- What article did you choose to read for your article of choice?
For my article, I chose to read, The Savior is Counting on You by Joe J. Christensen. This article was addressed to Aaronic priesthood holders, but I found it very applicable to me as well. I loved how he said we can’t roll around in the mud without getting dirty. I think that’s a great reminder for us, as well as a way to teach children or youth about avoiding rudeness in social networking and to avoid inappropriate things online.
- Describe the video resources you watched.
I watched a couple of the Netsmartz videos. One was “Tracking Teresa,” which took the viewer through finding as much information about a girl from a chat room as possible in a matter of minutes. In less than half an hour, her home address, phone number, school, and family members’ names had been located. Another video I watched was “Keisha’s Crime.” It showed how a girl used her computer to post a nasty picture of another girl she was mad at over a boy. The last one I watched was “Angela’s Experience,” which showed how to handle a web harasser. She ended up telling a parent, who called the police. I watched the Faux Paws video, which showed how Faux Paw (or any child) can be lured into a chat room conversation by a person assuming a false identity and then get into trouble by agreeing to meet them. I listened to the Internet Safety Podcast interview with Prof. Michael Quinn. Dr. Quinn wrote a book about technology ethics, and discussed some of the pros and cons that have come with the internet. He talked about the social dangers the internet has for children. Children become isolated from others when the engage too much in gaming and social networking. He talked about the need for children to be children, and not to have kids use technology at a very young age, because it can be detrimental to their growth as a person.
- Write a paragraph describing what your most important "take-aways" were from the readings and video?
From the videos, I was most struck by how much people can find out about you from just a tiny bit of information listed online. I also noticed that it is easy for kids to get into trouble when there are no limits or guidelines for computer use. Some of the problems shown on the Netsmartz videos could have been avoided by parents limiting and monitoring computer use. I found the Internet Safety Podcast very interesting, and agree with the idea that it’s important not to start kids on laptops and cell phones too early. I found their comments about how the internet has changed children’s and young adults’ interactions with each other very true. Too much internet use, even if the child is not engaged in dangerous activities, is detrimental to social development.
From Elder Ballard’s talk, I really liked the list of actions we can take to decrease bad media influences in our families. He had very specific ideas, which I think will be helpful now and in my future family. This was the second time I have listened to Elder Bednar’s talk, and I was as impressed by it this time as I was the first time. It was a really good talk to get me thinking about how to improve my own life. I love how direct he is. In the provident living article, I really liked the counsel to use the internet for specific purposes, and not just for surfing. I think this is very important, and can help not only with avoiding evil, but also with just not wasting time. In Bro. Graham’s article, I like how he pointed out that we can’t cut children off from technology. Instead, we must show them the positive ways to use it, which means we must be educated about technology ourselves as teachers and parents.
- Write a paragraph or more describing the details of your "doing" experience (you don't need to include any names). This might include:
I shared my findings with my dad, who is junior high school teacher. He was very interested in what I learned in the podcast, and was familiar with the church talks I had read. He was very interested in Elder Bednar’s talk, since it was for young adults and he had not heard the entire talk before. My dad was able to share a bit with me about his own experiences with technology and his students. He said that text messaging is a huge distraction at school, and that he finds his students are too linked to technology to concentrate a lot of the time. I was surprised to hear him say that whatever is prevalent in society works its way into the classroom and must be addressed there. I had not thought about that before, but it makes a lot of sense. Teachers have to address all the nasty things that come with new advancements. He mentioned that the issues he dealt with early in his career are nothing like what he has to worry about now. Many of his students are into very dangerous things because they have free rein of the internet, texting, and cell phones. It is scary that kids can get internet through phones now. He emphasized that even when they get into junior high and high school, kids should not have free rein of the internet and other technologies. There must be guidelines and limits for protection. My dad mostly knew about the resources I shared, with the exception of some of the internet video resources. He was interested in the online videos through UEN, and was excited that I found Faux Paws (he’d heard about this, but hadn’t actually accessed it before). My information mostly was a reminder to him and a supplement to his own resources.
