News By Facebook?

Peabody is a small community nestled in amongst the low rolling hills and small creeks in central Kansas; 1400 souls including cats and dogs. Most folks are retired, farm or make the hour long drive down to Wichita to work everyday; patriotic, hard-working, conservative folk.

I do consulting work for the county that includes Peabody and as I visited with a county official this week, I heard the story that had people in the area, across the state and even across the nation in an uproar. The small cemetery on the edge of town had been vandalized over the Memorial Day weekend. Much like people in our area, the residents are very patriotic and hold the military in high respect. Every Memorial Day, The American Legion displays an avenue of flags in the cemetery. Many are casket flags given to family members who loan them for the weekend for the display and then are returned. Sometime over the weekend, several flags were ripped down and torn apart.

Like most small towns without a daily source of information, the story spread by word of mouth, at the coffee shop, church meetings and down at the local co-op. Some flags became 20, and not only were they torn apart but put in a pile and urinated on. To make matters worse, local law enforcement knew who was responsible but had no intention of pursuing the offenders as they were children of some prominent citizens. People became outraged and some expressed their outrage on Facebook. Some area newspapers picked up on the story without verifying all the details. The story grew and grew and spread by Facebook as far away as California and Georgia. The idea of a protest developed; a rally to show support for our military and to protest the inaction of local officials. There were even threats of violence if the wrongdoers weren't caught and punished. Groups from outside the area announced plans to attend the rally.

All the attention began to split the community as many didn't want the bad publicity for their town, suspicions mounted among neighbors, and accusations flew against the town officials and law enforcement. The situation was getting out of hand-mostly due to a Facebook post and idle gossip.

After two weeks, the truth began to emerge as the Sheriff discussed the matter with responsible media and the individual who made the Facebook posts. Yes, flags were desecrated, nine of them. They were torn from their poles and cut or ripped apart. They were not piled and urinated on. There were several suspects, juveniles and young adults and the investigation was on-going and those responsible would be punished to the full extent of the law. Unfortunately, all the rumors and threats had caused many who may have had information to hesitate in providing it and therefore had slowed the investigation.

Over the last few months, as part of the launching of WWN, I have monitored Facebook closely. It's a good tool used to keep track of friends and share information. But in and of itself, it is not a reliable source of news content. Not too long ago, I watched a story that we first provided in the area take on its own life on Facebook. The firing of a pistol into the air went from an exchange of gunfire to vehicles damaged by gunfire to finally a double homicide. None of which were true. Now I'm certain that the inaccuracies were not malicious and the people who posted them believed in their source of information and no real harm was done. But sometimes, rumors and half truths can be damaging just as it was in Peabody, Kansas. A community has been divided and law enforcement's job in proving a case against the offenders has become more difficult. Just something to think about the next time you forward content that doesn't come from a legitimate news source.

Children & Technology

Technology is one thing in our world that cannot be stopped or controlled in many ways. Whether we like it or not, the children of today are growing up in a world that is surrounded by different technological devices. I have been to restaurants, nice restaurants with table side service, not your typical fast food joint, and seen a nice family sitting together at a table. As I approach the table I almost immediately take note to how well behaved the two children are acting. When I pass the table, I turn and glance to see that the children are both playing handheld video games. Maybe my family is “old fashioned” in that there is no technology allowed at the dinner table. The television goes off and no cell phones are answered, unless there are extenuating circumstances of course. I am calling out the parents today; have a true family dinner with your children every once in a while. Make it something that is family centered. I have heard a statistic on some television commercials that states families who eat dinner together are more likely to stay together. This meaning the children are more likely to become happy, healthy adults who lead drug free lives. By the term "family dinner" I do not mean that the mother goes into the kitchen and spends most of the afternoon and into the evening preparing an immaculate spread on the dinner table. Let's be realistic. This type of setting may be nice to imagine, but does not happen in most families today. A family dinner can be a bucket of chicken or a carton of take-out. It's a family who sits around the table and converses with each other. Growing up, these were some of the best memories I have of my family. Create the same for your children. Take away the video games, turn off the television, and let the voice mail pick up the calls. Take forty-five minutes to hear what your children have to say. I guarantee you will not forget those times and neither will they.

Sarah Peeples