MSN is it good or bad?

[honeybee3939]

Hi

I know this is off topic, but something that happend tonight realy made me think.:ohmy:

My eldest daughter as a good friend called Joe(male) whom she as known from her school days, hes a nice lad and often talks to my youngest daughter on MSN and texts her by mobile too. What really made me think was tonight Joe came to my house with my eldest daughter(they have now gone down the pub) and neither he or my youngest daughter spoke to each other.I was rather shocked to say the least as they talk so often on MSN. but as soon as Joe left he texted my youngest daughter to say good bye!:) it was as if they cant communicate face to face but can talk all night long on MSN or text.

Im begining to wonder if this MSN business is not doing our kids any good at all, its like they are not living in the real world and not helping with one to one communication.:ohmy:

What do others think?

Andrea
xxxxx

[marie1974]

hiya yes i do see what you are saying and i know a friend who i had for years and on msn she hillarious and chats away and we have great time now when i see her if we go out she hardly says a word and acts quite unsociable sometimes making me think blimey shes being abit rude but actually she is a shy person and finds it hard making friends and mixing so talking through msn where she not seeing that person is alot easier for her and i guess if you do suffer from certain probs or issues msn must be a godsend xxx

[Pink Panic]

Hiya Andrea :hugs:

Personally i think it has good and bad points.

Maybe Joe is shy? Or suffers from Social Anx? Could it be he maybe finds it easier to chat via the pc or phone because of this hun? Or could it just be that the art of conversation is lost to these youngsters we have raised! .... Gawd i sound like my Gran :ohmy:

I know my eldest daughter is addicted to her mobile and it drives me mad that we can't seem to eat a meal without it going off!

Love
Pink
xxx

[bluebell68]

Hi... thats a really good question... my daughter had a msn friend in the usa a few years ago and he would message her regularly and to be totally frank, some of his messages were really disturbing to me and my OH and it caused a lot of heartache and anx in the family... im sure he was a nice enough lad but he was going thru a tough time emotionally and whilst i can totally relate to that it put a great deal of pressure on my daughter, who was only 15 at the time. His issues became a great burden to her and crossed a line but at her age, she wasn't able to seperate what was reality and what was fantasy...i ended up phoning his parents and talking to them about my worries and it was obvious that they were struggling too.. it dragged her down for a while and it took her some time to break off contact with him but eventually she was able to realise that she wasn't qualified to give him the help he needed and managed to break away... he still tries to contact her sometimes but she tends not to reply, not cos she doesn't care but because in the past any reply has triggered an ambush of emails and phonecalls...im certain that in the real world he is not someone she would have made friends with, even she would admit that, but she just got sucked into a situation that she wasn't prpared for... I know this is quite an extreme example and not exactly relevant to your post but i do think that as a medium it is definitely lacking....it is no substitute for face to face communication and a great deal of information that is exchanged on MSN etc bears little resemblance to real life.. maybe it just gives them a little more confidence when not face to face but i think it is a shame cos they should be out having fun and socialising...

My eleven year old chats to my neighbours daughter on MSN and she lives three doors away!.... i keep telling her, just go and see her and she looks at me as if i am crazy :wacko: ..lol
Rach