Last week

I completed steps 2-4 on the PLE posting.

Internet Safety Reflection

1. I chose to read the article “The Message: Mushrooms, Music, Movies, and Magazines” by Elder Spencer J. Condie.
2. I watched the PBS Frontline videos. I was really surprised by some of the videos. I have never really wanted to go into chat rooms and I am glad that I never have, especially after watching these videos. One of the videos talked about how children are using the internet to bully others or make sexual comments that they would not make face to face. I distinctly remember one girl saying how shy she is in person but that when she was in a chat room, she took her shirt off in front of the camera because it was just online. Another horrible story was the story of “Autumn.” There was a girl that felt like an outcast and a loner and so she created this social networking account under a fake name and posted pictures of herself in lingerie, and wearing very minimal clothing, and in very suggestive poses. She said that it made her feel important and that is how she got friends so she wasn’t lonely. I was just very shocked by watching those videos. I didn’t get a social networking account on facebook until I came to college. I never got a myspace account. I did have instant messenger in high school but I only talked to my friends from school with it. I haven’t ever entered an open chat room either. I guess all of these factors just make me shocked that these children will go and do such horrible things on the internet.
3. I think that the most important take away message from the videos and articles is that the internet is very scary and so parents need to monitor their children’s internet usage very carefully! Along with that, in one of the videos the boy said that his dad monitors his internet use but he can tell when his dad is watching so he just goes to a website he thinks that his dad would want him to be on. Another very important point is to have the computer ONLY in a high traffic area in the home. Also, talking to your child about internet safety and the dangerous things online is also important.
4. The person that I talked to about internet safety said that she knew that the computer should go in a high traffic area in the house. She also said that with her own children, she tried to be in the room while any of her daughters were on the internet, that way she could just quickly glance over at the screen and make sure that her daughter wasn’t on a bad website, or doing anything that she wasn’t supposed to. The person that I talked to was very surprised at all the bad things that can actually be so easily accessed on the internet. She was glad that putting the computer in a high traffic area was a good thing and that she had done the right thing with her daughters. I think that the person I talked to will probably be even more careful about what her daughters look at on the internet.

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