Technology

1. Remember that there is a God in heaven and another human being on the other side of the computer. The person on the other end of your message has feelings, parents, and friends just as you do. In addition they are a child of God like you. How would you feel if you were the one who would be receiving the same e-mail or text? What would God say to you about your use of the internet?

2. Remember that as you use the internet that you are still you and you proclaim to be a Christian. Do not bring shame upon God’s name and your own name by saying or doing something that you wouldn’t do if that person was right in front of you.

3. Remember to keep holy your actions on the internet because once you post it you cannot take it back. Ask yourself if this is something that you may regret later posting, how will this affect my or someone else’s reputation, and never post anything in anger

4. Remember to honor the other person by taking a moment and think about how the message might be misinterpreted because there will be no body language accompanying it. Remember that a lot of how someone accepts a message face to face has comes from the clues that you give him or her by your body language. Will this message seem harsher because of a lack of body language?

5. Do not harm others intentionally through your communication. Remember that doing so is a sin against the Fifth Commandment of “Do not kill.” Be virtuous in all your cyber communication. Your cyber “character” tells much more about you than you will ever realize.

6. Avoid websites with immoral materials. Would you want your parents, grandparents, teachers, parish priests, or other important adults to see what you are seeing? Will what you view lead to other sins? Remember the best defense against sin is avoidance.

7. Always use the computer with moderation. Always examine your use of the computer to see if it is the best use of your time. Are you stealing time away from other things like school work, career work, sleep, and/or real relationships? If so you may have an addiction and need professional help. Remember that real life is always better than cyber life because real life is real and was created by a God who loves you deeply.

8. Remember that you are to never doing anything that would harm another’s reputation by bearing false witness against another person. Remember also that value your friendships with others by keeping their information confidential.

9. Know where you are and who you are talking to on the Internet at all times. It is extremely easy for someone to trick another person over the internet. Know who you are “friending” at all times. There are sinful people out there who are spending countless hours of thinking of ways to fool you.

10. Above all remember that you are a child of God and you have many great gifts and talents. Never use them for evil, always respect other people who are also children of God, and remember the Gospel commands to love your God with your whole heart and your neighbor as yourself. This love for God, others, and self even extends to our brothers and sisters no matter how many times they have wronged us and it even extends to our enemies.

I. I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before me.
1. Have I treated people, things or activities as being more important than God?
2. Have I spent more time on the internet/phone/etc. then I needed to?
3. Has the use of social media taken away from my prayer time and relationship others?

II. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
1. Have my words or actions put down God, Church, or others?
2. Have I mocked Church leaders, teachings, or fellow Christians openly online?
3. Have I brought scandal to others by drawing undue attention to problems within the Church between people?

III. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
1. Have I attended Mass at the appropriate times?
2. Have I allowed commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or blogging to replace my prayer life?
3. Have I spent too much time on the internet to the neglect of prayer and family time?

IV. Honor your father and your mother.
1. Do I show my parents proper respect both offline and online?
2. Do I maintain good communication with my parents or do I hide a lot of my behavior?
3. Do I criticize my parent to others especially online?

V. You shall not kill.
1. Have I physically, verbally or emotionally abused someone through anger, gossip, or rumor.
2. Have I destroyed another reputation online?
3. Have I joyfully ridiculed others online and rejoiced in their setbacks?

VI. You shall not commit adultery.
1. Have I respected the physical and sexual dignity of other and of myself?
2. Have I used the internet to visit porn sites or engage in sinful conversations about sex?
3. Have I used the internet in such a way that I could be leading others into sin?

VII. You shall not steal.
1. Have I taken or wasted time or resources that belonged to others?
2. Have I spent valuable work time on the internet?
3. Have I used the internet to perform any sort of crime?

VIII. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
1. Have I gossiped, spread lies, or exaggerated stories in order to hurt another?
2. Have I posted or reposted comments online that I suspect may not be true?
3. Have I used posted false information about myself on social media pages in order to get in appropriate attention?

IX. You shall not covet your neighbor’s spouse.
1. Have I given all my relationships the appropriate time and energy?
2. Do I spend too much time online dreaming of a different life than the one I have?
3. Do I fantasize about different people that I have “met” online?

X. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
1. Do I spend time browsing online stores desiring things that I cannot afford leading me to become jealous and angry at those who can?
2. Do I spend too much money online?
3. Am I giving an appropriate amount of my income to charity?

The following are a list of texting codes that a parent gave to me so that I could share them with other parents.

1. IWSN - I want sex now
2. GNOC - Get naked on camera
3. NIFOC - Naked in front of computer
4. PIR - Parent in room
5 CU46 - See you for sex
6. 53X - Sex
7. 9 - Parent watching
8. 99 - Parent gone
9. 1174' - Party meeting place
10. THOT - That hoe over there
11. CID - Acid (the drug)
12. Broken - Hungover from alcohol
13. 420 - Marijuana
14. POS - Parent over shoulder
15. SUGARPIC - Suggestive or erotic photo
16. KOTL - Kiss on the lips
17. (L)MIRL - Let's meet in real life
18. PRON - Porn
19. TDTM - Talk dirty to me
20. 8 - Oral sex
21. CD9 - Parents around/Code 9
22. IPN - I'm posting naked
23. LH6 - Let's have sex
24. WTTP - Want to trade pictures?
25. DOC - Drug of choice
26. TWD - Texting while driving
27. GYPO - Get your pants off
28. KPC- Keeping parents clueless