Update!

I hear that Brendan, our great Worth Peepin’? reviewer, caught a new flick that opened this weekend! He should have an inciting review of it up on the site tomorrow! Stay tuned you don’ t want to miss it!

New Technology Class Coming to Canadian Schools

There was a time when the main courses in grade school included the typical math, English, French, and social studies programs.   In this era of  technology students can expect to add another course to their curriculum–text ed.

This new course, part of textED.ca will be tried in one hundred seventh grade classrooms across Canada for the upcoming month.   A full version of the program will be implemented in the fall in all schools.   The announcement of this new course comes from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association.  According to the agencies, this program is designed to teach the proper behavior that one should follow when texting.  It is also designed to teach teenagers the dangers of sexually explicit text messages, harassing messages, and other types of texts that could harm themselves or another individual.

A study conducted by Pew Research Centre found that 15% of teens between 12 and 17 years old have received nude photos or videos through a text message on their cell phones.  With the launch of this new program in schools, Canada is attempting to highlight the dangers to its youths on “text luring” and other risks that are associated with inappropriate texting.

The website, textED.ca, has many sections on it that highlight proper texting etiquette.  The site includes things such as times when one should not text, taking the time to enjoy technology and knowing when to not let it control oneself, and knowing that it’s okay to be disconnected at times from technology.  The website even includes an “acronictionary” that explains the meanings of commonly abbreviated words used in text messages.

The program is also designed to inform teens that they can approach a trusted adult if they ever feel threatened or uncomfortable by messages that they receive.

–Matthew Casey

Thoughts?

5% of teens aged 12 to 17 received nude photos or videos on their cell phones and a similar survey done by LG electronics suggested that number could be as high as 22%.

Even in Tragedy People Still Out to Scam

Police are warning people to be vigilant of a new email money scam that is going around.  It’s being reported that a group of scam artists is sending out millions of emails.  The messages claim they are in Haiti and are victims of the recent earthquake.  Claiming to be badly injured, they are requesting money to buy medicine.   The emails also make a claim that they are front line aid workers who are trying to raise money to help others as well.

The public is being warned to ignore these emails and to be extremely careful to who they send their money to.  These fraudulent emails always ask for the funds to be sent via money transfers.

It’s a shame that even amidst all of the devastation in Port Aux Prince and Haiti that there are individuals out there who would seek to rob money from willing donors for their own good.  This shows that the world is a scary place and one must be ever conscious of everything around them.  I would suggest only making donations through official charities and to do so in person, that way you know that your money is safe and is going to the people who need it and not lining the pockets of someone who doesn’t.

—Matthew Casey