By - Julia, Lindsie Z, Sun, & Jessie
We visited an area where there are AA meetings held very frequently. We were surprised by the number of meetings that the founder of the group said were held in Second Life. A very obvious advantage to belonging to AA in Second Life is the anonymity that it allows. The members don’t have to worry as much about running into these people in RL, and probably feel as if they are judged less by their peers. It probably makes the group members feel much freer to open up and reveal themselves with honesty, possibly making the whole experience better and more fruitful for them. It also allows for people to co-mingle with members from all over the world that they probably would not meet in RL. He also mentioned that another advantage to SL is that in RL, meetings are held at scheduled times, but in SL a person just logs on, and even though there may not be a formal meeting at that time, there is always someone available to talk to.
Another obvious advantage is that it allows alcoholics who cannot travel due to extenuating circumstances (disability, loss of license, etc.) to be able to attend the meetings from their own home. This way people who are seeking support can receive it, even if they can’t make the trip out of the house to do so.
This experience helped us to realize how important it is for alcoholics who want help with their disease to feel that they are in a secure, trusting, atmosphere where they can feel free to express themselves and not be judged. That forms the basis for the whole way that the program is supposed to work. This can help us as RNs to understand the need for members to remain anonymous- a very key thing in nursing, anyway. Confidentiality is ever so important, especially when sensitive issues are involved.
We visited an area where there are AA meetings held very frequently. We were surprised by the number of meetings that the founder of the group said were held in Second Life. A very obvious advantage to belonging to AA in Second Life is the anonymity that it allows. The members don’t have to worry as much about running into these people in RL, and probably feel as if they are judged less by their peers. It probably makes the group members feel much freer to open up and reveal themselves with honesty, possibly making the whole experience better and more fruitful for them. It also allows for people to co-mingle with members from all over the world that they probably would not meet in RL. He also mentioned that another advantage to SL is that in RL, meetings are held at scheduled times, but in SL a person just logs on, and even though there may not be a formal meeting at that time, there is always someone available to talk to.
Another obvious advantage is that it allows alcoholics who cannot travel due to extenuating circumstances (disability, loss of license, etc.) to be able to attend the meetings from their own home. This way people who are seeking support can receive it, even if they can’t make the trip out of the house to do so.
This experience helped us to realize how important it is for alcoholics who want help with their disease to feel that they are in a secure, trusting, atmosphere where they can feel free to express themselves and not be judged. That forms the basis for the whole way that the program is supposed to work. This can help us as RNs to understand the need for members to remain anonymous- a very key thing in nursing, anyway. Confidentiality is ever so important, especially when sensitive issues are involved.
1 comment:
Nice description but I need a picture of all of you at the location.
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