Lots of advantages, but three problems. The first is to do with the danger of online grooming and false accusations. When someone is arrested for having indecent images on the computer, apparently the favourite excuse is “I was doing some research.” So no wonder my intended sabbatical project rang alarm bells in certain ears. A magistrate and a police officer involved in child protection both wanted to ask me all sorts of awkward questions.
It culminated with me being asked along to police headquarters, to meet an officer in the child protection unit. Not to show me around, as I naively thought, but to ask some searching questions about what I was doing and why. "We're paid to be cynical," he told me. On his advice, I avoided any direct contact with children and young people on this subject, and kept my research on a theoretical level.
If I had got myself stuck into online communities, perhaps I would have felt the temptation to begin inappropriate relationships with minors. Even if I didn't, perhaps I could be accused of so doing. So, there's a need to be seen to be squeaky clean.
This is not just a question of avoiding tabloid headlines. It's about ensuring that there is a rigid boundary that defines what is acceptable and unacceptable online contact between adults and children. Those in the caring professions have a responsibility to understand where the line is, and not cross it. I'm not sure we clergy do.
What about youth workers? For those who hang out with their young people on Facebook, how are they being accountable?
If this is the negative side of social media use, then the positive needs accentuating. Christians should be distinctive in using social media in a good way, a way that builds people up and doesn't harm them, a way that commends the God we worship and serve.
The next post in this series will look at the divide between our public and private lives. Please comment, and help me refine my thinking. Thank you.
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