Do You THINK Before You Speak?

snagged from Facebook

I quite often remember hearing Mum and Dad telling us kids to "think before you speak" when I was growing up. I know my brother or my niece would often say something that they perhaps shouldn't have. I know I was guilty of it too from time to time. Goodness knows I have said it to my boys often enough.

With Brodie having Aspergers the words are usually out of his mouth before his brain has even kicked into gear. Although I had to admit that he has improved a great deal over the years. We used to try and get Brodie to think of a traffic light before he did something. The RED was to help him STOP before he spoke or did something. They YELLOW was to get him to THINK about what he wanted to say or do before he continued and whether it would be a good or bad thing ie: if it might possibly make someone upset or happy about what he wanted to say or do. The GREEN was DO but only if he thought it was okay to do so. I don't think it worked all the time but it certainly helped.

I just wonder how many of the younger generation (especially those on Facebook) who don't always think before they speak, well place a status update or comment on a post, would benefit from THINKING or going through the TRAFFIC LIGHTS before they post something online. The amount of times I have seen what I would consider to be 'dirty laundry' or just plain old potty mouth posts appear in my stream just blows my mind. I know I could unfriend these people but it's difficult when it is family. How do you explain to the relatives that you no longer have a niece or nephew as a friend due to their inability to think? I guess I shall just continue filtering or hiding what they post.

What would you do? Do you think before you post? I am sure you do. Do you unfriend or hide posts that are inappropriate? I would love to know.