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This Mom Explains How Memes And Social Media Can Turn Young Boys Into Racists
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This Mom Explains How Memes And Social Media Can Turn Young Boys Into Racists

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Social media and its effects on teenagers have been on the radar for quite some time now. Older generations have been constantly looking for new ways to blame the Internet culture whenever they see a new atrocity committed by young people. Recently, video games were subjected to scrutiny for allegedly causing violence in society. While many laughed at this belief system, the discussions on how the uses of social media affect us all continues.

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Recently, writer Joanna Schroeder started yet another topic questioning the effects of social media. She took to Twitter to share something alarming she noticed coming from her sons’ Internet activity. The concerned mother says that alt-right, racism, and white supremacy groups are actively grooming young boys to join them using vlogs and memes. Is it just another baby boomer incapable of understanding the internet culture or does she have a point? Read her explanation below.

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Schroeder’s arguments were compelling enough for many other parents and some teenagers too, as a lot of them sided with her opinion. However, some stepped forward to voice their disagreement. Which side are you on? Are we being groomined for systematic racism or is it jsut another fad? Tell us your opinion in the comments.

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Many people sided with Schroeder’s opinion

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However, not everyone agreed with with her point of view

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Andželika

Andželika

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Andželika

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CbusResident
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jonathan Haidt, a progressive liberal Jewish academic with a Ph.D in Pscyhology, has critiqued the concept of people being 'triggered' and having trigger warnings. He said it's not taken seriously by the psychologists with the deepest expertise in addressing trauma. I say this all as a socially liberal, straight ally who has marched in Pride parades, dislikes the POTUS and votes Democratic: there really is a problem of speech intolerance among some on the far left. 'Get your hate speech off of this campus!' Getting physically violent over Ben Shapiro saying ideas. Literally throwing a milkshake at a GOP Member of Congress (https://bit.ly/2z0Eovf). That's why the right are calling them snowflakes, b/c some on the left really are unwilling to even be in the presence of ideas they disagree with. Anyone on the left or center left needs to call it out and rid the left of it, marginalize it, not tolerate their intolerance.

Marnie
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Regarding Ben Shapiro, I had heard that had been banned from speaking at some campus due to some protests, and I heard that people on the right were talking about liberal colleges, etc. I just assumed that these speakers were really, really hateful people like KKK members. So, my son showed me a speech by Ben Shapiro at a campus. He said one controversial thing, and the college ended his speech, shut him down. I was dumbfounded. I don't agree with pretty much anything the guy says, but he wasn't saying anything that should cause that reaction. I think he said many people who are poor are poor due to bad decisions. I think it is largely wrong or at least far more complicated than that, but I wanted to hear his points. No need to kick him out. If nothing else, he challenges a person to think how to defend their own view, which is a very good mental exercise. (FYI, I'm quite progressive, as is my son. Sanders and Jill Stein voters.)

Load More Replies...
RaroaRaroa
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hear the currently deceased 8chan and the still going 4chan are a haven for saying any b******t you like and being encouraged in it. Never been on those, but 9gag is bad enough. The racism and mysogyny is shocking and very few people ever get criticised for it. I'm not a signed up user to it, so am not in a position to do so and feel I would be wasting my breath if I did. Maybe if all the reasonable people on Bored Panda bombarded the users of other sites with our common sense, we might get somewhere. Remove the approval, but don't replace it with shame. Replace it with reason.

Random Panda
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

9gag has gone really down the drain. It used to be funny in the beginning, but I stopped visiting after a while, because it started becoming quite hostile to women. I hadn't seen the site in a few years and when I visited out of curiosity a few weeks ago...yikes. There's nothing funny about the rampant misogyny and racism going on there.

Load More Replies...
Kirk
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can see that this woman is trying to raise awareness of a real issue. I agree but do not fully agree, because not all memes are racist or sexist, so it is not like they are the bane of human existence. Also I do not see how "triggered" automatically means white supremesist when it is clearly a slang word that means annnoyed.

Daria B
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She doesn't accuse the whole meme culture. In fact, she's inviting other parents to help their kids filter out the harmful ones amongst memes. Because, whether we like it or not, memes are used as a tool for brainwashing as well, since they're short, humorous easy to understand, relatable, and easy to share. Sure, tons of memes out there are harmless, even cute sometimes, but as much are also subtly offensive, while another ton is straightforward offensive. The important part is to learn to differentiate between various kinds of contents, and that's exactly the point of this mother's analogy.

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
CbusResident
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jonathan Haidt, a progressive liberal Jewish academic with a Ph.D in Pscyhology, has critiqued the concept of people being 'triggered' and having trigger warnings. He said it's not taken seriously by the psychologists with the deepest expertise in addressing trauma. I say this all as a socially liberal, straight ally who has marched in Pride parades, dislikes the POTUS and votes Democratic: there really is a problem of speech intolerance among some on the far left. 'Get your hate speech off of this campus!' Getting physically violent over Ben Shapiro saying ideas. Literally throwing a milkshake at a GOP Member of Congress (https://bit.ly/2z0Eovf). That's why the right are calling them snowflakes, b/c some on the left really are unwilling to even be in the presence of ideas they disagree with. Anyone on the left or center left needs to call it out and rid the left of it, marginalize it, not tolerate their intolerance.

Marnie
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Regarding Ben Shapiro, I had heard that had been banned from speaking at some campus due to some protests, and I heard that people on the right were talking about liberal colleges, etc. I just assumed that these speakers were really, really hateful people like KKK members. So, my son showed me a speech by Ben Shapiro at a campus. He said one controversial thing, and the college ended his speech, shut him down. I was dumbfounded. I don't agree with pretty much anything the guy says, but he wasn't saying anything that should cause that reaction. I think he said many people who are poor are poor due to bad decisions. I think it is largely wrong or at least far more complicated than that, but I wanted to hear his points. No need to kick him out. If nothing else, he challenges a person to think how to defend their own view, which is a very good mental exercise. (FYI, I'm quite progressive, as is my son. Sanders and Jill Stein voters.)

Load More Replies...
RaroaRaroa
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hear the currently deceased 8chan and the still going 4chan are a haven for saying any b******t you like and being encouraged in it. Never been on those, but 9gag is bad enough. The racism and mysogyny is shocking and very few people ever get criticised for it. I'm not a signed up user to it, so am not in a position to do so and feel I would be wasting my breath if I did. Maybe if all the reasonable people on Bored Panda bombarded the users of other sites with our common sense, we might get somewhere. Remove the approval, but don't replace it with shame. Replace it with reason.

Random Panda
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

9gag has gone really down the drain. It used to be funny in the beginning, but I stopped visiting after a while, because it started becoming quite hostile to women. I hadn't seen the site in a few years and when I visited out of curiosity a few weeks ago...yikes. There's nothing funny about the rampant misogyny and racism going on there.

Load More Replies...
Kirk
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can see that this woman is trying to raise awareness of a real issue. I agree but do not fully agree, because not all memes are racist or sexist, so it is not like they are the bane of human existence. Also I do not see how "triggered" automatically means white supremesist when it is clearly a slang word that means annnoyed.

Daria B
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She doesn't accuse the whole meme culture. In fact, she's inviting other parents to help their kids filter out the harmful ones amongst memes. Because, whether we like it or not, memes are used as a tool for brainwashing as well, since they're short, humorous easy to understand, relatable, and easy to share. Sure, tons of memes out there are harmless, even cute sometimes, but as much are also subtly offensive, while another ton is straightforward offensive. The important part is to learn to differentiate between various kinds of contents, and that's exactly the point of this mother's analogy.

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
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