Exercise 4.1, Let's go talk with Dave!!!

Hi again friends! Today, I am going to let you in on a secret conversation I had with a man named Dave. Dave is one of friends who read my latest research about my topic, and he had a few questions. Considering that I haven't allowed anyone else to read my essay yet, I thought allowing you to read this conversation would give you a little peek into what my essay is all about. I hope you Enjoy!

Dave: "Why? Where? Who? When? What?"
Me:  "I chose the topic of social media because I felt convicted with how often I am starring at a computer screen each day. I easily get lost in all the statuses, tweets, and posts my all of my friends that I quickly forget how much time has passed since I first got on. I could go on any sort of social media no matter where I am, but particularly while I am at college. A lot of college students can attest to using Facebook or Twitter as a means of "escape" from homework. It doesn't matter if it is 3 am, 11 am, or 10 pm, social media has been seen as a good way to escape reality."

Dave: "What do you mean by escape reality?"
Me: "Social Media is something that most teens turn to when they are lonely, sad, or just struggling with something in life. It allows the teenager to stop thinking about the present of their life, and see what is going on in someone's elses life. Often times, social media can make a person feel better because they aren't thinking about themselves at the time. However, the fact of the matter is that in reality, nothing in their life has changed at all in those hours they spent starring at a screen."

Dave: "How do most people see this? How do you see it differently?"
Me: "Most teenagers see this as a normal part of their day, but they don't think that it is necessarily an escape from reality. They just think it is a way to waste time. But actually, wasting time is an escape from reality, because ultimately there are probably things that they could be doing that are more educational than just being on a website via social media."

Dave: "Are you kidding? I didn't know that! What else did you find out?"
Me: "I recently read from a psychological report on social media, that teenagers can spend from 8-11 hours a day on social media. That is 1/3 of the day just gone, wasted! Do you know how many better things that teenagers, including myself could be doing with that time? Maybe, I would be spending time with my family or friends, or doing homework, and getting better grades!"

Dave: "Can you give me an example?"
Me: "Yes, I can. Those eight hours of day could be spent working at a job and saving money for college. Or maybe hanging out with a friend and taking them to Bible Study at night. Or even having dinner with your family and watching a movie and playing games together! How many more life lessons teenagers would learn through personal interaction than just reading things on social media."

Dave: "Did that surprise you?"
Me: "That teenagers could be using their time better? Yes and no. Yes, because I had never really thought about how much time I spent on social media, particularly Facebook, and I realized how I could be getting to know people better and being in better touch with reality. But no, because when i actually thought about it, I knew that I was spending too much time on Facebook, but I just didn't want to get out of my comfort zone to meet people."

Dave: "What other questions does this raise?"
Me: "What about, why is Facebook and social media so attractive? Why do we as teenagers get so easily entrapped into sitting there for hours? How is this a problem psychologically for teenagers in this generation?"

Dave: "Who does this affect mostly?"
Me: "This definitely affects teenagers the most directly because of the problems it can have on a family. The child will start spending more time on social media that with the family and this can cause tension between siblings and the teens parents. But it will also have an affect of the parents because they will get frustrated with not being able to seemingly reach their children unless they are "plugged in". This will only cause more problems throughout the entire family."

Dave: "What should we do about this?"
Me: "I think that parents should monitor the amount of time that is spent on social media. Once the child is in college, obviously they should have enough knowledge to know when "too much" is "too much". However, I was raised in a family where our computer time was limited, but I still struggle today with spending too much time. In this case, I have had many consequences with late night homework, less time to relax, and most importantly, less time to do my devotions because I was so concerned to read "her" newest post! In this case, the teenager will learn from his or her actions and will have to take responsibility for their poor decision. Maybe we could create a social media website that is only for educational purposes that allow people to teach one another and work together to study and work on homework assignments."

Dave: "I'm not sure I believe this. Why do you?"
Me: "Because I was, and still partially am, one of "those" teenagers who struggle with spending too much time of facebook and allowing my social life to diminish with my family."

Dave: "What do you think we should do about it?"
Me: "Well, Dave, much like I said before, I think that we should monitor ourselves and limit ourselves to certain time spent a day. If that doesn't work, than make sure that we aren't spending more time on social media sites that we are with the Lord and doing homework."

Shortly after this, Dave and I said our goodbyes, and Dave voiced that he is anxious to read my essay! And now that you have seen a little bit of what my essay is going to be about, I hope you can't wait to read my essay either! See ya next time!