Facebook horror.

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mwbluebeard

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Read this, but please don't reply, except to say "bump" so others will read it.

I really do not want to discuss this, but simply want to bring it to your attention.

I got a NASTY, NASTY, NASTY message on my Facebook wall from a USCGA cadet (class of 2010) who was (WAS) on my son's friend list and mine.

What he wrote was not directed to mepersonally, but it turned my stomach and shocked me. Hey, I've got 6 kids, including an 18 year old boy who had a bunch of friends who hang out here... I'm not clueless or naive. But, what this cadet wrote was disgusting. Fortunately, when we de-friended him, it went away.

It refelcted poorly on him as a person, of course, and sadly, also upon the USCGA since his association with the USCGA is prominently featured on his Facebook.

I'm really sad that this individual doesn't have more discretion.

Please, swabs, and all of us, let's be careful.
 
Before you are too harsh - make sure this isn't "spam".
I have seen "messages" pop up from "friends" and they did not write them - I don't know exactly how it works but if a "worm" or virus gets in to your computer or facebook it will send a message to your entire friend list.
 
Yes, I know what you mean, but that was not this. In fact,

there was a discussion of sorts about it... and he was definitely participating in the discussion. But, I appreciate your caution.
 
yeah i saw it.. i dont agree with it either but thats just how it is these days.. society is WAY worse so dont let this offend you TOO much... i agree that he is a cadet and should be held to a higher standard...
 
facebook

I didn't see the post, but as a professor at a large midwestern university....believe me we have the same problem.

What students of this age don't realize is that the electronic medium is NOT the same as having a private conversation with someone. Back when we were kids, we of course used the phone a lot.....and I would NOT have wanted my parents to have read a transcript of some of my conversations with my buddies! :eek:

But kids nowadays communicate electronically.....and they don't see the difference since is the way they have always communicated. What they don't realize is that everyone sees it....friends, parents, teachers, potential employers, and that once written, it never goes away.

Students and cadets need to understand what might happen as they use this new and evolving medium as their primary means of communicating......They will make many of the same mistakes we did, just in a different way. How many of us said something stupid, without thinking, and without checking out who was right behind us listening as we made idiots of ourselves!

Different kids, different times, different ways........but the same mistakes! :smile:
 
...would someone mind PM'ing me the name of the 2010'er so it can get looked into? this is not something to ignore.
 
yeah i saw it.. i dont agree with it either but thats just how it is these days.. society is WAY worse so dont let this offend you TOO much... i agree that he is a cadet and should be held to a higher standard...

I have to admit - now I am intrigued. Was this post treasonous? Did it encourage illegal activity? Does he violate the USCGA honor code?
I don't really need to know the specifics but if the message - I suspect now it was his "status" didn't fall in any of these categories, why make a issue out of it?
 
MWB, what was the general subject of the conversation or message and....


Will you PM me his name?
 
Oh for crying out loud.....
Without knowing what the offending comments are/were, as I said before I find the requests by zachogden and LITS a little disturbing.

Seriously, if you want to find the details PM or email the OP. Is posting in public that you want the name and details of the offender supposed to be an idle threat to candidates and their parents who read this? What good comes from that?

The CGA is a pretty small school. If the comments were a threat to National Security - I am sure it has been dealt with.
 
What they don't realize is that everyone sees it....friends, parents, teachers, potential employers, and that once written, it never goes away.
kinda, sorta, maybe. This is why there are privacy settings. A facebook can also be edited or completely removed by the owner. Privacy settings aren't that difficult to navigate and there has been enough publicity of facebook teens posting inappropriate content.

As a member of the Class of 2010 - this means he is close to 21 if not older. Kids who are this old, seriously should know about electronic communication unless they have lived a very sheltered life.
He will live with the embarrassment and/or consequences of his actions.
Likewise, if you don't like what your "friends" post then unfriend them.
 
Never go away

You are correct in that there are privacy settings, etc... but in the digital world, once something gets posted, regardless of how "private" it is, it lasts forever.

