Mobile Ministry Magazine

The Nokia Conversations blog has highlighted an article and its source post speaking about internet etiquette education in [South] Korea. Being that mobile and internet use is very high in terms of use and lifestyle in [South] Korea, its almost appropriate that they would be one of the first to take a whole sale approach to addressing use and ethics for parents, youth, and culture.

This quote speaks to why this matters and why as a Body we need to jump in and learn/apply these same lessons:

...many children including myself go through the phase when they relate their identity to imaginary or fictional characters. i am no expert in this area so i do wonder how future children would discover and exploit the fact that they can be the imaginary character to a certain extent if they want to, aided by other ‘people’ in the digital world, not just by their own imagination while they are going through the blossoming age of developing their social perception and individual identity. it is up to whether the child will be able to master the delicate skill set of constructing and maintaining the perception of a world in a non-physical form...

This is a subject that begs discussion on so many levels, not the least of which is because the technology moves so fast that education can sometimes be seen as a chore and something that holds it back. I disagree with this notion, and therefore discussions and policies like these are needed so that we don't end up with a culture that has a jaded sense of what is real versus what is virtual - or in other words find their identity in more than just the social programs they are engaged in.

Check out the posts at Nokia Conversations and Nokia Design Researcher Younghee Jung, and then the original Korean article (its in Korean) speaking about these policies for more insight and backstory on this.

As leaders and parents, how do you teach ethics, while allowing the technology to be a place where imaginations can form maturely?

Labels: children, church, communication, community, computer, education, parenting, teaching, tech, teens