<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is always interesting to hear the sound bites that the news media gather in the graduation season. \u00a0Every person tabbed as a graduation speaker will put their spin on \u201cOh the places you will go\u201d, with some resorting to reading the whole tome of the same name written by the late \u00a0Dr. Seuss. \u00a0Advice given in the latest round of graduation speeches around the country varied widely in both tone and entertainment value. \u00a0Musician Little Steven Van Zandt pointed out that his job as an adviser was born from his ability to \u201cscrew up in everything I have done\u201d. \u00a0Comic actor Will Ferrell warbled a heartfelt \u201c<\/span>I will always love you\u201d <\/span><\/i>ala Whitney Houston to the graduating USC Trojans. \u00a0Oprah Humphrey diluted her own advice to \u201calways speak the truth\u201d by noting that in her case, she earned a lot of money doing so. \u00a0She then punctuated her remark by making the Johnny (Football) Manziel finger rubbing gesture meant to convey \u201cI am so successful I can rub it in your face.\u201d \u00a0My favorite quip for this year came from actress Helen Mirren. \u00a0\u00a0Mirren told the Tulane University commencement crowd that graduation speakers are always reminded to say something that will be remembered in forty years. \u00a0She reminded the grads that no matter what your station in life may be, \u201cNothing good can come out of tweeting at 3 A.M.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have never been asked to be a graduation speaker so naturally this made me think, \u201cWhat advice would I give to current grads that they might remember in forty years?\u201d \u00a0An idea immediately popped into my head and I realized that A) it would brand me as an old fuddy-duddy and B) it won\u2019t be followed: \u00a0\u201cPut away the electronic devices for 2.4 hours per day and see what happens.\u201d \u00a0I picked 2.4 hours because that represents only 10% of each day we spin around on the Earth\u2019s axis, leaving one 90% of the day to do whatever else one wishes to do. \u00a0I know that there is a good chunk of this 90% of the day that should be spent resting, but remember Mirren\u2019s comment about \u201ctweeting at 3 A.M.\u201d – \u2018sleeping\u2019 would not count toward that 2.4 hours away from the din of social media.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I do not want to sound holier-than-thou or flippant about the subject of social media. \u00a0I do not Tweet, Facebook, or (insert here: \u00a0\u00a0whatever the new social media rage of the minute that I am not yet familiar with) and still the world and my life goes on. \u00a0When people go on and on about the latest piece of \u201cnews\u201d (read: \u00a0gossip) they saw on Facebook, I tend to not listen. \u00a0For every \u201cHoly Cow!\u201d revelation, there are twenty mundane bits that one would not open a conversation with, yet some feel compelled to share with the world (ie: \u00a0\u201cMade a PB&J for lunch\u201d). \u00a0Whenever I hear that some famous (or infamous) person has a gazillion followers on Twitter, I think, \u201cThere are a gazillion people with too much time on their hands.\u201d \u00a0I would much rather wait a day after something happens and read a detailed account in a newspaper than hear the sound bites that tend to water down the facts and emphasize the sensationalized, headline grabbing parts of an event. \u00a0In the Twitterverse, this last paragraph would no doubt be compressed into, \u201cMust be a dinosaur, still reads newspapers! \u00a0LOL!!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When the topic of cyber bullying comes up at my job, some of my students are amazed when I tell them that I only use my cell phone when I am travelling but most of the time, it sits on my dresser at home gathering dust. \u00a0I was recently asked, \u201cWhat if someone said something bad about you, wouldn\u2019t you want to know about it?\u201d \u00a0My reply was, \u201cWhy would I care? \u00a0In my position it is a given that I will rub some people the wrong way (probably more than a few after four decades in the educational trenches). \u00a0If someone has a problem with me, it can usually be resolved face to face (or at least phone call to phone call or e-mail to e-mail). \u00a0If trashing me on social media by telling one side of the story is how they solve their problems, then I don\u2019t really care what they say about me.\u201d \u00a0Sadder still, these things get passed on at lightning speed and various bits and pieces grow a life of their own. \u00a0Like the old game of whispering something to one person and passing it down the line to see if the last person on line gets the original message, the stories become more distorted and mole hills turn into mountains. \u00a0The problems remain unresolved and those with perhaps only a passing interest in the original topic get to embellish the stories with little regard to things like \u2018facts\u2019. \u00a0Remember the old saying: \u00a0\u201cMany a good argument is ruined by some darn fool who knows the facts.\u201d \u00a0The same applies to a lot of things spread on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Of course, when I was in Junior High in the mid-1960s, we had to spread rumours with (gasp) pen and paper! \u00a0If one wanted to cut someone down, they started a \u2018slam-book\u2019. \u00a0Someone would write a comment about a person at the top of a sheet of paper. \u00a0The paper would be passed around class or study hall and accumulate more and more negative comments. \u00a0Naturally, none these slam-books ever contained a signature from the author(s) and they always seemed to end up in the hands of the target name at the top. \u00a0There were several young ladies in my eighth grade study hall who delighted in starting these campaigns and at the time, I thought, \u201cThis is so stupid\u201d and refused to contribute. \u00a0If one arrived with my name on it, I tore it up. \u00a0If the teacher intercepted it, there were consequences! \u00a0Yes, even fifty years ago, ganging up on someone in print was frowned upon and punishment followed discovery. \u00a0What has changed since then? \u00a0We can now do it the same thing with a larger audience contributing their anti-social media behavior at the speed of light. \u00a0When the message was delivered on paper, it gave the recipient the impression that someone (the person who started the slam-book) didn\u2019t like them. \u00a0The sheer volume of posts made possible by social media today give the recipient the impression that everyone doesn\u2019t like them. \u00a0What has not changed is the response we all must make to such narrow minded, hurtful behavior: \u00a0it will not be tolerated and at the least, one should not condone it by contributing to the melee.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In part 2 of Sound Advice, we will expand on the idea of cyberbullying and how the local authorities are handling the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A CORRECTION: \u00a0Wanting to fan the flames of marital accord, I must point out that I erroneously stated in a recent FTV (Celebrity Sightings Part 2 – 6-7-17) that my wife did not recognize Robert Plant at O\u2019Hare Airport. \u00a0My mistake – she DID recognize him and seeing a feature on him in Skyways Magazine confirmed that this was who she encountered. \u00a0My apologies to my lovely wife and for the record, she does like his work with Alison Krauss.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Top Piece Video – “There is no better end of the year song than\u00a0School’s Out<\/em> – Thank you. Alice Cooper!” \u00a0ker