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Eye on the world: Protecting children on the internet
In “Take it from a parent, ask your kids before you post to Facebook” in The Christian Science Monitor, it is reported that “many parents appear to have a hard time guiding kids’ use of the internet. Studies have consistently shown kids and teenagers use at least one social media account their parents don’t know about.” Also, “4 out of 10 middle schoolers admitted using the internet in ways their parents would not approve, and many kids lied about their age online.” To prevent compromising online behavior, “parents shouldn't just talk to kids about digital privacy and security …. They should actually demonstrate what responsible sharing looks like …. ” Educating children about safe sharing online is a compulsory part of parenting in an age where kids have nearly constant access to the internet. The article concludes that “the more we start talking about what ‘good sharing’ looks like online, the more the internet will evolve into the kind of community we want for our children.”
Ideas on this subject:
From the Bible:
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
From the writings of Mary Baker Eddy:
The necessity for uplifting the race is father to the fact that Mind can do it; for Mind can impart purity instead of impurity, strength instead of weakness, and health instead of disease. Truth is an alterative in the entire system, and can make it “every whit whole.”
—Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 371
Beloved children, the world has need of you,—and more as children than as men and women: it needs your innocence, unselfishness, faithful affection, uncontaminated lives. You need also to watch, and pray that you preserve these virtues unstained, and lose them not through contact with the world. What grander ambition is there than to maintain in yourselves what Jesus loved, and to know that your example, more than words, makes morals for mankind!
—Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 110
Related articles from The Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel:
In “Cherish innocence”: “The man of God’s creating, the image of Love, includes every aspect of loveliness—purity, selflessness, holiness. He reflects every facet of childlike innocence: joy, integrity, delight, spontaneity, attraction to goodness. And he reflects those qualities now, here.” And: “We can begin now to cherish innocence, put off material-mindedness, and view with compassion our worldwide family. As we pray for mankind, we will be fulfilling the commandment of Christ Jesus to love one another. We will see the childlike purity and innocence of our fellowman, and this will comfort and heal.”
In “A rising tide lifts all boats”: “God’s thoughts inspire His creation, including each of us, and it’s right to expect to see that inspiration reflected in our dealings with others …. ” And: “Online groups devoted to illegal activities, to encouraging destructive behavior or racially charged rhetoric, should fade away for lack of interest. Those aren’t the kinds of communities that we need to foster, and the relative anonymity of the Internet doesn’t make that kind of flawed thinking immune to the cleansing, uplifting power of prayer. A rising tide lifts all boats, as they say, and as we pray to purify our own motives for participating in online communities, we can expect to see any ungodlike sentiments fall away for everyone else, too.”
The articles above and others dealing with this subject can be found on JSH-Online.com or on CSMonitor.com.