The Youth and ‘Cyberworld’
A workshop. National Conference for Youth Ministers, 20 October 2010
Walter I. Balane
Welcome to ( ) “Cyberworld” the workshop on
Personal Sharing As a former youth minister As a journalist who works with the technology As a social and cultural participant and respondent As a Christian As a human being first
Quick Survey Who has email accounts? An e-group membership Friendster? Facebook? How many friends? a farm in Farmville? Twitter? a You tube habit? a personal website? Who writes journals/diaries a Blog? Internet connection at home? At work?
Quick View Opening Interviewing and Introducing Activity Defining the Cyber World Sharing : Media and Ministry Scanning: Faces and Frontiers of the Cyber World - The internet and the youth ministry Presentation Input: The Internet in a world of change and convergence Relationships and the internet/ The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Quick View (continuation) Opportunities to use the internet as a tool in youth ministry a. The e-groups b. The Social Networks c. Blogging: Online journals and micro blogging (place blogging), pro-blogging, others Individual Activity: Plans in integrating technology in evangelization Challenge
Challenge of Transformation ď Ž
What can we do in the ministry?
Interviewing and Introducing Activity Find a partner. You will be given 6 minutes to interview each other for your personal profile, expectations, and engagement with cyber world. Please use 3 minutes to prepare your presentation. Please introduce your partner to the group ‘accurately, concisely, completely’ with the given time.
Process Expectations and degree of engagement ď Ž What did you learn from the activity? ď Ž
Lessons
Asking the right questions, will yield the right answers In obtaining information, we need to know what we want to know in the end so we could work for it. We need to study/know the subject before we can talk about it. In presenting content, we need to be brief and concise State the most important information first and don’t drag. Be clear.
Opening: The world we live in Terrorism (The power of terror and warfare) Climate Change Individuality amidst Globalization “The Instant” Automation and Advance Technology Materialization Media Liberalization (misses in freedom and responsibility Electronic and Interconnectivity
A time when . . .
We think that the problems are only material, with worldly solutions
We think that technology is god Greed commands the economy and politics; distorts the laws
When God is only ‘on-call’ or when ‘on the need basis’
A time when . . .
We think of jumping, escaping, “transporting”
When good news is not news …
When the present disregards the past and neglects the future (mining, deforestation, etc)
The ‘popular’ (good looks, good words, money, clout) is the rule of the land (peer pressure on top)
ď Ž
The impacts, consequences, horrors and other effect of those conditions are made more accessible through the cyberspace.
What and where is Cyberworld? ď Ž
Ideas from the group
Welcome to Cyber World!
Source: Safeguarding Cyberworld, UK
Key words/phrases Cyberworld is a ‘New world’ Offering new opportunities and potentials Appears to be of private space with rules, behaviors and cultures exclusive to it Cyberworld offers knowledge, personal growth, extended relationships, and fun!
But Cyberworld exist in our world and is as public as our real lives The daily challenges of life also exist in CW. Obscured by a false sense of privacy and security All our activities are permanent, traceable, and accessible to anyone with knowledge and power to open it.
WWW surfs IM Chat in private rooms Chat in conference Emails Texting Etc.
The children of the Internet Age are ready to bare their bodies and souls in a way their parents never could. There is no going back or censorship capable of closing all chatrooms and Social Networking Sites. (some countries like Thailand can ban sites) ď Ž The joining together of mobile phone and internet technologies allows unregulated publication and sharing of personal profiles, video clips, photographs, sound recordings, written comments and documents (Hayden Kho) ď Ž
There is a debate about the value of cyber-networking and gaming. But almost all of the current generation of young people are living in two worlds at once – the real world and the cyber-world through new electronic technologies.
About 11:45 a.m. in an internet cafĂŠ children were playing Counter Terrorist games while the news spread of the MILF rogue command attack in Lanao del Norte
Cyber World experience ď Ž
The experience can be exhilarating as well as time-consuming, is informative and fun but less educational than recreational, and can create longlasting meaningful relationships with real people, as well as open-up new and dangerous risks of child abuse, bullying and intimidation.
ď Ž
There is broad interface between the real world and the world inside cyberspace. Behaviours in one shape and translate to the other, including the forming of relationships, testing social and personal potentialities, and developing new forums for selfexpression and creativity.
‘Dex’ 17-year old son of an acquaintance Silent type in real world, polite, mostbehaved in class awards, He looks sad and lost or displaced (space out) But in cyber world he showed and searched for lewd photos Used expletives/foul words (‘Y_w_ ka!’) ‘Happy’, talkative, wild, unpredictable
Do you know other people in your circles? ď Ž
What are their common conditions?
ď Ž
Childhood and adolescence are stages of life where play, imagination, curiosity, exploration and experimentation are vital to learning and growing towards maturity.
