Happy Friday Everyone!!
If you haven't noticed, we are living in a world where social media provides an avenue for anyone who wants to create, report, or share their opinions and/or views. One very obvious result of being able to do this is a constant state of conflict and the claim of "I'm offended". The "I'm offended" culture is real and it is everywhere. The concern I have with the "I'm offended" culture is we are losing our ability to compromise. We are losing our ability to listen to opposition. We are losing our ability to reason with others. The other concern I have in today's "I'm offended" culture is now when someone is offended something has to be changed to try and make it less offensive. Do I blame social media for this "I'm offended" culture? ABSOLUTELY!!, but not completely. I am to blame as well. As an educator and dad, I am not sure I have done enough to teach my kids about compromise or how to communicate with others of opposing views. Maybe even more important is teaching them how to react when they are offended. Being offended is a byproduct of freedom and when they get offended, it doesn't mean that someone else has to change. We must refuse to give into the "I'm offended so you have to change" mentality. We must continue to remind ourselves and teach our kids to listen to opposition, look for common ground, and how to handle being offended. We can do this when we step away from the social media platforms of divisiveness.
Happy Friday!!