The Director's Desk - Catholics on the Net

The Director's Desk
	December 1999 Catholics on the 'Net? You Bet! Part 2 of 2 Family Safety and Fun on the World Wide Web In part 2 of this series on Catholics and the Internet, I will look at some ways that Catholic families can use the Internet for fun and catechesis. In spite of the wild assortment of things available online, it isn't that hard to make an Internet surfing experience safe and enjoyable for your family. Safety First Many parents are nervous about Internet safety. There is certainly ample reason for concern. Before you plan a family foray onto the Internet, consider three pieces of advice: 1. Go there first, try it first. When planning an activity for your family on an Internet site, plan ahead and explore any sites that you would like to use, even those that were recommended by a reliable source. Test for yourself to ensure that the site has acceptable content, and is "user-friendly" for those who will be doing the activity. 2. Use search engines sparingly in your activity. Search engines like Yahoo, Altavista, Excite, and AskJeeves can be very helpful when surfing the 'Net. However, they are not always helpful for family use. The thousands, even millions of potential sites that come up when you enter a query, may frustrate beginners. My recent search on the terms "Roman Catholic" and "Jubilee 2000" produced over 3,700,000 sites! It takes some effort to refine a search. Even the most innocent searches can generate links that are unacceptable for family viewing. After you have tested out the activity yourself, you might offer hints of phrases to use for searching, or, instead of using a search engine, offer a list of sites that your family can use for the activity. 3. Participate in the Activity. While there are software filters that can assist with safe surfing of the Internet, the only way to be totally sure that your children are visiting kid-friendly sites is to visit the sites with them. Surfing the 'Net as a family can be both interesting and enjoyable, especially if you have a task to accomplish or a question to answer. Family Fun With safety issues out of the way, how do we actually have fun on the Internet? One simple way is to design a family activity. In about an hour, a catechist, catechetical leader, or parent can pull together a project that fits a season or theme, and requires participants to scour the Web for information. Here are some steps for pulling such an activity together. 1. Set a theme/topic. Select a theme or topic of immediate relevance, like the current liturgical season or an upcoming event. Much of the information available for Catholics online revolves around traditional content, like saints, seasons, teachings, sacraments, etc. 2. Decide upon the type of activity. The specialty of the Internet is providing information. Design an activity that centers on collecting or collating information and data. Half the fun is the "hunt" for information, and all of the other things that you discover along the way. As an example, I wrote a Jubilee 2000 Scavenger Hunt (see sidebar, at right). 3. Search and Surf. Visit sites that provide information for your activity. Cull these sites for pieces of information that are interesting and fun. Some starter sites that contain a lot of interesting content: Catholic Online: http://www.catholic.org/ The Holy See: http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm Catholic Information Center on the Internet: http://www.catholic.net/ Visiting the sites above can lead you to a host of other resources. Look for a "links" or "related sites" page for hints. The Center regularly updates its own Links Page as well. As you search, you will notice that most sites have a certain theological orientation or bias, and provide a mix of facts and opinion. Keeping your activity focused upon factual information will work best. 4. Pull it together! Write up instructions for the activity, including sites you want participants to use, hints about searching, and questions to be answered. Have fun with it - the only real limit is your creative genius! I would be happy to collect and share activities that are generated here at our site. Chris Weber Director Catholic Education Ministries of Central Maryland. Copyright © 1999 by the Catholic Education Ministries Center of Central Maryland, Emmitsburg, MD 21727. All rights reserved.	Vatican's Jubilee 2000 Web Site Rome/Vatican MORE...
		Director's Desk Archive November 1999 Catholics on the 'Net? You Bet! Part 1 of 2 October 1999 Forget Y2K, but don't miss the Jubilee! September 1999 Why Are We Afraid to Evangelize? August 1999 Prepare Ye the Way...for Catechetical Sunday SAMPLE Family Activity: Jubilee 2000 Internet Scavenger Hunt It took me about an hour to set up this Internet Scavenger Hunt. The longest part of the process was selecting the right information for the questions. With the format in place and a bit of practice, I am sure that another one could be pulled together in a much shorter time frame. To view the document, you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. Details...
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