To those who engage in online abusive behaviors, we ask you this.
Do you forget that there is somebody behind those words, not just a string of numbers and data?
Do you forget what it’s like to look somebody in the eyes as you say something mean or hateful?
Would you stalk somebody in real life and call them terrible names?
We ask you: do you have a conscience? We ask you that, even if you do not agree with somebody, if you agree with the concept of verbally abusing somebody?
It’s just the internet! You might respond. This isn’t real life. Or even… This is the price you pay for being on the internet. That’s just the way it is.
With each scenario in life, we are given a choice. You can respond with kindness and try to leave this world a little better than how you entered it. Or you can fuel the hatred in this world that rips people to shreds. You can bring a smile to someone’s face, or you can make them cry.
Now, we ask you this.
Are you a bully?
Have you forgotten what it’s like to be kind?
Have you forgotten that words, no matter if spoken in real life or viewed online, have a very real impact? Have you forgotten what it’s like to view people as PEOPLE, not letters on a screen or a profile image?
We allow you the ability to foster dialogue and respectful comments. We allow you the freedom to express opinions. What we do not allow is hatred. We do not allow making others feel unsafe in digital spaces or reality. We do not allow intolerance.
“But I’m not intolerant. But I’m not a bully. But they’re just words.”
Intolerance is hate speech or allowing hate speech as though it is nothing.
To be a bully is to prefer to kick someone when they’re down instead of trying to help them get back on their feet.
Just words. Words? Words meant enough to you to respond, didn’t they? Words, hateful words, are enough to make someone forget they are worth something. They bring out the inhumanity within us should we choose to see others as less than ourselves.
We ask you to remember your conscience.
We ask you to choose to be kind. It’s a rule we learn when we are young.
Remember it.
Sincerely:
The HXCampus Dartmouth Team.