall more happy and less anxious, but I’m also now seeing how terrible social media can be for people/mental health. The constant comparison to others, posting to seek validation from people who don’t really care, focusing so much on professional photos and angles to appear in a certain way… where did our priorities go?

Why do we feel the need to share photos of our dinners, our families, our vacations, etc. with random people from high school/college/previous jobs who we wouldn’t even invite out to coffee? Why do we care so much about posting our personal lives on the internet to be on there forever? Is this actually fun, or are their issues that we have within ourselves that need to be addressed?

Technically, if we are truly happy with our life, we would not feel the need to share our accomplishments or fun moments with anyone and everyone who will hear about it. It may be fun to hear from some old friends who are happy for you, but at the same time, what are you truly seeking? And why can’t you find that happiness within yourself and your current life? Those are the questions we should be seeking.

On the flip side, we have also seen the bad sides of social media that hurt our futures. We have seen what happens when people go back and dig up old posts/pictures back to the surface, and sometimes things get taken out of context. Anyone can pull up anything that was posted years ago and get someone “cancelled.” Sometimes words or pictures can be perceived in a different way than what was intended (especially now when everyone thinks the world should tip-toe around them), but that’s the risk you take when you post.

I have this feeling that as the world of cyber-bullying continues to grow, kids are going to start using each other’s parents’ posts as ways to bully each other. Can you imagine having to sit down with your child and talk to them about bullying and they look at you and say “my friend Billy said that he has pictures from your only fans.” LOL, I mean it may seem far fetched due to “age content,” but look how many kids sign up for 13+ facebook at 11, or play video games meant for 17 and older!

If parents aren’t paying attention, or aren’t really tech savvy themselves, children can really do whatever they want! I had friends in middle school on MySpace/Facebook behind their parents’ backs and were able to keep it secret for months, if not years! Now just imagine these kids pulling up each other’s parents’ instagrams/youtube/tiktoks to embarrass each other… are you going to be okay with them looking at your previous posts and videos? Are you thinking about how your kids are going to perceive your posts later on?

What you post on the internet is there to stay forever; filters are easy to remove, content is easy to manipulate, and there are also a lot of smart, evil people who are great at hacking and sharing information that you never thought would be “public.” Just keep in mind what you’re posting, and honestly why you’re posting it! This is not only for yourself, but for your children and their futures.

Social media break

I’ve decided to take some time away from Facebook and Twitter, as the constant hatred is disheartening to watch and absorb, and I refuse to become bitter like most the people I see on the internet. I have control over what I take in and what I do with my time, and lately I’ve been feeling like social media has been a waste of time.

I love the idea of keeping in touch with old friends and distant family, but when people are constantly putting down others for having different opinions or views it makes you wonder if it’s really worth it. I’ve found myself “muting” and “unfollowing” many people’s feeds because the never ending negativity is becoming too much.

I appreciate productive, respectful conversations and I feel that we as humans can accomplish so much more when we listen to each other and try to learn from one another, rather than listening to speak and in hopes to “win” the conversation or argument. It just seems lately that has been hard to find in my social media bubbles.

I want to take this time to look inward and work on myself, as everyone can make improvements.