Internet Safety: Doing

Oh Man. Of course this would happen. I knew I would somehow complete the final, post on everyone's blog and then forget to submit the rest of the assignment that was due this day. It's 12:10. I really hope this assignment gets some points.

I talked to my little brother about Internet Safety this evening. He's 16 but will be 17 in January. He is a Junior right now. I asked him what he thought of when he heard internet safety. He talked about pornography, and predators. That was a good start. I asked him about cyberbullying. He wasn't quite as familiar with that subject so I decided to focus on that. I think that is mostly because girls get in emotional problems more than boys. I talked about virtual realities and how things you say on the internet really do have an effect on people. I talked about how people feel safe saying mean things to others because all they are looking at is a screen and not a real face. But then I linked that to virtual realities and Elder Bednar's talk. I challenged him to read that. We looked at the pictures of computer rendering of room in the temple. It was amazing to talk about some of the stories Elder Bednar shared. My brother told me about online gaming and how that has to do with video games. He explained that xbox 360 can connect you with other players and you can play games with them. I think xbox 360 is technically online as well. He also shared with me that he and his friends got really into it for a couple months and he says he was probably addicted. He knows it was bad to be spending that much time doing it. I talked to him about the dangers of addiction and how it's the same reaction in your brain no matter if it's games, drugs or alcohol. I asked him how he felt about the talk and how he would have liked a teacher to address internet safety. He commented that the way I brought things up and talked about them in a matter of fact way was good and he thought people his age would really understand. I wasn't lecturing, I was just trying to connect with him on his level and see what he was dealing with. It went great. I think it was beneficial for him and I learned a lot too. Hopefully I can take that experience and build on it for the future.