Talked with my Mom :)

I talked with my mom who is in her early 50s. I asked her if she knew anything about cyberbullying, and she said she did.  She explained to me what she knew about it, and we talked about how I, as a teacher, can help prevent bullying.  She suggested the same things that I had thought about- encouraging my students to be respectful and not engage in cyberbullying and creating an environment in which my students could feel comfortable approaching me if they know cyberbullying is taking place.
Then I shared this quote with her from Elder Bednar's talk: "Please be careful of becoming so immersed and engrossed in pixels, texting, ear buds, twittering, online social networking, and potentially addictive uses of media and the Internet that you fail to recognize the importance of your physical body and miss the richness of person-to-person communication."  My mom explained that when people spend most of their communication time virtually through Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc. then they lose the art of listening, eye contact, understanding body language, and relating to people.  I asked my mom where you draw the line with texting or Facebook.  Where do you draw the line or when is it wrong?  My mom suggested that I ask myself "Am I doing this to build or maintain a relationship, or am I doing this to get information across?"  Then, she encouraged me to stick to the latter.  I think that is rally great advice. and I've already started using it.  Overall, this conversation was very valuable.  I learned a lot about myself-my habits and beliefs- and how easy it is to fall into virtual relationships.  I realized that I am going to have to directly discuss this issue with my children because the world is accepting it so much.  This discussion with my mom was easy, thought-provoking, and eye-opening, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to do it.