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Past indiscretions

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is being roasted by the outrage over a photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook page showing two men, one in blackface, one in a KKK robe. Northam at first apologized and said he was one of the men in the picture, but on Saturday he said he doesn’t believe he was in the picture. He also said it was the first time he had seen the yearbook photo. He is resisting demands for his resignation. Whether he can ride this out remains to be seen.

Northam offers an object lesson to young people who are growing up with social media — your past indiscretions, poor decisions andbad judgment can come back and bite you. Whether you plan to enter politics, or the business world, or entertainment, the things you put out in public today will be there 10 or 20 years in the future. Twitter tweets, Facebook postings, Instagrams, even e-mails your think no one will ever see will still be around. With online social media it is impossible to pull something back once it has been put out there. A good rule is to never post anything you wouldn’t want your mother to see. Better yet, never DO anything you wouldn’t want your mother to know about.

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