In the Land of Jason

"Change your FB profile picture to a cartoon from your childhood. The goal? To not see a human face on FB until Monday, December 6th. Join the fight against child abuse. Copy & paste to your staus to invite your friends to do the same."

It was a really fun idea. Its really cool to see everyone post about their favorite cartoons. There were some surprises in there, cartoons I’d forgotten about. On the other side though, it also demonstrated how shallow folks are. When I saw the first post, I did some research and tried to find out its origins. I was hoping it was a national compaign for some kind of kids charity. Nope, appears to be strictly a popular idea that swept through Facebook. I wondered if I should change my avatar. I try not to give into the those insulting fads like “If you love Jesus…, If you don’t hate America…, If you care about your mother…, If you’re not a terrorist…., If you find foot fungus unpleasant… post on your status.” While I post all kinds of stupid and wasteful things on my status I try to keep “annoying” away from good causes. A ton of my friends changed their pics on Facebook this weekend. Here are some quick stats I trolled from my friends; 63 people out 351 changed their pics, 1 dealt with it being a possible connection to pedophilia and noted that Child Abuse awareness month is actually in April, 1 recognized the futility but also the fun of comics, and 1 recognized the value and posted a phone number if you need help.

So what does changing my profile pic to a cartoon picture do to stop child abuse?

1. It keeps child abuse in the forefront of people’s thoughts. It’s easy to not want to think about it.

2. It makes it socially acceptable to discuss.

3. Cartoons make talking about something uncomfortable palletable (who doesn’t want to change his profile picture to an awesome cartoon.

4.)Makes me feel better about a very real problem without obligating me to do anything difficult or sincere.

What it doesn’t do

1.) Pretty much anything of value.

2.) Stop abusers. No one needs to be told child abuse is bad.

3.) Offer help to those who are being abused or have been abused. Say someone was abused as a child, don’t you want to offer them avenues to help in this semi-anonymous way.

4.) Offer tools for those that have or are witnessing abuse to do anything about it. So if someone saw something abusive what do you do?

5.) Address the myths surrounding abuse (EG Myth #1 if you were abused you will be abusive towards your own children).

6.) Offer ways for people to become involved or volunteer.

7.) Offer solutions

We have tremendous power to influence one another. This was a great idea to raise awareness but it must be couple with useful tools. If you care about breast cancer awareness and screenings you will make sure your mother, aunts, and sisters get a mammogram, you don't wear a pink ribbon. If you care about being more ecologically minded, you will reuse not just put stickers on your car. If you care about soldiers you will write them when they are deployed and send care packages to their families not just post flags on your status. If you’re a Christian you’ll do more than just posting “Jesus is lord of my life. If you don’t post this then Jesus will deny you on judgement day”.

This kind of activity has been around for years on the web. It feels good to the poster but produces nothing and makes people very uncomfortable when we stumble across it. Do something don’t just post something.

Sex is great. God gave us sex. It was meant to be something intimate between two people. It produces great things like kids, deeper intimacy, and pleasure (though usually in the reverse order). In the wrong context or done alone it can get all weird and creepy. How do I say this politely?....I’m tired of all of the emotional self-pleasuring on Facebook. There is a proper context for this kind of thing. Folks don’t seem to understand that these kinds of posting are egotistical onanism; unproductive, awkward, and creepy.

So if you have every been abused I want you to know that I do care and want to offer you a way to get help. If you want to talk, call me. It'll be weird and it'll probably be uncomfortable but I really do want you get stronger and feel more accepted. Here are some resources that might be a good starting place. 

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1.800.799.SAFE (7233)

Information from the Human Society (they protect both kids and animals) on how to protect kids from abuse

211-if available in you area can give you resources to seek out help or report abuse

241-KIDS- you can report suspected abuse or neglect anonymously in the Cincinnati area. 

Jason