I’m lying in bed blogging – something I have never done before. Tonight, I was watching my social media networks and where people usually chat about their days and share personal news, I saw more mean-spirited messages than I ever have.
Maybe it’s because this is the first election I have watched unfold online.
Maybe it’s because people feel more comfortable being nasty to one another when there is a screen separating them from their audience.
It saddens me because before I post on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, I think – will this offend so-and-so who just lost her mother? Will this make so-and-so roll her eyes because it seems like a trite comment to make? Will this convey a message aligned with who I am and what I want people to know about me? People that I believe usually ask themselves similar questions didn’t seem to be asking them tonight.
I’m not easily offended, but I was offended this evening. I guess more than that, I was saddened.
I want my boys to understand a few things about the world we live in:
Your actions speak louder than any statement you’ll make.
Things said out of haste often hurt people. Think before you speak.
We live in a country where we have the right to vote. There are people in this world who don’t have a say in the way their country is run, so treasure the right you have.
Like you learned in kindergarten, someone will win and someone will not. With such a close Presidential race this year, it means there were two great candidates who were liked equally by each party. You probably didn’t like them both equally, but they are both doing what they think is best for our country.
We are supposed to be teaching our children how to behave when they grow up, but what I saw tonight was something I never want my boys to learn, or be witness to.
Tomorrow morning when they wake up, we will talk about the election and who won. We will discuss how to treat people who voted a different way then they did (they had school elections this week). I will tell my boys that every person in their class had a right to vote for whomever they wanted to, and that the outcome may be what they wanted or something they didn’t want, but we will respect one another and our differing opinions because that what makes us Americans.
Our house was divided for this election – but we are respectful and peaceful to one another. I wish people in my social media networks felt the same way.
I understand that our opinions may differ. I also understand that everyone – EVERYONE – has the right to post their opinions on their social networks. My disappointment lies within the people who seem to pick fights or intrude on other’s polite posts with their impolite comments. I will delete negative comments left here, as this is a safe place for my children to visit. Also, these thoughts are mine. Left on my blog, and posted so that I could get these thoughts out of my head and onto “paper.”
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