Dropping F-Bombs on Facebook: NSF Kids?
I was pissed, and I needed to let out steam. So I left it in my Facebook status: a big ol’ F-bomb.
And now I’ve got a situation of a possible “un-friending,” from an angry grandmother who thinks the F-word doesn’t belong on Facebook.
WTF?
My original message, or status report, was put up Thursday. It said “To the f—wad who was setting off fireworks at 11:30 last night [that would have been Wednesday night] BUY A CALENDAR.”
Pretty clear it was a one-off pissy moment, I thought. I don’t actually use the F-word very often, even less now that I have a four-year-old. It’s one of the reasons I turn to the likes of Facebook as an adult – it’s one place I can let off steam in a way I can’t in polite conversation or in my job as a writer.
But along with the several people who “liked” my status and the list of re-affirming comments from parents equally annoyed by fireworks being shot off while their babies are sound asleep came this one, from a woman I like (hence her presence on my “friends” list), who happens to have grandchildren: “Hey Jeanne, I have children reading my pages sometimes. Would appreciate it if the language was clean. Thanks so much.”
It was followed by a friend who took it as a joke . . . and left a string of expletives, only to have yet another response by said grandmother, proving it wasn’t a joke at all”
“What is up with you people and the language? you’re forcing me to hide you so that my nieces and grandchildren don’t see this language. Good grief !!!! Totally unnecessary.”
OK, I think I’ve said already that I actually like this woman. But I was betwixt and between on this one. I don’t like to anger a friend, but Facebook is not a safe haven for kids.
Have you looked at the options on Super Poke alone? You can “drunk dial” someone, “spank” them and “trout slap” a friend. If you want to protect your kids from any of the above, keep them off Facebook.
Now let’s take a look at the quizzes . . . which are to Facebook what tantrums are to toddlers – totally ubiqutious. One friend took a Billy Mays quiz which said “YOU shut your whore mouth while Billy Mays is talking.” Another took “which position are you” just yesterday, resulting in the words “doggy style” with graphic illustrations of said position. If you want to protect your kids from that, keep them off Facebook.
And should we debate the pictures on Facebook? Many of which I’ve seen on teenagers’ pages? A la the teenage boy brandishing a beer, the teenage girl driving while her teenage friends in the back of grandpa’s Escalade are holding high bottles of alcohol (and I can only pray the driver was not partaking)? Or the adult drunk male wearing his daughter’s flamingo sunglasses, sticking out his tongue and flashing his nipple? The adult woman licking a guy’s ear while grinding on him? If you want to protect your kids from any of that, keep them off Facebook!
I wouldn’t do any of the above in front of a kid (and some of it I wouldn’t do at all – hello drunk driving!). But there’s a reason I said “f—wad” on Facebook rather than screaming it from my back porch. One very big reason is my four-year-old. Another is the nature of Facebook – I wonder if the reason alcohol plays so heavily on the site might not be because the two have one major thing in common: they both lower your inhibitions.
It’s why Facebook just isn’t a place for kids. And for parents/grandparents who allow their kids on Facebook, it’s up to them to ensure their kids are friends only with people who are aware of the constraints of being friends with kids. I have two teenagers as “friends,” on my site: the little boy I babysat when he was a toddler (now a senior in high school) and the younger sister of a guy I graduated from high school with. The rest of my “friends” are eighteen and older, and there’s a reason for that.
Because Facebook isn’t a place I go to hang out with my kid (my aunt, however, well that’s a different story – I friended HER). And if you don’t think your kids should see what’s on my Facebook page, please keep them off of it.
Do you think people should be wary of your kid on THEIR Facebook pages?
Image: Post Google
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Your Facebook page is yours to do with what you like, short of posting things that are illegal. I would never censor myself on my own page, and I wouldn’t expect anyone else to, either!
Ever think maybe they are Canadian and celebrating Canada Day? Which is July 1st and just happened to be on Wednesday this year?
It’s none of her business what you post as your status. If she doesn’t like it that much she can actually “hide” your updates so they wouldn’t show up on her main page for her kids to read… but WHY are her kids on her facebook anyway? It’s not exactly a kid-friendly website.
I don’t let my kids on my computer unless I’ve cleared everything off of it. My email accounts get a lot of spam that is, at times, unsavory. The real reason I don’t want them on my computer, however, is that they have no reason to be there. If they want to do something online, they need my permission, and I’ll set up a browser for them. This woman on Facebook is a ninny.
This is a line I have to walk all the time…but not because of kids…but because of my 80 year old Facebook loving grandparents. I’m constantly wondering how closely they are monitoring my posts and how offended they are when their youngest granddaughter goes off on a tangent.
As far as kids on Facebook, my 2 year old loves to see pictures of her cousins and far flung family, but that’s the only material I’m showing her…she’s not witnessing the rest of it…that’s for mama during naptime. I just wish there was some sort of “grandparent friendly” filter.
All my friends on facebook are grownups. I like that. Sometimes my facebook friends post things I find offensive (usually political or religious) but I just don’t respond to those posts. It’s their facebook, they can say what they want.
Gurl, you drop all the eff bombs you want.
[...] Dropping F-Bombs on Facebook: NSF Kids? | Strollerderby [...]
Most of the people who have Facebook accounts are at least in junior high, which means they’re already hearing more “filthy language” than any grandmother might care to know. They hear people drop the f-bomb all the time at school, at sports practices and games, in the music they listen to, on the TV shows and movies they watch….parents and grandparents have this illusion that they can protect and shelter their children from language like that, but generally kids have heard it all before. So don’t worry about your language on Facebook–chances are that woman’s grandkids could out-cuss you if they tried.
[...] Not everything HAS TO BE sexy or sex-oriented. And overreacting just makes the words that much more fun to say (hence the reason the F-word is just so f-ing useful). [...]
Last time i checked, as of July 22, it was against facebook terms of service for under 13 yearolds to use said website. I have friends that post links to some disturbing things, followed by comments from my youth pastor, and preceded by comments about how funny my facebook profile pic is from a mother. If someone fusses, I don’t care. That’s just it. It’s my profile page, if you don’t want to chance seeing something creepy, stay away. Otherwise, what ever goes. It’s the internet. To reapply an old saying to a modern age… “if you can’t stand the perversion, get offline”. People are perverse online due to the annonimity it provides. Simple fact. Admit it. You yell at people on the phone. You curse at people under your breath. People in general get mad. Annonimity provides an outlet. If you can’t handle it, then get off our network.