Tech Trouble: FaKebook

By its nature, technology is a short-cut.  That’s why we love it.  It takes any number of tasks that once were laborious and makes them quick and easy.  But, much like fast-food, it’s convenient and tasty, but a fast-food-only diet robs you of the more valuable things in life. 

To me this issue becomes one of trust.  Will I trust what I read online because it’s easy to find?  For example, Steiner says, “Teens tell me about the hidden time they spend cultivating their identities on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or school e-mail groups….It is tedious and time-consuming work and, they say half-joking, it presents ethical dilemmas about truth in packaging: do you tinker with truth…or brag about a party adventure that you weren’t really in on, or Photoshop your image?”

My Reaction:

I know someone whose daughter told everyone online she was pregnant.  That gossip got around to me via a neighbor.  It was just a joke, but we didn’t know that until much later.  Translate this outside of social media: Googling a question or going to ask.com is so easy.  Should I trust what they say?

I wonder: what will it be like for my daughters?  When my oldest starts using the web (which she does not yet), will she trust a website over my opinion, or Wikipedia over her Bible? 

Or are teens today more perceptive than we all think?  Maybe they aren’t obsessed with technology 24/7 and actually know what to use the Net for and what not to.  I don’t know.  What do you think?

Questions:

Do you or friends spend a lot of developing your online profiles?

What would happen if you didn’t keep up your profile?

Does social media tempt you to lie about yourself or others?

Tech Trouble: Talking or Teching

“I think [tech has] taken away, like, this generation’s ability to socialize like normal human beings.’” 

-a teen

Steiner’s research found many teens opting for communicating through text because “’it’s just too awkward for them to do it face-to-face.’”  Those teens say texting is easier and better because you can think about what to write and you don’t have to see the other person’s reaction.  However, Steiner, points out that, “Learning how to communicate is one of life’s greatest challenges and gifts.  The capacity to know and communicate what you are thinking and feeling, when someone else has their different thoughts and feelings and you both are upset, is a core life skill.”  What is missing from ‘teching’ is “the ability to see the impact of what you are saying on the other person, to listen to what the other person is feeling without losing touch with yourself, and to be able to figure out together how to move forward.”

Reaction:

Avoiding face-to-face contact is not that new.  Teens in my day often wrote notes when they had to say something tough.  Still, I think writing is different from ‘teching’ or texting.  You naturally take more time to compose your thoughts, which gives you more time to consider the impact your words could have.  When texting, I often write ‘too’ much because I want to make sure it’s received the way I mean. 

Recently, I’ve heard of people who have made commitments to themselves to never text concerning an emotional subject.  I know one dating couple that made a decision to stop texting and actually talk when they were upset or needed to work through something.  They didn’t give up texting; they just gave it some parameters.

Questions:

Is the opening quote by the teen true?

Do you feel teens are less good at communicating in person because of the prevalence of texting?

Have you or anyone you know made healthy parameters around texting for the sake of their friendship/relationship?

Loving UPward

Love is not just the domain of chick flicks and cheesy pop songs.  Love is also the domain of the greatest literature and art in the history of mankind.  Even God, when trying to explain the intensity of the passion between the Messiah and His people, compared them to the passion between a bride and a groom.

This is because one of the most dangerous, exciting, and satisfying journeys of life is the adventure of finding and learning to love one person, and love them well.

One contemporary author who writes a great deal about love is Debra K. Fileta.  She is a regular relationship columnist for Relevant Magazine.  Read her article: Here's How to Find True Love



I'd like to get some dialogue running about Fileta's three concepts of dating inward, outward, and upward.

After reading about dating upward in her article, here are some questions I think that are worth exploring:

How does a normal teen actually do this?
What does it practically mean to allow God's "definition of love to permeate your relationships"?
How will dating look differently if God is involved?

Loving INward

Love is not just the domain of chick flicks and cheesy pop songs.  Love is also the domain of the greatest literature and art in the history of mankind.  Even God, when trying to explain the intensity of the passion between the Messiah and His people, compared them to the passion between a bride and a groom.

This is because one of the most dangerous, exciting, and satisfying journeys of life is the adventure of finding and learning to love one person, and love them well.

One contemporary author who writes a great deal about love is Debra K. Fileta.  She is a regular relationship columnist for Relevant Magazine.  Read her article: Here's How to Find True Love


I'd like to get some dialogue running about Fileta's three concepts of dating inward, outward, and upward.

After reading about dating inward in her article, here are some questions I think that are worth exploring:

What in the world does it mean to "get to know yourself"?

Why is dating inward important to a relationship?

Loving Outward

Love is not just the domain of chick flicks and cheesy pop songs.  Love is also the domain of the greatest literature and art in the history of mankind.  Even God, when trying to explain the intensity of the passion between the Messiah and His people, compared them to the passion between a bride and a groom.

This is because one of the most dangerous, exciting, and satisfying journeys of life is the adventure of finding and learning to love one person, and love them well.

One contemporary author who writes a great deal about love is Debra K. Fileta.  She is a regular relationship columnist for Relevant Magazine.  Read her article: Here's How to Find True Love



I'd like to get some dialogue running about Fileta's three concepts of dating inward, outward, and upward.

After reading about dating outward in her article, here are some questions I think that are worth exploring:

Why is this so scary?
When is a good time to start?

How will dating outward look differently if you're a follower of Jesus?  What do you think Fileta means by saying, "It is a give-and-take that must never desperately give too much or fearfully give too little"?

Rapaccini's Daughter audio tracks

Here are audio versions of "Rapaccini's Daughter" for those of you in my English class.  You can listen to them here or download them (click on the down-pointed arrow).  They are divided by page number, though, if a page ends in the middle of a paragraph, I read through to the end of it on the next page.  The next page audio then begins with the first full paragraph.

PLEASE NOTE! The tracks (for some reason) are not in order below.  Make sure to click on the pages you want.