In the "good old days" by the time you copied pictures and/or documents a couple of times, they weren't recognizable, and you had no way to move them from one person to the next easily.

But once you post a digital picture for example, even if you eventually remove it, someone could have made a copy, and that someone can make more copies and pass it around in either it's original format, or digitally edited, and it can go on forever. That is something that people and students don't understand. Regardless of how "private" you make a digital posting, whether it be a picture, video or simply some text attributed to you, it can and very often gets out, and there is no way to retrieve it.

Trust me...I have let out some files in a controlled setting that were then copied, emailed, edited and remastered into something I never intended, that if I didn't have a pretty good sense of humor, would be very upsetting to a lot of people.
 
Oh for crying out loud.....
Without knowing what the offending comments are/were, as I said before I find the requests by zachogden and LITS a little disturbing.

Seriously, if you want to find the details PM or email the OP. Is posting in public that you want the name and details of the offender supposed to be an idle threat to candidates and their parents who read this? What good comes from that?

The CGA is a pretty small school. If the comments were a threat to National Security - I am sure it has been dealt with.



JAM, now this is where I don't really need to hear the opinion of a mother with a child from West Point.

I'll put this out there as a caution as well. If you put something offensive online, people in a position to do something about that will. Where does that happen? When you are a cadet, (or anyone else), you don't want a call from Coast Guard Headquarters. It happens more than you think. YouTube, FaceBook, blogs, etc.....it's all open source.

So, JAM, thank you for your concern, but I suggest you worry about other threads and the conduct of your own cadet instead of this. :thumb:
 
kinda, sorta, maybe. This is why there are privacy settings. A facebook can also be edited or completely removed by the owner. Privacy settings aren't that difficult to navigate and there has been enough publicity of facebook teens posting inappropriate content.

As a member of the Class of 2010 - this means he is close to 21 if not older. Kids who are this old, seriously should know about electronic communication unless they have lived a very sheltered life.
He will live with the embarrassment and/or consequences of his actions.
Likewise, if you don't like what your "friends" post then unfriend them.



You would be surprised with the stupidity from all services that surfaces and is dealt with because of the internet.
 
JAM, now this is where I don't really need to hear the opinion of a mother with a child from West Point.

Well, there are some folks on this forum who have and will defend my RIGHT as an American Citizen to state my opinion.
Please stop with the attacks. What does being the mother of a child at West Point have to do with the price of tea in China?

If you put something offensive online, people in a position to do something about that will.
Yep, if appropriate. This is where the Chain of Command will come it. I am sure you are familiar with this concept, LITS? Perhaps you intend to play the "big brother" role in this, but when you post in public a request to have his name pm'd to you it appears like it's a thinly veiled threat to all future cadets and that you have decided he is not worthy to be a part of your Coast Guard. Whatever. Just next time keep it in pm's. IMO.

You would be surprised with the stupidity from all services that surfaces and is dealt with because of the internet
Not really. People do dumb things. Years ago - when you were just a tyke and Al Gore had just invented the internet, folks had an excuse for stupidity.
Not just in the military but in the business world - not using the internet smartly has ruined a few careers.

Honestly, by now a 21 year old has no excuse. These kids have grown up with the internet culture and anyone who has used it as extensively as any SA Cadet surely must have some common sense by now. They just do dumb things.
 
i am more concerned with any cadet harassing someone, let alone the parent of a future cadet... "tarnishing the fair name" of CGA if you will.
 
Well, there are some folks on this forum who have and will defend my RIGHT as an American Citizen to state my opinion.
Please stop with the attacks. What does being the mother of a child at West Point have to do with the price of tea in China?


Yep, if appropriate. This is where the Chain of Command will come it. I am sure you are familiar with this concept, LITS? Perhaps you intend to play the "big brother" role in this, but when you post in public a request to have his name pm'd to you it appears like it's a thinly veiled threat to all future cadets and that you have decided he is not worthy to be a part of your Coast Guard. Whatever. Just next time keep it in pm's. IMO.