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In CyberWorld, the culture of anonymity created by self-chosen nicknames offers a false sense of safety within a technology that can store every piece of data forever, and track the cyber-persona back to the real-world person.
Google and Youtube ď Ž
They store personal data, it is in the service contract.
ď Ž
Has anyone cared to read service contracts of email accounts before actually signing in?
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By design they are made long, in legalese to more or less discourage people from reading it.
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The things children and young people do when testing their own identity and independence are part of learning appropriate behaviors and positive social rules.
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The actions used to be momentary - shortlived and quickly forgotten. Now the photograph or statement posted in haste and quickly regretted has been instantly downloaded on a mobile phone or the Internet, shared and stored in a thousand places to be resurrected as a reminder at any time throughout life
Source: Safeguarding Cyber World
The current generation of children will grow-up “CyberWorld savvy”, fluent in new languages and skilled in navigation. Current adults, including parents and professionals, are left behind by the speed and depth of developments. Yet these are the formative years, as the behaviours of the future are set-down for the first time, to become benchmarks. It is the current adult generation that must catch-up and engage with their children/youth in CyberWorld.
To understand CyberWorld, adults have to listen to children and recognise they have a sophistication and ability to perceive levels of reality and relationships. Their world is complex within a fast-changing childhood: individualization, consumerism, the decline of traditional (unaccountable) authority, an extended period of youth and corresponding parent-child tensions. ď Ž
This is a media-literate generation but they don’t manage the cyber-space perfectly. They’re in the process of learning the intricacies of “profiling” and at the same time learning the processes of forming an adult identity. Children and young people are very concerned about privacy from parents rather than strangers – just as previous generations fought for the privacy of
Source: Safeguarding Cyber World
Gender-based differences of behaviour are less obvious in CyberWorld, with boys “chatting” and flirting in a way they didn’t even ten years ago in face to- face contact. Some images and pictures placed on the web are carefully constructed “plays” that may be “macho” or “feminine” as a stylized statement in front of more honest, personal commentary.
Sharing: Common forms of cyberworld in your circles (used in ministry) 1) Forms 2) Benefits 2) Threats 3) How to enhance/transform the situation.
Forms Benefits Threats How to transform
Process ď Ž
To understand CyberWorld and the Social Networking Sites in particular, we have to challenge the myths by looking through the eyes of young people to draw honest comparators between cyber and real-life relations and communication.
Young people say they use the Internet for: Communication Genuinely seeking help l Information Showcasing / promoting own talents l Entertainment Discussion and debate l Gaming Leagues, tournaments, social interaction l Escapism Procrastination (not having to do homework) l Attention Seeking Reinvent own life / create alternative identity l Friendships Genuinely seeking social relationships
Dangerous Actions Identified Invasion of privacy – no guarantee of who you’re talking to Blur between advertising and information - emotional exploitation Inaccurate information – no record from Chatrooms of what’s said Extreme views and pornography sexual exploitation of children Webcam / Video – pressurised into things not comfortable with
Dangerous Actions Identified Unwanted contact - grooming, stalking and predatory behaviours Cyberbullying - individual and group scapegoating and persecution Paedophiles and Predators - access by adults who want sex with children Gambling and purchases – high costs and illegal items for purchase Addiction - compulsive game playing, gambling or accessing images and
Peer-group monitoring – set-up real groups to discuss web activities Parent Education – help adults understand the processes & culture of cyberspace Social Education – discuss actions and consequences, public and private Being aware of one’s sexuality– lessons in age-appropriate public & private behaviours
Through time
CyberWorld is a variation on ancient themes, not a totally different universe.
The numbers hurt through Social Networking Sites are very small and mainly the most vulnerable and socially excluded children. There are real issues: Facebook was originally designed by a clever undergraduate to maintain his social group at college. That is, it was designed for adult use, not by children. Site managers can screen and monitor the sites, but often they don’t. As a result, sometimes the effect is similar to allowing a 12 year old unaccompanied into an 18 certificate film.
Face book education? ď Ž
A significant difference that can be both a danger and a safeguard is that all imagery on Social Networking Sites is permanent – the photos are stored and can be retrieved, forever. There needs to be care and caution over what children and young people offer of themselves on-line. They can be bullied over a prolonged period, and at the same time the bully can usually be tracked and the evidence obtained that can prove them guilty of offences that will have long term ramifications.
Challenge We need to transform the situation by building up ourselves so we can help in building up the other. Like Zaccheues, who was lost even with his richness, many of us are lost and ignorant, too. We can use our skills/exposure in cyber world to find and bring our lost flock back to God.
Some Opportunities of Cyber World ď Ž
Blogging
End. Thank you.