Is Thumper's Momma on Facebook?

The African nation of Zimbabwe will soon cane a 17-year-old for his tasteless comments on Facebook.   Apparently, the 17-year-old orphaned boy used his mobile device to snap a picture of a co-worker who was dressed inappropriately, then uploaded the photo to his Facebook page calling her a “prostitute.”  He then used the same mobile device to call the co-worker and tell her about what he had just done.  She, in turn, called the police, and the rest is for the court reporter to tell.

The judge in the case mentioned that Zimbabwe has no tolerance for offensive behavior and, while this is the first case involving Facebook to go through the Zimbabwe court system, Zimbabwe will not tolerate offensive behaviors even through social media, citing that calling names virtually is just as degrading as calling names in person.  I argue that it may be even more degrading because the name-caller has an audience and because the call-ee may not be given the chance to respond.

It may be true that this boy was new to Facebook and thought he was being funny instead of offensive.  There’s also a distinct possibility that since he’s an orphan he had no one to tell him about that fine line between humor and distaste that a lot of 17- year-olds don’t see.  It mattered not to the judge what disadvantages the kid had; he was sentenced to 2 strikes of the cane.

Since this case hit the court system, the 17-year-old has removed himself from Facebook.  Good call, dude.

Understand, I’m not a proponent of caning, and I’m certainly not taking a stand for or against physical punishment, but I sure do like the way this judge thinks.

Whether this boy’s act was done out of maliciousness or orneriness, the fact remains that it shouldn’t have been done at all.  I’m not completely certain about prostitute etiquette, but I’m pretty sure that even an actual prostitute doesn’t like the obvious being pointed out whether in private or on Facebook.   Regardless of what one knows of interactions with prostitutes or any other human being, it only stands to reason, that one should not call names.

There’s something powerful about being able to hide behind the Facebook façade that brings out the bravado in people.  Unfortunately, there’s no one to reign us back to decency when we cross the line to inappropriate and disrespectful.  The simple truth of the matter is that basic respect for other human beings and even for ourselves is quickly deleted, just as quickly as we delete those annoying requests for more cows in Farmville.

As I scroll through Facebook and read about new babies and engagements and fantastic sports plays and wonderful science fair projects, I am also bombarded with disrespectful posts and hurtful comments. 

Sadly, there aren’t enough canes in Zimbabwe to bring decency back to our virtual walls.  The thing is that most people - not just kids - who post on Facebook fail to follow Thumper’s momma’s rule:  If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.