If I Ran The Zoo

The Mount Vernon High School debate team debated about the positive and negative effects of social media May 15. Also on stage were Jason Miller, publisher of the Concrete Herald, Ron Judd, executive editor of Cascadia Daily News, Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times and my editor, Ken Stern. The evening, “The Future of Local Journalism: Is It Important to Our Democracy?” was organized by the League of Women Voters of Skagit County.

This is a particularly interesting subject matter because the students on both sides made very strong arguments, pro and con. Needless to say, social media opens up literally a world of information that can be accessed 24/7.

Obviously social media outreach can be very positive and very dangerous. Parents have no idea what their children are absorbing and sharing and this is starting to affect much younger kids who are getting more media savvy at an earlier age.

Very often social media sites are preaching to the choir, telling their readers what they want to hear. If Fox News can willfully make stuff up, that is only the tip of a very slippery iceberg. Facebook, email, texting, phone calls – there are so many modern-day ways to reach out to many people without any controls.

For parents of young children, this is a real challenge. You are watching TV or reading or texting and your kids are in another room doing who knows what. Or they are sitting at the same dinner table with you at home or in a restaurant and there is very little conversation going on as everyone is connecting elsewhere on their cellphones. I see this happening in restaurants all the time.

I strongly urge parents to curtail this kind of behavior. Close the laptop, put the cellphone away, look each other in the eye and have a real conversation about how your day is going, what’s on your mind, what do you think of this or that, what are your plans for the next few days and the future.

Oh, yikes, considering I’ve been directing TV shows for many years going back to an episode of “MASH,” it can also be a healthy thing to watch news and programs together that are not only entertaining but can also widely broaden your perspectives about what’s happening in the world.

All together now, all together now, let’s not let our kids spend too much being absorbed in their laptops and cellphones. Let’s appreciate how much information is available in our pockets and desktops without getting too carried away from real contact with family and friends.