21st Century Sheep » 21st century sheep

Youth Safety on a Living Internet

Paul — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:45:53 +0000

Youth Safety on a Living Internet – Report of the Online Safety and Technology Working Group, was released last month.

There are many recommendations in the report that resonated with me. Below are a few.

1. Avoid scare tactics. Trying to scare our kids into doing the right thing is not an effective strategy.

2. Digital citizenship in grades K-12 should be a national priority.

3. There is no silver bullet fix. Youth safety must be promoted through K-12 education AND parental awareness AND effective filtering and control software, etc…..

I encourage you to take a look at the report and draw your own conclusions.

CyberSafety for Families

Paul — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:14:55 +0000

I’ve been away from the blog for awhile. For the past four months I’ve been filling in as interim principal of the J.P. Knapp Early College High School. It was a great experience but it was exhausting. I’m now back to my normal duties.

Some time ago I wrote some material for the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church. The goal was to produce a program that could be used at a local church to train the congregation on internet and cell phone safety issues. The folks at GBOD did a wonderful job designing and implementing the final product. I received my copies this week.

The Content on the CD includes: planning guide, teaching plans, handouts and a 30 minute movie presentation. It is available on Amazon , the Upper Room, or from Cokesbury.

Digital Citizenship

Paul — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:23:43 +0000

I’ve been hearing this term more and more lately and I think it is a good framework for teaching adults and children about the proper use of digital resources.

Mike Ribble and Gerald Bailey have written on this subject in Digital Citizenship in Schools. Ribble and Bailey structure the book around `nine elements of digital citizenship‘ to help educators better understand the variety of topics that constitute digital citizenship and to provide an organized way to address them. The nine elements are: digital access, digital commerce, communication, literacy, etiquette, law, rights and responsibilities, health and wellness, and digital security.

I’m looking forward to reading their book.

Social Networking – It’s not just for kids anymore

Paul — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:07:43 +0000

I know that lots of adults use social networking sites but I didn’t realize how many. According to a report for the Pew Internet and American Life Project 46% of online American adults use a social networking site such as MySpace, Facebook, or Linkedin. Not surprisingly, Facebook is the most popular of the social networking sites for American adults.

These numbers come for a larger report, The Democratization of Online Social Networks by Amanda Lenhart. You can see her presentation here.

The Democratization of Online Social Networks

View more presentations from Pew Internet & American Life Project, Pew Research Center.

Video Game Addicts?

Paul — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:15:19 +0000

A new study suggests that approximately 10% of U.S. children are addicted to video games, including online games.

“Video/online games stimulate the brain’s “reward centers” which gives the same high drug addicts feel,” said Dr. Charles Lee, physician for The Pinnacle Schools.

“Children and teens are becoming addicted to video/online games the way people are addicted to drugs, alcohol and gambling.”

The 10% figure sounds a little high to me, but certainly some children are demonstrating addictive behaviors.

From the website: “The warning signs for gaming addictions are the same as those for alcohol and drug addictions. Signs include: Lying, Restless and irritable when doing other activities, Eating meals at the computer while gaming, Inability to keep track of time spent gaming, Increasingly defensive about game playing habits, Poor school performance, Skipping class, Loss of appetite/ skipping meals, Defiant, Isolate themselves from family and friends, Playing games instead of doing homework.”

The behaviors listed in the paragraph above certainly point to excessive use. Someone once told me “If something causes a problem, it is a problem.” If video games are causing the problems listed above it is time to take action, restrict video game use, and get the child involved in other activities.

For help identifying video game addiction and takes steps to curb it, check out this great resource from the MediaWise Network.

Children’s Ministry Forum

Paul — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:50:01 +0000

The Children’s Ministries Group at the General Board of Discipleship for the United Methodist Church is planning a Children’s Ministry Forum in Raleigh NC in February of 2010. The title of the forum is “Fill My Cup Lord.”

I have been invited to present and I am looking forward to being there. I will present two worksessions. The tentative topics are:

Where the Wild Things Are – Online Safety for Children

What are the real risks to children online? We will explore dangers and strategies of for teaching children and parents about online safety. Participants will learn practical strategies that can be put to use immediately.

Keeping up the Joneses (and everyone else online)

The President is on YouTube, Oprah is Skyping, and Lance Armstrong is Tweeting. Are you keeping up? What will the next “big thing” be? We will explore new resources and technologies that you can use in your personal life and in children’s ministries.

On a different topic I came across an interesting performance by Raul Midon playing his original song “All the Answers“. He is explores what it means to have immediate access to all the information on the Internet vs. having understanding. I think you will enjoy it.