II – Teaching and Parenting in a Digital Age

Raising Faithful Young People in Media Cultures Diocese of Laredo

June 16, 2012

The Internet. . .

. . . has become a fact of life. Approach it like you do other potentially dangerous activities – like walking home from school, driving a car, riding a skateboard – and teach your kids how to use the technology responsibly.

Digital Natives

Rethinking Learning: The 21st Century Learner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0xa98cy-Rw&feature=related

Step 1: don’t panic!

There are a lot of hysterical, over-the-top reports on your local evening news about the latest crazy, dangerous, end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it threat to all that is good and decent, but the truth is not quite so dangerous. Yes, bad things can happen to kids who are not savvy online, but there are simple things you can do to help prevent them.

Internet Risk Factors

1. Technological: Those that threaten your computer.

2. Emotional: Those that imperil psychological well-being.

3. Physical: Those that pose the potential for bodily danger.

Technological Risks

• Viruses

• Hackers

• Email Attachments

• Storage Devices

• Page Links

• Email Forgery

Technological Risks

• Unlikely Scenario’s

• Hoaxes

• That all seem plausible

When unsure about an email, internet plea or rumor:

• Hoaxbusters

• Snopes

• Truth or Fiction http://cartoonstudent.blogspot.com/2009/09/preston-blair-ethnic-skepticism.html

SPAM Definition

• The word "Spam" as applied to Email means "Unsolicited Bulk Email". Unsolicited means that the Recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent. Bulk means that the message is sent as part of a larger collection of messages, all having substantively identical content. A message is Spam only if it is both Unsolicited and Bulk.

• Unsolicited Email is normal email (examples: first contact enquiries, job enquiries, sales enquiries)

• Bulk Email is normal email (examples: subscriber newsletters, customer communications, discussion lists)

http://www.allspammedup.com/2011/04/spam-reduced-by-more-than-a-third-since-rustock-takedown-bagle-and-others-step-in-to-fill-the-void/

Emotional Risks

Pre-Internet World Internet World

• Instant messaging or text messaging harassment

• Stealing Passwords

• Abusive “hate” websites or Facebook groups

• Sending pictures through email and mobile phones

• Sending porn and other spam email

• Petty note passing

• Rumors

• Overall back-biting behavior

Catholic Social Teaching (CST)

Seven themes of CST L & G of Human Person • human life is sacred • dignity of the human person is

the foundation of a moral vision for society.

• every person is precious • people are more important

than things • the measure of every

institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.

• Life and Dignity of the Human Person

• Call to Family, Community, and Participation

• Rights and Responsibilities

• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

• The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

• Solidarity

• Care for God's Creation

http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching.cfm

Simple Question

• Would you say what you are saying online directly to the person F2F?

Emotional Risks

http://www.ua.edu/features/abcsofeducation/cyberbullying.html

What Can Happen

• Instant messaging or text messaging harassment

• Look for constant barrages of negative or threatening instant messages or texts.

• Watch for “false names” – sometimes others create to spread rumors that your child will be blamed for.

What Can Happen

• Stealing passwords • Remind your child to never release his/her password to others.

• Keep it safe.

What Can Happen

• Abusive “hate” websites or Facebook groups

• Bullies can easily create “ihatebobbysmith.com” or a Facebook group called “Jenny Robbins at East Middle School Is a Tramp.”

• Use the site’s reporting function to have it suspended.

What Can Happen

• Sending pictures through email and mobile phones

• Often pictures of a kid in a compromising position – changing in a locker room, showering after a sports practice or using the bathroom.

• Can be broadcast at school or world-wide.

What Can Happen

• Sending porn and other spam email

• It’s easy for a bully to use a friend’s email address to sign him/her up on any number of pornographic websites

• Often flood’s the friend’s inbox with inappropriate material.

What Can YOU Do?

• Listen and do not jump to conclusions!

• When a child says that he/she is being bullied, or made to feel unsafe physically or emotionally, this should be taken just as seriously as the same situation in the physical world.

Once you know that “bullies” are ….

Targeting Your Child – What Can YOU do?

• Deny Access – but does not do much to solve the problem

• Map the extent of the bullying: Understand the full picture

• Step-by-step remediation: (1) If password was hijacked, change it! (2) Post to discredit anything that was said. (3) Review password strength. See password strength tips.

Once you know that “bullies” are ….

Targeting Your Child – What Can YOU do?

• Contact school authorities and/or parents:

– If on school grounds – contact school administration

– If “after school hours” – go straight to parents of the suspected perpetrator.

Remember….

Ultimately – you may NOT be able to “fix” the problem!

• Teach child how to handle the pressure without letting it affect his or her mental health.

• You cannot prevent it! Giving the child the skills to handle a cyber-bullying attack can also give them the poise and street smarts that will help them be more effective in adult world.

Physical Risks

http://moralestireautoelectrical.com/

Physical Risks

Risk from a sex offender:

• Child spends large amounts of time online, especially at night.

• Pornography found on child’s computer (supplied by an adult or other solicitor).

• Child receives phone calls from adults you don’t know or is making calls (sometimes long-distance calls) to numbers you don’t recognize.

Physical Risks

Risk from a sex offender:

• Child receives mail, gifts or packages from someone you do not know.

• Child turns monitor off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room.

• Child becomes withdrawn from the family.

• Child is using an online account that belongs to someone else.

Parental Controls

If younger children (under 13):

• MS Windows 7 – offers convenient and easy-to-configure parental controls. – Tools – Internet Options > Content > Content Advisor

• Internet filtering software (nannyware)

• Location Control

• Make sure kids know they can come to you if they inadvertently see something they don’t understand or that frightens them.

Honesty really is the best policy

Have frank, consequences-free discussion with kids about their online activities:

• Ask – what sites they frequent the most?

• What are they doing on these sites?

• Why they like those sites?

• Be their friend – FB etc. – but keep a low profile.

Also learn more about. . .

Digital Citizenship - http://www.delicious.com/ccerveny/DigitalCitizenship or http://bit.ly/LuImwH

Social Media - http://www.delicious.com/stacks/view/HM8sag or http://bit.ly/NsSN6J

How to Teach Internet Safety to Younger Elementary Students – http://www.edutopia.org/blog/internet-safety-younger-elementary-mary-beth-hertz or http://bit.ly/KqWf1R

OSV In Focus – The Catholic Guide to The Internet OSV Catholic Parent Know How – Internet & Families

• E-mail: c.cerveny@verizon.net

• ACyberPilgrim Blog: www.acyberpilgrim.org

• Catechesis 2.0: www.catechesis20.org

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/c.cerveny

• Twitter: @ccerveny

• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinecerveny

Caroline Cerveny, SSJ-TOSF, D. Min.