Social media... threatening Family, faith and society

Vince Lombardi, the outstanding Green Bay Packers American Football coach of the 1960’s, a ‘locker room legend’, provided philosophies, many of which transcend the sporting domain, and often lend themselves to parenting, particularly his assertion that, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence'.
The malevolence of social, or perhaps in context it should be ‘anti-social’ media, its mythical perspective of perfection driven by a sycophantic magnetism that TV personality Janelle Brown described as being, “All or nothing: lavish praise or appalled outrage; sycophants or trolls”, adding that the caption-and-comment culture in all its brevity “leaves out the middle ground, where most of life is found”, and where most families are also found.
That middle ground is where, as parents, in the moment, we either say nothing, or the wrong thing, in the wrong way, with the wrong tone of voice, or with the wrong look... And with that one uncertainty, that one stumble, we can ‘lose’ our teenagers, having been held to an impossible standard of virtue, perfection, legitimacy, morality and love.
Never mind our parental obligations to each other, to our other children, to work, to the past, to the future and so much more; and we are no longer seen as beyond a level of reproach we never sought. Yet, with that one trip, misstep, or stumble, everything we have championed has been, and is seen as, wrong and we are now imperfect, which is heresy in the eyes of teenage, angst-ridden, social media.
Buoyed by the faceless ‘guidance’ of social media that is never wrong, has never failed, and never faces the consequences of its misguided sense of righteousness, teens will bare their souls, as they are encouraged to do and finding sycophancy rampant, will rage at the injustice of their dilemma and from such molehills are emotional mountains born.
This is just the moment that the social media legions, unaccountable, insensitive, indiscreet, and emboldened by their anonymity, strike with all the rancour, loathing and animosity can muster. Parents are vilified, their hands tied, hobbled, blindfolded, and unaware, their guilt and the outcome, irrefutable. They are judged as narcissistic pariahs, ‘fide aut reverentia indignus,’ undeserving of trust, respect, or defence ‘in absentia’.
Social media is potentially, societally, cataclysmic. Yes, the greedy and vindictive ‘big pharma,’ drugs, corrupt politicians, and ‘the moneymen’, are all incredibly harmful to societies, but the malignance of social media too easily identifies discipline as cruelty, discomfort as danger, criticism as abuse, advice as control, and support and guidance as threatening and coercive in parent/teen relationships.
Consequently, its potential for familial, even societal harm is incalculable.
Too often, fuelled by online disenchantment, social media is the stone thrown in the family pond. Rippling outwards, hurtful and venomous, fracturing relationships, traumatically tearing families apart. As confused siblings wonder why, distressed parents question how and friends and neighbours ponder the nature of nothing becoming something... and social media washes its hands of that drama and moves on to the next. This one has had its five minutes.
And, what of the teens themselves, who have chosen an indiscreet path?
They will never admit to themselves or anyone else that they were wrong. Reconciliation is rare because the acrimony social media perpetuates is of exile rather than flight. Yet, what the teens are never told is how lonely it is ‘on the outside,’ and that social media can’t console them, or keep them warm at night. These are harsh lessons to learn.
The reality is that a family is an organic, shared environment that ebbs and flows, sometimes uneasily, yet has survived centuries and civilisations. Imperfect and intolerant, they bend, fracture and may even break, but will always be, despite their imperfections, the ultimate in strength and resilience, and the basis of every coherent legal and protective process we have ever known.
Yet, our teenagers are swayed by these imperfect entities of vacuous influencers and bitter social media wannabees, menacing at best, toxic at worst, a blight on faith, family and society.