Internet Safety!

I read the following articles:

Let Your Voices Be Heard by M. Russell Ballard
Things As They Really Are by David A. Bednar
Provident Living Guidelines Regarding Internet Safety
Technology and a House of Learning
Leave it Alone by H. Burke Peterson

I loved the articles I read from General Authorities. In Let Your Voice Be Heard, Elder Ballard shares seven things parents can do to minimize the negative effect of media on the family. (I won't list them here for sake of space, but they can be found at the end of the article.) The Internet Safety guidelines also related some useful information on safeguarding your home from dangerous media. My favorite article was Leave It Alone because it talked about shunning any sort of foul and dark media.

I watched videos from the following sources:

Netsmartz: Julie's Journey, Amy's Choice, Tracking Teresa, and Keisha's Crime
The first two videos talked about girls who had left home to meet someone they had met on the internet, and Tracking Teresa was kind of freaky because they showed how much information someone can get about you from very minimal info you supply online. You need to be very careful. Keisha's crime showed what kind of bullying and lies can be spread over the internet.
BYU animation: Faux Paws
This was a cute animated video that BYU created. It was about a cat that went on the internet (literally) and agreed to meet someone. That someone was very dangerous. The moral of the story: DO NOT AGREE TO MEET SOMEONE YOU MET ON THE INTERNET.
PBS Documentaries: A Revolution in Classrooms and Social Life, A Child Predator Fear, and Cyberbullying.
These videos were very helpful and decent to watch! The first video was kind of freaky because it showed how much technology is taking over the next generation's lives! It's not all bad, but it's amazing how technology is imbedded in their lives and how much they rely on it. The second video showed how paranoid some parents can be regarding their children's online safety, but it makes sense that they would be worried. Cyberbullying was really sad. I don't know if cyberbullying caused this child's suicide, but it certainly had some sort of impact on him.
WebWiseKids: Katie's Story
This was kind of neat. I didn't know that such a game (The Missing Game) existed, but it sounds like a genius game! I'm glad that they got everything sorted out!

The three most important things I learned from these videos were: be very careful with the information you supply on the internet, technology is something that is mandatory to incorporate in the future education of students, and cyberbullying really does take place and effect kids.

I talked to my boyfriend, who is 23 years old. We discussed the importance of having the computer in a public areas and how you can avoid inappropriate sites and searches. We also discussed the importance of teaching your children how to safeguard against dangerous people and places on the internet. The home is where children should be taught these lessons first. He reacted in a sort of, "I've heard this before" attitude, which is probably typical for almost anyone who thinks about internet safety. The more we talked about it though, the more involved he got in the conversation.

Now that I've finished this assignment, I will be much more cautious on the internet. I've never really thought about what could happen because I am very good about staying away from chat rooms and other inappropriate sites, but I've realized how easy it is to get caught up in that sort of thing. When I am teaching my own class, I will definitely have a lesson on internet safety and use some of these resources because it is a bigger problem than you might think!