Not really. People do dumb things. Years ago - when you were just a tyke and Al Gore had just invented the internet, folks had an excuse for stupidity.
Not just in the military but in the business world - not using the internet smartly has ruined a few careers.

Honestly, by now a 21 year old has no excuse. These kids have grown up with the internet culture and anyone who has used it as extensively as any SA Cadet surely must have some common sense by now. They just do dumb things.

LITS was using his right to free speech just as you were.

If you felt that strongly about this why did you not PM him the way you suggested he should?

Leading by example is much more effective.

Not trying to start an argument or anything. Just wanted to put my 2 cents in and provide some third-party feedback.
 
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whoaa... way outta control... point blank... be careful what you say.. lesson learned :)
 
WOW..

Free speech doesnt apply to a website that is own by someone, as someone makes the rules... (I've been a moderator elsewhere for too long (everyone tries to use this one). Sorry... but your right as a U.S. citizen don't apply here, since you are on a private site, even if he receives donations.

JAM please back off LITS...

I am not sure what your history is with him, and I really do not care to know, but you continuously treat him with disrespect and I as one find it totally inappropriate.
 
Well, there are some folks on this forum who have and will defend my RIGHT as an American Citizen to state my opinion.
Please stop with the attacks. What does being the mother of a child at West Point have to do with the price of tea in China?


Yep, if appropriate. This is where the Chain of Command will come it. I am sure you are familiar with this concept, LITS? Perhaps you intend to play the "big brother" role in this, but when you post in public a request to have his name pm'd to you it appears like it's a thinly veiled threat to all future cadets and that you have decided he is not worthy to be a part of your Coast Guard. Whatever. Just next time keep it in pm's. IMO.


Not really. People do dumb things. Years ago - when you were just a tyke and Al Gore had just invented the internet, folks had an excuse for stupidity.
Not just in the military but in the business world - not using the internet smartly has ruined a few careers.

Honestly, by now a 21 year old has no excuse. These kids have grown up with the internet culture and anyone who has used it as extensively as any SA Cadet surely must have some common sense by now. They just do dumb things.



Your opinion has been noted, and your idea of "Chain of Command" is noted, however incorrect in some ways, on a few levels with regard to this....so I will make an attempt change that.

When something less than impressive happens at a unit and it is caught by someone in a Headquarters command (like mine), generally the Area command will be alerted and this will work it's way to a District command....and on.

Now, what you probably don't know, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy is a Headquarters unit, so, while it falls in the geographic location of "LANTAREA" and "District 1", it falls under the command of CGHQ. I'm hoping your concept of "Chain of Command" doesn't involved "Admiral A calls Admiral B", but I'm interested in exactly how you think this "use the chain of command" would happen. Yes, the member would forward the cadet's name to me, in a PM, as requested. After that, an official I know at the Coast Guard Academy would be notified, and would proceed with what ever action they think is appropriate. I have no interest in contacting a Company Officer directly, having a cadet get on the phone, and "correct" them, because, yes that would be inappropriate. They have a Commandant of Cadets to direct that.

Unfortunately, I think you missed some points. Yes, the fact that I did this "publicly" does serve to show current cadets and future cadets that "big brother" as you would like to say, is watching. We found this out when I was a cadet, and I have a feeling cadets will be reminded of that in the future as well. Do I want the cadet to be "kicked out"? Are you serious? Misbehavior needs to be corrected JAM, and that means, when a cadet does something wrong, it is brought to the attention of the faculty who are charged with directing them. It's not about "wanting them in my Coast Guard." It's about righting a wrong.

MASTs are generally PUBLIC, in fact, on an operational unit, new members are sometimes required to attend. First, it shows them the system, accountability, and justice for all, but it also serves as a warning "don't break the rules or you will be held accountable."

There is no excuse for stupidity, however mistakes are understandable. I hope you understand, if "stupidity" goes uncorrected, it will only get worse.

I'm fairly certain you knew most of this JAM, but it needed to be said anyway. Just because people don't agree with you, doesn't mean it's an attack, anymore than when you fire some shots over their bow.
 
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