Safety

1. I read..... "Leave it alone" by Brother H. Burke Peterson.
I watched.... Faux Paw (fun cartoon about a cat discovering the dangers of the internet), Katie's Story (a story about a girl who began a relationship with an older man over the internet), Cyberbulling (describes and gives stories of cyberbulling), Public Service Announcement (talks about use of cellphones and photos over the internet and has a segment with a panel of experts that answer questions), Podcasts (experts talk and discuss various technologies and how to better safeguard out computers) and iSafe (allows adults to learn about and review materials about internet safety and even receive a certificate in internet safety).

2. I loved reading Elder Bednar's talk. As I read, I felt such a strong realization of how important it is to protect ourselves and children from corrupting our mind, body, and spirit from inappropriate things. His talk spoke of how easy it is to access things through technology that is not right for our eternal goals and progression. As I read, I thought of how I need to be aware of these issues and make sure I do all I can to protect my future students and children. It is important to teach children about these dangers and express how these are not appropriate ways to use technology. It is important to teach the children to not be afraid to speak out about these dangers and to not be afraid to tell an adult when they come across possibly dangers websites or other sources of technology. I think that by keeping a relationship that will allow open communication while help foster the use of technology in uplifting and righteous ways. It is very apparent that Satan has made it so easy for children to access almost anything on the internet and other modes of technology. By being aware of these dangers, we can better help care and shelter our children from falling into these traps. I think it will be best to have conversations about safely and teach them skills when using the internet. It will also be best to block specific sites, keep track of email and social networking passwords, etc.

3. I decided to talk to a young mother in my grandparent's ward who I had babysat for a few times. I had noticed her oldest was an active user of technology and I thought it would be interesting to meet and talk about what she knows. Growing up with computers, she was pretty well informed about how to block inappropriate sites and how to place passwords on their computer. She explained she and her husband had decided to make a code of use for their family's use of technology. She explained it looked close to a family proclamation and their promises to use their resources in a healthy way. I thought this was a fabulous idea. I thought it might be good to show her some of the videos I viewed. She really liked the production by BYU with Fuax Paw and thought she might show her son the video so that he can be more aware of the dangers when using the internet. I also showed her some of the other resources and videos which she thought were so interesting. It was fun to talk about the one mother shown in a video where she wanted to control all of her children's passwords and activity. She liked the idea of doing a contract with her children instead because it makes them responsible for their actions and they will be fully aware of consequences for using them the wrong way. She strongly believes in explaining why we use things a particular way. It was a great conversation and I felt like we both learned a lot from other another.