Losing One's Child
Article from http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/814676.shtml#.UyCHTvmSwmU
Judgmental netizens lack heart
Global Times | 2013-9-28 18:23:02
By Du Qiongfang
Losing one's baby is a heartbreaking experience for any woman, no matter the reason.
So when a 19-year-old college student in Shanghai surnamed Yang became unexpectedly pregnant with twins and felt she had no choice but to have an abortion, she expressed her sad reluctance and posted photos of the pregnancy test and ultrasound on her personal account on the social networking website Renren.
"Tomorrow I say goodbye to the babies. I can't bear it," she wrote.
However, the photos along with other information and photos chronicling her daily life were forwarded by nosey netizens tens of thousands of times and, instead of sympathy and encouragement, Yang was verbally attacked by a mob of strangers.
"If my family agreed and had the financial means, I …show more content…
would have kept the babies," she wrote in response to her critics.
As a college student with basic common sense, Yang should have realized that as long as she posted her photos online, they would no longer be private. Anyone using the Internet can see and comment on her photos.
In Chinese society, pregnancy out of wedlock is considered shameful, especially for a college student. Even having sex at her age is still frowned upon by moral traditionalists.
But the young woman should be praised for having the guts to chronicle her unfortunate experience online and share it with others, even with those she initially did not mean to.
Her story can help other women faced with a similar dilemma and can be an effective deterrent for young people who may not be taking proper precautions. Sometimes, the lessons learned from peers are more persuasive than parents' and teachers' preaching.
It is also encouraging to see that young people today are more open about such topics than previous generations. At least she made a timely and rational decision instead of putting off the matter until it was time to give birth to children she would have had to drop out of school to care for.
She is right to not be ashamed about her experience - a remarkably common one the world over - and laudably had the courage to talk about it and deal with the consequences.
What was shameful and disgraceful was the behavior of netizens who furiously forwarded her photos and judged her behavior.
Although the Internet has given average Chinese citizens more freedom to express their thoughts and opinions than previously, freedom of speech is a right that should not be abused to callously insult others.
Although Yang had to bear the responsibility of an accidental pregnancy, her mistakes were her own to make and should not be a target for netizens to pass moral judgment on.
Under the disguise of anonymity offered by the virtual world, many people feel free to launch hurtful personal attacks on a complete stranger. However, their rush to pass judgment only reveals just how hollow their own moral standards are.
Anyone who is merciful should have known that what the girl needs now is not criticism or a lecture, but comfort and support from friends and family, or even strangers online, after the loss of the twin babies she would never meet.
Annotation for Article 2: Judgemental netizens lack heart. (My personal view
points)
The social media is a force to be reckoned with. People should not just blindly post things as they like on the internet, because there would always be that strident minority that judges you, voices it out and ‘ruins’ you. As a user of the internet, I feel like these people’s main goals in life is to make people on the internet feel bad about themselves. It is really impactful to face judgements on a regular basis. What people should start doing is instead of voicing out your opinions, why not use your words for good? Instead of judging a person, one could actually give support to him, in this case, her. She didn’t want kids yet, she still had a life ahead of her, perhaps everything planned out. But the kids came unexpectedly, she felt that it might come in the way of her future plans, therefore, planned on aborting the twins. I personally feel that it is quite a big thing because it’s lives we are talking about ending here. No matter what she does, she would still be judged. If she were to keep the children, at such a young age, would be labelled with expletives. If she were to abort them, the article says it all. These netizens are judging her, making her decide. In some cases, the people might be influenced by this minority on the internet, to get coaxed into making irrational decisions. Like in this particular extract, she might have changed her mind and keep her children solely because the netizens wanted her to.
In conclusion
-Influences of the internet is huge *Bad in this context.
Judgmental netizens lack heart
Global Times | 2013-9-28 18:23:02
By Du Qiongfang
Losing one's baby is a heartbreaking experience for any woman, no matter the reason.
So when a 19-year-old college student in Shanghai surnamed Yang became unexpectedly pregnant with twins and felt she had no choice but to have an abortion, she expressed her sad reluctance and posted photos of the pregnancy test and ultrasound on her personal account on the social networking website Renren.
"Tomorrow I say goodbye to the babies. I can't bear it," she wrote.
However, the photos along with other information and photos chronicling her daily life were forwarded by nosey netizens tens of thousands of times and, instead of sympathy and encouragement, Yang was verbally attacked by a mob of strangers.
"If my family agreed and had the financial means, I …show more content…
would have kept the babies," she wrote in response to her critics.
As a college student with basic common sense, Yang should have realized that as long as she posted her photos online, they would no longer be private. Anyone using the Internet can see and comment on her photos.
In Chinese society, pregnancy out of wedlock is considered shameful, especially for a college student. Even having sex at her age is still frowned upon by moral traditionalists.
But the young woman should be praised for having the guts to chronicle her unfortunate experience online and share it with others, even with those she initially did not mean to.
Her story can help other women faced with a similar dilemma and can be an effective deterrent for young people who may not be taking proper precautions. Sometimes, the lessons learned from peers are more persuasive than parents' and teachers' preaching.
It is also encouraging to see that young people today are more open about such topics than previous generations. At least she made a timely and rational decision instead of putting off the matter until it was time to give birth to children she would have had to drop out of school to care for.
She is right to not be ashamed about her experience - a remarkably common one the world over - and laudably had the courage to talk about it and deal with the consequences.
What was shameful and disgraceful was the behavior of netizens who furiously forwarded her photos and judged her behavior.
Although the Internet has given average Chinese citizens more freedom to express their thoughts and opinions than previously, freedom of speech is a right that should not be abused to callously insult others.
Although Yang had to bear the responsibility of an accidental pregnancy, her mistakes were her own to make and should not be a target for netizens to pass moral judgment on.
Under the disguise of anonymity offered by the virtual world, many people feel free to launch hurtful personal attacks on a complete stranger. However, their rush to pass judgment only reveals just how hollow their own moral standards are.
Anyone who is merciful should have known that what the girl needs now is not criticism or a lecture, but comfort and support from friends and family, or even strangers online, after the loss of the twin babies she would never meet.
Annotation for Article 2: Judgemental netizens lack heart. (My personal view
points)
The social media is a force to be reckoned with. People should not just blindly post things as they like on the internet, because there would always be that strident minority that judges you, voices it out and ‘ruins’ you. As a user of the internet, I feel like these people’s main goals in life is to make people on the internet feel bad about themselves. It is really impactful to face judgements on a regular basis. What people should start doing is instead of voicing out your opinions, why not use your words for good? Instead of judging a person, one could actually give support to him, in this case, her. She didn’t want kids yet, she still had a life ahead of her, perhaps everything planned out. But the kids came unexpectedly, she felt that it might come in the way of her future plans, therefore, planned on aborting the twins. I personally feel that it is quite a big thing because it’s lives we are talking about ending here. No matter what she does, she would still be judged. If she were to keep the children, at such a young age, would be labelled with expletives. If she were to abort them, the article says it all. These netizens are judging her, making her decide. In some cases, the people might be influenced by this minority on the internet, to get coaxed into making irrational decisions. Like in this particular extract, she might have changed her mind and keep her children solely because the netizens wanted her to.
In conclusion
-Influences of the internet is huge *Bad in this context.