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Assault shouldn’t be the butt of jokes

I don’t know about you, but I am a huge fan of social media. I say this for many reasons, but mainly it’s for the fact that it gives all of us an opportunity to express ourselves and connect with others in many different ways. Plus, where else am I going to get my daily dose of “KimYe” news? Probably not by reading The Washington Post.

However, like most things in our society, social media isn’t perfect. It can be distracting, addicting and detrimental to our interpersonal communication. In some situations, our online presence can bring out the worst in us.

Case and point: I’m sure by now you’re all aware of the incidents that took place on the evening of Nov. 3 in which a group of teens forcibly robbed one female student and grabbed the buttocks of two others as they walked by. (And yes, I said “buttocks.” I know it’s a silly word, but we’re not in the fourth grade anymore, kids.)

Once the news of what happened began to spread around campus, students took to social media — mainly Yik Yak — to express their thoughts and feelings as the night went on. Some showed sympathy for the victims of the assaults, while others understandably shared their fears about walking around campus alone with the suspects still at large.

Then came the outpour of various, albeit poor, attempts at humor on the subject, along with a series of generalized and derogatory statements concerning the race of the suspects (all five were described as black males).

Don’t get me wrong, I love having fun and cracking jokes like anyone else, as humor is one of the few things that keeps me sane at times. But, as life continues to prove over and over again, there’s a time and a place for everything. This was neither the time, nor the situation for humor.

I understand that the idea of a dude grabbing someone’s butt sounds funny, but the reality is that three young women were assaulted on our campus. Call me old fashioned, but I don’t think that there’s anything funny about that. As for the posts that insinuated all black people are violent thieves: as a black male myself, I can tell you that’s just ignorant.

You may believe that saying something like that is “all in good fun” or that you’re just “stating your opinion,” but we as a society need to start realizing that what we say, whether in person or on social media sites, can greatly affect the people around us. Instead of spending our time laughing at the misfortune of others or making rude comments to bring people down, we should start using our words, thoughts and actions to uplift each other and to continue growing together as a community.

By all means, continue to have fun on Facebook, Twitter, Yik Yak or even MySpace (if that’s the kind of thing you’re into) — that’s what they’re there for. But let’s start being mindful of what we say to and about others, so that one day, social media can be as completely positive as it was intended to be.

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