Internet Safety Assignment

I remember watching Elder Bednar's fireside "Things As They Really Are" when he gave it this past Spring or Summer (whenever it was). It was such an interesting topic and my friends and I just sat and talked about it for a good half hour to an hour afterward.

His point was seeing things as they really are. I remember not knowing what to expect as he began his address. He talks about our bodies being temples and I expected him to proceed along the lines of chastity and physical virtue. But he talked specifically about technology and the internet and the effect that these have on our reality.

He very poignantly describes what he is talking about. He discusses alternate lives online and games that are taking up hours and days of peoples' lives at a time. The scary part was what he said about these people seemingly choosing their fake lives over their real ones. You can't substitute the tangible, physical, human interactions for an Avatar life or World of War Craft.

It just makes me want to be very careful about how much exposure I allow my kids to have to these kinds of things. I even get nervous when it comes to deciding how much television to let them watch or video games to play. No offense to my brothers, but I remember how they used to zone out when they started playing freaking Zelda! (I love you both.) My mom had to turn the game off in order to get any response from either of them.

And then I've witnessed the very problem that Elder Bednar is pointing out in my adult life. Here at college, in a Brigham Young University ward, I have seen ward members choose World of War Craft over social activities, church, and even work. I knew of one guy imparticular who would spend probably 40 hours a week on his computer and only come out for a microwave dinner occasionally.

I don't have kids now and I don't have any close friends or family with internet or video game addictions. As far as my future children are concerned, it certainly can't hurt to think about these things ahead of time. As I watch my siblings raise their kids I can take what they're trying and try it myself later on. As far as my friends and family are concerned I think the best thing to do is just spend real time with them. This class is about technology and its usages but I know there is a limit. My sisters and I like to blog and we keep up with each other quite often using this medium but when I can, I choose to visit with them in person rather than posting random comments on their blogs.

So I began searching on YouTube for some "Internet Safety Videos". After watching a slightly creepy and slightly not well done video I came across this one. The first video actually made me really appreciate this second one but I won't put anyone else through that.

Click here to view a short clip
For another, slightly longer video click here

This video seemed so self-explanatory to me but perhaps my parents just did a good job! I was a little bored as I was watching but then I looked at all the posts beneath that were thanking whoever posted the video. Apparently they really needed to know. And as long as someone got something out of it, it's worth it, right?

More information can be read about internet safety topics by checking out Ad Council online. Just type that into google. They have an informative article about avoiding online sex offenders (yikes!)

I think kids have a lot more things to handle now that are less obviously wrong. The internet can be used for so many good things! But then it can really be twisted into something harmful. We just have to be careful how much time we spend on it ourselves and how much information we give. And then we have to make sure kids understand that too.