Facebook and suicide
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of England says social networking leaves teens without friends to get them through dark times
"Is the world of social networking a step on the slippery banana peel to suicide?" asked Cathy Lynn Grossman in USA Today. The leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales thinks so—Archbishop Vincent Nichols says teens who spend too much time on Facebook don't develop the "real friendships" they need to be emotionally healthy. "That's a loooong reach."
Not as long as you might think, said George Pitcher in Britain's Daily Telegraph. "We are all, frankly, in danger now of conducting human relationships almost exclusively through the prism of a computer screen." There's something "dehumanizing" about doing all our communication by e-mail, texting, and Facebook. The Internet is supposed to be about bringing us together. "Actually, it's driving us apart."
Archbishop Vincent Nichols' own church seems to disagree with that, said Yumi Wilson in the San Francisco Chronicle. Catholics around the world are finding new opportunities to meet and discuss their faith on Facebook and other virtual forums. "Even the Vatican has a YouTube channel. So, does social networking undermine community life or enhance it?"
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