I watched The View today and heard about Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers student who committed suicide after his roommate and the roommate's girlfriend posted videos of him on the internet. The videos were of Tyler having sex with another male student, but that's really beside the point as far as I'm concerned. It would be, in my mind, just as wrong if they had recorded him going to the bathroom or picking his nose. Or studying. Whatever he was doing in the privacy of his dorm room (and to my understanding he had asked his roommate for just that, privacy) was his business. Not his roommate's. Not yours. Not mine. My heart is broken for Tyler's family.
But my heart is sickened by people who do this kind of thing. Tyler's case is pretty extreme, but in my humble opinion, it's completely uncalled for to video someone without their knowing. No matter what they are doing. And I think it goes without saying that posting that video online is unacceptable. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but this kind of thing terrifies me. I don't want to have to worry about my kids being videoed while in the locker room someday. I don't want to find out there's a video of me singing Mr. Big songs in the shower (I'm the one who waaants to beee with youuuuu). Trust me, no one wants to see that.
I saw this commercial and was appalled. I can guarantee that I will never purchase this camera, and probably anything by Panasonic in my own little boycott. Their marketing campaign is based on this camera's ability to upload videos of people who don't know they are being recorded. How is this okay?
I know several people who check out and laugh at that Walmart site. The one where people post pictures of other people they saw while shopping there. I've been to Walmart once or twice and there are definitely some interesting people in that store. Out of curiosity I checked out the site. It made me sad. As I looked at the first couple of pictures, that's all I made it through, my only thought was that these people, albeit interesting, for sure, are just out shopping. Just because someone has purple hair and a ring threw her nose, sporting pippy-longstocking socks and a muffin top doesn't make it okay to post her picture without her permission. Call me a party-pooper.
I think what made me so mad at that particular commercial and the Walmart site, is what it says about our society. It seems to prove that it's become acceptable to post whatever you want, regardless of permission or even simple respect. But it's not okay! It's not!
Elizabeth Hasselbeck, in response to this story on The View, made a good point. She said ethics has not caught up with technology. Kids (that makes me sound so old!) don't always understand the repercussions of their actions online. And because we (those of us older than kids) didn't have these same issues growing up, it's more difficult for us to teach our children how to handle it. This is not an excuse. I'm viewing it as a wake up call. My kids are still young. We haven't entered the world wide web yet. But I'm determined, starting now and as they get older, to talk with them about the consequences their actions may have, especially when it comes to the internet. I don't understand technology. I can write for my blog and check my email and Facebook. That's about it. But what I do understand is that someone taking a video of me without my saying it's okay is an invasion of my privacy. And that one video posted online can destroy someone's life.
I think what happened to Tyler is deplorable. I don't know what else was going on in his life that may have contributed to his suicide, but I wish he had had the faith to see that, while it sucks right now, it will get better. But, at the very least, his death got my attention. I hope it got your, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment