Thursday, April 19, 2012

What Are People Afraid Of? - The Social Phobia Phenomenon - ISSUE 37 - 4/19/12

Did you know that most people would rather die than speak in front of a group of people? This fear is growing stronger and stronger among the youth of today. Why is it that the younger generations are having such a difficult time talking to other people? Is it because of technology or is there a deeper seeded issue at hand?

All you have to do is walk down the street in a busy public area and you can see the majority of the people around you playing with their cell phone, laptop, or even iPod. What you may notice is that they aren't actually talking, they're in their own little world typing away or pushing buttons oblivious of their surroundings. People just aren't socializing with one another like they used to. This is a major concern for business owners and employers because the majority of people are losing, or have lost, their social skills.

After years of deep thought and careful observation, I finally figured out why people are afraid to talk to other people. Of course, technology is one of the factors contributing to this phenomena, but digging even deeper, I found that people are afraid to bond with other people because of the lack of trust in society today. To be frank, this is completely ridiculous.

I've only lived in the U.S. so I can't speak from personal experience about other countries, but I know that modern times in the U.S. are by far the safest times ever in the history of mankind. We live in a very docile and civilized culture. People aren't running around killing each other like they did back in the Cowboy and Indian days. Men aren't ravaging woman in the streets. Last time I checked, there isn't a Civil War in my backyard. So, what in the heck is going on?! Why is it so hard to get people to have a conversation and to make new friends?!

The answer is simple. It's the media. My parents are part of the baby boom generation and for those of you who are also, you remember the very first person to own a television on your block. You may have even had social gatherings for all of you to watch one of three prime-time stations in black and white on a small-to-medium, blurry tubular screen. Unbeknownst to you at the time, this was the dawn of a whole new era. Instead of your parents and personal experiences shaping the majority of your beliefs and ideals, the media found a way to get it's foot in the door to take over the job.

I asked my parents a simple question, "did your parents tell you not to talk to strangers?" What do you think their answer was? The media has done their job of putting fear into the public so well that parents teach their kids not to talk to strangers for FEAR of their child being put in harms way.

DID YOU KNOW???

  • The odds of being abducted by a stranger are 1 in 610,000
  • The odds of being in a plane crash are 1 in 310,000
  • The odds of being struck by lightning are 1 in 240,000
  • Children are twice as likely to die of the flu than be kidnapped by a stranger
  • Children are 4 times more likely to die of heart disease than be kidnapped by a stranger
  • Children are 17 times more likely to commit suicide than be kidnapped by a stranger
  • Children are 100 times more likely to die because of an accidental death than be kidnapped by a stranger
If you're a parent, you are actually putting your child at more risk by letting them walk in a lightening storm while carrying a metal umbrella or even taking them on family vacations to Disney World than the likelihood of them being kidnapped by a stranger.

Not only has "Do Not Talk To Strangers" caused an epidemic in the U.S., but if parents want to really protect their children, they're going to have to look from within the confines of their own social circle. Over 90% of all abduction cases are from one of the parents or a family friend. In fact, only about 115 out of 800,000 missing children incidences in 2011 were cases involving strangers.

Don't get me wrong, parents should protect their children from all dangers. However, when anything causes more damage than good, especially for your children and the future of this country, the issue needs to be addressed.

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