Stop Being Part of the Problem
Terminal Lance recently posted an article, ‘This sh!t needs to stop’, the issue of attacking one another on social media. It received an overwhelming positive response from both veterans and milspouses.
One individual shared how she used to participate in tormenting others online, “I started to lose a lot of friends. I found myself being an a$$hole to people online just to do it. Just because it made myself feel better and superior. It was a self-esteem problem to be honest. When I look back at how angry of a person I was, how mean and disrespectful I was, it’s embarrassing.”
She continued, “But when I was younger (in my early 20s) I thought I was bad $hit for being mean to people. It was sick… seeing these girls being torn down by one another. Military wives (for some reason) feel like they have to fit in to that “clique” of other wives who make fun of others for doing something as simple as asking a question about BAH, or deployments. I thought it was cool to knock these girls down and treat them like they were a POS for asking. So when I see it done now, it’s heart breaking.”
I often wonder if these sites no longer existed, would it stop the feeding of negative stereotypes that exist today: that all military spouses are dependas, that all veterans have some form of PTSD and are unstable. There are underlying currents of dissatisfaction and hostility towards specific groups of people and it’s unhealthy.
But here’s the thing, we have the power to change it. So the question is, what are you going to do to help change it? Do you have solutions that have worked in your life.
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Kristine Schellhaas is a mother, author, and speaker. She founded USMC Life in 2009 as a way to help inspire, connect and educate Marine Corps families. As a public speaker, she created the “Live, Laugh, Learn” military seminars and speaks regularly about her experiences as a military spouse on changes of perspective for families in military culture, and recovery from loss. She recently served on Military Officer Association of America’s (MOAA) Spouse Advisory Panel, where she is a champion for our children who have been drafted into the military lifestyle and has dedicated more than 10,000 volunteer hours serving military families.
