<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Part one of this column began when I was ruminating about things that get passed along to graduates by various commencement speakers. \u00a0Somehow things kind of swerved into a discussion of \u00a0how bullying each other has changed since I was in junior high those many eons ago. \u00a0Being mean to each other with pencil and paper has segued into what we now call \u201ccyberbullying\u201d and one of the points I set out to make was my simplistic solution to the problem: \u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t look at what is being said on anti-social media and it won\u2019t bother you.\u201d \u00a0I suggested at the least, everyone should put away their electronic devices for 10% (2.4 hours) of each day and see what happens.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Note that I have never said, \u00a0\u201cusing all electronic media is bad.\u201d \u00a0I am writing this on a Chromebook and it will be held in cloud storage until it gets emailed to the paper or transferred to the our web page at www.woas-fm.org. \u00a0I was lucky enough to be finishing my Master\u2019s degree at NMU in 1979-80 when the Geography Department had the first \u201cwork station\u201d installed in our office at the same time that I was taking my first computer mapping course. \u00a0My office partner Mike and I got to practice some rudimentary computer skills (even some mild hacking before it was even called hacking – another story for another day) so I never felt like I was over my head when technology started to invade my life. \u00a0I use computers and many labor saving applications on the job on a daily basis and have done so with increasing frequency since 1990 when I bought my first home computer. \u00a0\u00a0Most of the \u201cpaper work\u201d we do on the job these days can only be done electronically. \u00a0What I have said, however, is anything that demands so much of our time and attention is making us miss a lot of good things in life. \u00a0When that time and attention helps spread anti-social media type behavior, it has a negative impact on all of us, not just the intended victims of cyberbullying. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the cult classic movie <\/span>Roadhouse<\/span><\/i>, Patrick Swayze\u2019s head bouncer\/cooler character Dalton instructs his padawan bouncers, \u201cBe nice until I tell you it is time to not be nice.\u201d \u00a0Even the president played by Jack Nicholson in another cult classic movie <\/span>Mars Attacks!<\/span><\/i> pleads, \u201cCan\u2019t we all just get along?\u201d right before he gets disintegrated. \u00a0When we would become particularly annoyed about the behavior of some members of our student body, former OASD teacher Doug Filppula used to remind us, \u201cHey, they are kids and they are behaving the same way we did\u201d which I have tried to apply to my dealings with adults in training (the age range of which is much larger than the much too narrow category we call \u201cteenagers\u201d). \u00a0Yes, we do all need to be nicer to each other! \u00a0Unfortunately, the level of anti-social media that we are bombarded with 24\/7\/365 numbs our sense of right and wrong. \u00a0This in turn is leading us down a path where we can lash out at 3 A.M. with terse sound bites and post them before the common sense part of our brain says, \u201cWait! \u00a0What will the consequences of this be?\u201d \u00a0Advice columnists often tell angry readers to write a nasty letter to someone who has offended them, and then throw it away. \u00a0In the digital age, this is hard to do once one punches \u201csend\u201d and it is just about impossible to delete it once it hits cyberspace.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our students were recently reminded that there are laws that govern what is appropriate to send into cyberspace. \u00a0A recent rash of inappropriate texting at several Upper Peninsula school districts prompted local prosecutors to dispatch law enforcement officers to the schools in lieu of the mass prosecution of individuals at these affected schools. \u00a0County community service officer Bill Witt emphasized the things that constitute criminal use of social media. \u00a0One of the sure consequences is the destruction of any device used for anti-social media. \u00a0He also wanted the assembled students to be aware that this was their one and only warning: \u00a0from this point on, any anti-social media behavior will not be ignored and \u201cgee, I didn\u2019t know that I couldn\u2019t do that\u201d will not be an acceptable excuse. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the event this bit of tough love doesn\u2019t reach everyone, someone will send the wrong message and be nailed to the wall (legally speaking). \u00a0A general cry of alarm will go off \u00a0in the Twitterverse with an undertone of \u201cfree speech is being violated\u201d. \u00a0Anti-social media behavior isn\u2019t \u201cfree speech\u201d it is \u201chate speech\u201d and it won\u2019t be tolerated or condoned. \u00a0Still, kids (and some politicians these days) will continue to be mean to each other. \u00a0If they can\u2019t text negative things about each other, they may go back to writing it and they certainly will continue to say it (either behind the victim’s back or (if they have no social filter) to their face). \u00a0In cases like this, I pass along the same sound advice my father gave me in my formative years when I let these kinds of things bother me: \u00a0\u201cIgnorant people say ignorant things and the best way to not give them what they want is to ignore them\u201d. \u00a0Ignore the ignorant? \u00a0Great advice. \u00a0I have already told you how I do this in our digital age. \u00a0If you don\u2019t believe it works, try it for 2.4 of your waking hours and see if makes you a happier, more productive human being! \u00a0I know it works for me.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As for the original seed that started both branches of this article, 2017 OASD graduation speaker Ben Mayer echoed many of my thoughts in his address so I figured I could circle back to the original intent this column\u2019s Part One (words of wisdom from this year\u2019s crop of graduation speakers) and quote some of his comments. \u00a0Mayer mentioned that he probably says \u2018hi\u2019 to nearly a hundred kids a day and \u201cEvery person whose day I might make a little bit better comes directly from that small interaction I had that day\u201d. \u00a0The interaction he is speaking about was having a popular upper class athlete stop and ask him how football was going for him on the JV team. \u00a0A simple conversation like this has the power to transform a person\u2019s day and every transformative day leads to a better future. \u00a0Concerning the trend of using Google more than their noodle to figure things out, Mayer stated, \u201cThe internet should give you access to information that you can use to enhance intelligence; \u00a0don\u2019t let the internet replace your intelligence.\u201d \u00a0Referencing how things have changed in Ontonagon since he graduated, he emphasized that \u201cChange is OK. \u00a0Some people would look at the change as bad but a lot of things are really great around here. \u00a0I can honestly say I\u2019ve never felt like I was making a bigger difference. \u00a0Our community, despite its hardships, is a great place to work and be very day. \u00a0Change is inevitable. \u00a0If you want something to be unhappy about, you will find it.\u201d \u00a0He closed his speech by telling the students,\u201dYou have the power to make yourself happy. \u00a0Your life will be great if you want it to be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Congratulations to both the graduates of 2017 and to the graduation speakers whose messages will (hopefully) resonate with them for the next forty years. \u00a0One thing I can state with certainty: \u00a0in this digital age, these messages \u00a0may still be floating around cyberspace forty years from now. \u00a0At the speed of light, this means any of these messages, if broadcast, will be arriving at <\/span>the newly discovered Trappist-1 group of planets forty years from now. \u00a0These planets exist in the \u201cGoldilocks Zone\u201d (meaning they could have similar conditions to planet Earth (just right!) and therefore could potentially allow for Earth-like life forms to exist there) in the Aquarius system just about 235 trillion miles from our own. \u00a0All seven planets are thought to be terrestrial planets like ours and if any intelligent life forms exist there, I wonder what they will make of these pearls of wisdom conferred on the graduates of 2017? \u00a0I hope at least they listen to the \u201cNothing good can come from Tweeting at 3 a.m.\u201d part of Helen Mirren’s speech.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Top Piece Video: \u00a0Will our\u00a0Message in a Bottle<\/em> arrive minus the bottle 40 years from how?