Exploring the challenges around technology use, practical proactive strategies, and where to find support and resources to better understand these issues.

1. II – Teaching and Parenting
in a Digital Age
Raising Faithful Young People
in Media Cultures
Diocese of Laredo
June 16, 2012

2. 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.

3. Digital Natives

4. Rethinking Learning:
The 21st Century Learner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0xa98cy-Rw&feature=related

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Technological Risks
• Viruses
• Hackers
• Email Attachments
• Storage Devices
• Page Links
• Email Forgery

8. Technological Risks
• Unlikely Scenario’s
• Hoaxes
• That all seem plausible
When unsure about an
email, internet plea or
rumor:
• Hoaxbusters
• Snopes
http://cartoonstudent.blogspot.com/2009/09/preston-blair-ethnic-skepticism.html • Truth or Fiction

9. 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/

10. Emotional Risks
Pre-Internet World Internet World
• Petty note passing • Instant messaging or text
• Rumors messaging harassment
• Overall back-biting behavior • Stealing Passwords
• Abusive “hate” websites or
Facebook groups
• Sending pictures through
email and mobile phones
• Sending porn and other
spam email

11. Catholic Social Teaching (CST)
Seven themes of CST L & G of Human Person
• Life and Dignity of the Human • human life is sacred
Person • dignity of the human person is
• Call to Family, Community, the foundation of a moral
and Participation vision for society.
• every person is precious
• Rights and Responsibilities
• people are more important
• Option for the Poor and than things
Vulnerable • the measure of every
• The Dignity of Work and the institution is whether it
Rights of Workers threatens or enhances the life
• Solidarity and dignity of the human
person.
• 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

12. Simple Question
• Would you say what you are saying online
directly to the person F2F?

13. Emotional Risks
http://www.ua.edu/features/abcsofeducation/cyberbullying.html

14. What Can Happen
• Instant messaging or • Look for constant
text messaging barrages of negative or
harassment threatening instant
messages or texts.
• Watch for “false names”
– sometimes others
create to spread rumors
that your child will be
blamed for.

15. What Can Happen
• Stealing passwords • Remind your child to
never release his/her
password to others.
• Keep it safe.

16. What Can Happen
• Abusive “hate” websites • Bullies can easily create
or Facebook groups “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.

17. What Can Happen
• Sending pictures • Often pictures of a kid
through email and in a compromising
mobile phones position – changing in a
locker room, showering
after a sports practice
or using the bathroom.
• Can be broadcast at
school or world-wide.

18. What Can Happen
• Sending porn and other • It’s easy for a bully to
spam email 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. Physical Risks
http://moralestireautoelectrical.com/

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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

29. Caroline Cerveny, SSJ-TOSF, D. Min.
• 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