CiD

CYBERETHICS: Our Relationships in Cyberspace

Dr. Sebastian Mahfood,
Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies,
Kenrick-Glennon Seminary

CYBERETHICS:
Our Relationships in Cyberspace

Thursday, February 19, 2009, 7-8 pm
Main Auditorium, Cardinal Rigali Center

20 Archbishop May Drive, Shrewsbury, MO 63119

$5 suggested donation — RSVP

Cyberbullying and Other Ethical Excesses in Cyberspace

ST. LOUIS, MO — Last Summer, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt signed a bill outlawing cyberbullying. The action followed the suicide death, two years earlier, of a 13-year-old Missouri girl jilted by an imaginary, online boyfriend created by a neighbor.

On Thursday, February 19th, at the Cardinal Rigali Center in St. Louis, Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, associate professor of intercultural studies at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, will present a lecture on “Our Relationships in Cyberspace.” Dr. Mahfood is an authority on “cyberethics,” the application of moral standards to the internet and other virtual reality arenas. Mahfood contends that technology is an extension of our selves and that we need to remember that we are interacting with real persons when we engage them via websites, blogs, videos, and other online forums. Cyberbullying is one of several specific cases he will address.

In his presentation, and the question-and-answer session to follow, Dr. Mahfood will also discuss internet courtesy or “netiquette,” internet slander, anonymous blogging, plagiarism in cyberspace, software piracy, humorous and harmful hoaxes, etc.

Dr. Mahfood is a founding member of Catholic Internet Developers (CiD), a networking and support group for St. Louis-area writers, artists, and programmers providing content for the internet.

To schedule an interview with Dr. Mahfood, please contact: Bob Duplantier, Chairman
Catholic Internet Developers

Tags: Children and Electronic Media, CiD event, communication, cyberchastity, cyberethics, internet

Media Impact on Children

Media can be a positive influence in the lives of children and adolescents, but care is needed to avoid the negative side effects. This is the conclusion of a series of 10 short papers just released by the journal Children and Electronic Media. — Zenit.org

Zenit summarizes the research contained in these papers and concludes that “parents have to take responsibility for helping their children develop healthy media habits.”

Tags: advertising, Brookings Institution, children, Children and Electronic Media, cyberbullying, gaming, marketing, media, online chat, Princeton University, sex, technology, television, The Future of Children, video games, violence, Woodrow Wilson School