INTERNET SAFETY REFLECTION
The article I chose to read for my article of choice was “It’s ‘Only’ Violence” by Brad J. Bushman. It discussed the impact of media on families and individuals, and addressed some myths about violence in the media.
The videos I chose to watch came from a variety of sources, including PBS Frontline, Netsafe, Webwise Kids, and iKeepSafe. The PBS videos addressed issues such as the consuming nature of the internet in the lives of youth today, the changing nature of the classroom as a result of media, and the opportunity the internet provides for youth to try on new identities. The Netsafe videos revolved around topics such as child pornography in cell phone photos, “grooming” techniques of online predators, online chatting, and how parents can establish good communication habits with their teens about internet safety. iKeepSafe provides an animated video designed to help kids learn about the dangers of online predators. Finally, Webwise kids has a video discussing the case of a specific girl who almost became the victim of an online predator, and particularly how her parents were able to communicate her with the help of a game that teaches about the issue.
After reading these articles and viewing these videos, I came away with an increased awareness and understanding of the issue of internet safety. My main take-home messages could be organized into three categories: awareness, and implications for me as a parent and an educator. Firstly, I was shocked by some of the statistics and facts presented about how all-consuming the internet is in the lives of so many teenagers. Though I used the internet quite often during high school and still today, I was shocked to discover how for some people they are literally living and growing up online. I was also amazed at the variety of ways cyberbullying can occur, and the cleverness of online predators. I was also reminded of basic safety principles that can help safeguard children and youth against some of the dangers of the internet (e.g. never give your name, address, phone number, or school to anyone online, never agree to meet someone you meet online).
Apart from being made aware of some basic internet safety issues, I came away with strong feelings about what I can do as an educator and parent to help protect my children and students and make them equally aware. I need to be a leader in both the home and classroom by becoming educated about the latest technologies kids are using and allow them to participate in setting guidelines with me. I can take time to ask them questions about what they already understand about internet safety, and then allow them to participate in setting clear, easy to read rules. I also need to take responsibility in educating them about the potential dangers of internet use, including activities that are illegal. It is clear from watching these videos that communication between adults and youth regarding this issue is often very difficult. But one of the biggest things I came away with from the articles and videos was the idea that if we are taking time to establish close, face-to-face, supportive relationships with our children and students, communication will be easier and they will be more likely to listen. Also, if parents fulfill their responsibility to teach their children the gospel, they will likely have a greater sense of self-worth and an understanding of who they truly are – thus eliminating the need to experiment with new identities online. Along a similar vein, helping children and youth see the breadth and depth of experience and joy that come from physical experiences with the body will hopefully motivate them to stop living in a virtual reality and begin experiencing the wonders that real life has to offer.
For the “doing” part of this assignment I taught my mom about some of these issues of internet safety. I mainly talked to her about the all-consuming internet in the lives of today’s teenagers, the threat of online predators, cyberbullying, and teenagers experimenting with new identities online. She was aware of many of these issues, but she was very pleased to be updated and reminded of them. For example, she already knew that cyberbullying occurred, and that online predators use chat rooms as their hunting ground, but she reacted with both sadness and amazement at the information I shared. I mentioned that some of the videos demonstrated that the existence of cyberbullying might not be observed just by walking into a school, but that online it is a war zone. She reacted strongly to this, saying that was a really good point, and she could see how that would be true. She also reacted strongly when I described how teenagers experiment with identities online, saying that she hadn’t exactly heard that talked about before, but she could completely see how that could happen, even with relatively innocent things like facebook. I was surprised that she was so quick to see how these things could be possible even if she hasn’t seen or experienced them before. I think she will probably share much of what I told her with my younger siblings and my dad, though she might ask me to share the information with them instead.
