Captain Abuse

So if you're even a little bit aware of Facebook, you know that there is this new "thing" going around where you change your profile picture to "campaign against child abuse" (as one status I read worded it).

A couple things. First of all- I did it. Call me a 'lemming', but I read the cause, knew it was something I wanted to participate in, and hunted down a Captain Planet photo.

Secondly, I'm very aware that child abuse will not cease because I did this. And I would hope that everybody who took a few seconds to find a new profile pic realizes this as well. Unless we dip into the magic profile pic pool, then we're more than likely not doing anything more than decorating our Facebook profile with a virtual bumper sticker.

So why do we do this stuff, then? Why do we post the "97% of you won't repost this" statuses? Why do we change our profile pictures , or post provocative "I like it in _____" statuses, or fill out 'Top 25 Random Things About Me' notes? I think it's because we miss being a part of people's lives- and letting people into our own.

Genuine human connection is virtually gone. I know that I have a difficult time functioning in the face to face world some times- there's always this awkward tension as we constantly bump into people who are trying so hard to put their best mistake-free social face on- just like us. But the virtual world? Sign me up, man! I can cut and paste, I can erase, I can change my face. And if I don't feel like participating? I tune it out, I shut it down. I don't respond. The consequences of my silence are usually much less severe than in reality, and I have much more manipulative power over my social persona.

So these Facebook memes, as they're apparently called (I know, right? Who would have thought me, behind the times?), serve a pretty important function- they allow us to feel connected with people. They make us feel like we belong, like we a part of something that is more than just our own existence.

Is this pathetic- or is it the new reality? Things have been changing so rapidly over the past 20-30 years, and the snowball is an avalanche, at this point- I'm not so sure it can be easily stopped (if at all).

But some of it is that we (and I staple myself to this bad boy, lemmetellya!) get so drawn into our patterns, and our routines, and our own private virtual realities, that we are just content to live there- venturing out into the real world only in small increments, at our own convenience.

Unfortunately, not everyone lives at that level of luxury. Not everybody can afford to just switch it on and off. And this whole Facebook child abuse awareness thing has got me thinking on that. I changed my profile picture to 'campaign against child abuse', as I said earlier. But is that really what I'm doing? Is Captain Planet really going to save all the babies?

Now, I don't want to go the polar extreme and say that I'm wasting time. It's not a waste of time. First of all, like I said, it's a human connection, which is usually a good thing. I see all the pictures of my friends changed into cartoon characters, and it's pretty cool. In a weird, and probably Hallmark-movie cheesy sort of way, it feels like 'they're with me on this- they got my back'. Second of all, there could be people that legitimately don't know much about child abuse, or don't think about it because it hasn't impacted them. So there is an opportunity for raising that level of social awareness.

However, as I have thought about it and talked it through with a giant dinosaur (trust me, it's not as weird as it sounds), I realize that it simply cannot end here. I can't just put my smiley pretty face back up on Monday and just go about my business. Because then, it really becomes a question of why did I participate? Did I participate because I thought it would be 'cool'? Well no, I really want to make a difference. Did I change my profile picture because other people did? Um, no...while I'm not immune to following the crowd, I generally do a decent job of thinking for myself. So why?

Well, obviously it's because as a father of two young children, I realize their precious innocence, and how important and formative these years are and how big a part love and affection play in their development. Having worked with abused and neglected children for almost five years, I know the short and long term effects that abuse can have- destroying all the potential of a young life before it even gets started.

So that is why I have to keep taking this forward. Because there are people out there that don't have the ability to just flow in and out of reality. Many people are stuck where they are- and sometimes that involves cigarette burns and beatings. We live in such a crazy, messed up world, and I know I can't save it- but that doesn't mean I can't make it better for someone else.

It's tough sometimes because there simply isn't enough time/energy/resources to get involved with every single cause that I want to. But this is one of them. This is one of them that I want desperately to succeed. Like the starfish washed up on the shore, I know that we can't save them all- but man, to even make the difference in the lives of a few- even one- how wonderful that would be!