Hello, everyone! I hope you all have been doing well, I had been busy with school this semester, I was taking classes five days a week. I’m still trying to leave the state for college and this time around nothing is going to stop me.
Anyways, I recently watched a documentary on PBS titled, “Growing Up Online”. This documentary showed how young men and women in America are growing up through the internet; including are young Muslim brothers and sisters. The documentary brought valid points showing how young men and women can talk to people across the world, via Youtube or webcam, but cannot talk to their own parents about their everyday problems. Another valid point was that after school hangouts are being replaced with online web “hangouts” such as Myspace, Muslim Space and Facebook.
I do not believe that any of these online “hangouts” are truly bad, but they should not replace the overall social interaction between people. What kind of society have we become when school-aged children cannot come home and talk to their parents? What makes a child more trusting of a stranger then their own family? Is the family to blame or the society in which that child grows up in? What does this do to the psychological growth of our young men and women. When did the internet replace the teacher, friend and counselor? I have discontent for people who are more comfortable talking and looking at a computer screen then an actual person.
Dating sites are another factor for young men and women. Muslim dating sites such as Muslim Marriage and Salaam Love offer a way for Muslim brothers and sisters to meet online and in person, then hopefully, one day become married. I don’t really agree with this way of communication or way of marriage, but if two people are truly happy with each other then I have nothing against them. It seems the old or traditional ways of meeting a person are slowly fading away.
I am not sure that the information age we are living in is the “best” age and I have to wonder if too much information is good information for a person; especially for a young, developing mind. We rely on our computers and internet to make our lives easier, but everything, whether good or bad comes with a price and in the future I believe that we will reap the negative repercussions of our technology.
Salaam
~Almira~