Think, Wonder, Answer

20.10.20 – Caitlin

Hey, Huston watchers so you are probably wondering what’s new today, well I have something different and something important that is needing to be addressed. I am Caitlin, and I am using my platform to reflect the dignity we can create and also take from one another. When making these blogs I spread positivity whilst others use it for online hate. Online hate is when you attack or use pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity or nationality. So, I wanted to let you know that before you read on, this blog is serious and quick so keep up, p.s. this is not a sponsorship. Let’s get into it!

HOW CAN YOUNG PEOPLE ENSURE THAT THEIR ONLINE BEHAVIOUR REFLECTS THE DIGNITY THEY AND OTHERS HAVE BEEN CREATED WITH?

Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube and Tik Tok these are all different forms of social media. Over 75% of adults are a part of it although this comparison to 85% of teens shows the real power of our phones. I am not going to try and tell you this is wrong or you shouldn’t be doing this because in order for you to be reading this and in order for awareness to spread not just about keeping our dignity but about many other problems. Social media is such a prime and important space to be utilised.  But what is wrong with this high use of technology is cyberbullying which leads to depression, anxiety and so many more long-term impacts on our youth, on our future leaders the ones that WE will soon be relaying on. We need our presidents, governors and influencers to know what human dignity is and to understand the importance of spreading and respecting others dignity, not treating it like an old rag.

Our kids already have enough stress with tests and friendship problems at school. Parents should understand this, they’ve lived it as well. (They where once young). They know what the mean girls and boys are like (I mean we have also seen Mean Girls “YOU CAN’T SIT WITH US!”) yet they are telling us “trust me you can get through this”, “be the bigger person” and “you are home now it will be fine”. NO. When I am writing this it is aimed just as much at parents as it is a teens and children because parents need to understand times have CHANGED, it is DIFFERENT. Phones now rule our worlds and mean girls / boys tormenting kids at school follows them home. It sits and their hand with a ding, whistle and da dump. Ding – ‘ugly loser’, whistle – ‘lol what outfit was she wearing today 🤢@caitlinpatterson05’, da dump – ‘do we have to invite her she is so annoying? Omg whoops she is in the group chat 🤣’. Not to mention the fact that kids feel even more powerful behind their phones, they feel like a keyboard warrior and for some absurd reason they think that with one click it is gone, that no one will know. But the damage is done you cannot take the fold out of the already crushed paper and NewsFlash there is a digital footprint and screenshots are a real thing.

The sad truth is that 1 in 4 of Australians are experiencing this. So, take a moment and please think. You’re done? Good, now actually think. Ask yourself ‘have I typed anything like the comments above before?’ If no, well that’s good and I’ll get back to you. But if yes, than put yourself in their shows for one second stop thinking about yourself (now I know we are all fighting our own battles and you may be in a really bad place BUT that is NO REASON, I repeat NO REASON to make someone feel suicidal, you are putting them in a downwards spiral of feeling alone, having trouble with school work, trouble concentrating, loss of appetite, sleeping troubles and feeling afraid and unsafe.) That is not fair, and it is not right. You are not respecting their dignity and that makes you wrong. YOU ARE IN THE WRONG. Now back to the no. As I said that is good but have you ever witnessed this behavior occurring, if you have then you allowed this behavior and you are saying that “it’s fine”. You are actually saying “that is good” and “please continue because it doesn’t affect me”. Trust me your actions are saying enough.

What is Human Dignity?

So, what is Human Dignity? This is a catholic social teaching that we all have the right to keep an have respected. This, blog is not the first time you have heard about this between teachers and parents you should know what I’m typing about. Trust me I know. The catholic church has taught us for along time that we should protect this human attribute and that it is a fundamental right to life. But they have never brought it back to one simple thing, that at any age we have always know what Human Dignity is. I’m meaning from Kindy, Prep, Year 1 and on. They are practicing it without even realising - personally I believe that with age we have slowly allowed ourselves to unconsciously through all these values away. Which is besides the point. The point being that many people are treating each other like we are in the wild competing for our food. But we are not, there is more than enough room for all of us, and there is more than enough space for each of us to have our own dignity. Simply we are all worthy of respect because we are merely all human beings. Start treating people ethically, with respect, love, care, friendship, worthiness and any other positive word you can think of. So, now that I have finished I want you to type one of your favourite most positive words below in the comments.  Because when someone asks type one of your cyberbullying experiences that are asking you to focus on the negatives in your past, which is not the right way to address it. The way you need to think is positives. So you are going to write a positive word which your brain is now going to remember for your future.