cellphones - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz Catholic News New Zealand Mon, 25 May 2020 06:07:13 +0000 en-NZ hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://cathnews.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-cathnewsfavicon-32x32.jpg cellphones - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz 32 32 70145804 Feelings of helplessness fueling conspiracy theories in NZ https://cathnews.co.nz/2020/05/25/conspiracy-theories-covid-19-5g/ Mon, 25 May 2020 08:01:07 +0000 https://cathnews.co.nz/?p=127182 conspiracy theories

Cell phone towers across New Zealand are being set on fire, and authorities believe the attacks are linked to the increasing proliferation of conspiracy theories connecting 5G networks to the coronavirus pandemic. David Farrier joined anti-5G Facebook groups after receiving online abuse for appearing in a pro-5G commercial. He told The Project that memberships in Read more

Feelings of helplessness fueling conspiracy theories in NZ... Read more]]> Cell phone towers across New Zealand are being set on fire, and authorities believe the attacks are linked to the increasing proliferation of conspiracy theories connecting 5G networks to the coronavirus pandemic.

David Farrier joined anti-5G Facebook groups after receiving online abuse for appearing in a pro-5G commercial.

He told The Project that memberships in these groups have swelled since the pandemic.

One of the larger groups has grown from 3,000 people before the crisis to 13,000 and climbing.

In a tweet Farrier said he had filed police reports about death threats against the prime minister he had seen in some of the Facebook groups.

"For them, this flat denial from the government just proved their theories correct.

This was a conspiracy that went right to the top.

And in the groups, they continued to cheer the arsonists on."

New Zealanders were already wary of 5G: A survey released in December found 46 per cent of people were worried the network could affect human health, according to Newsroom.

But since the coronavirus has become a pandemic and New Zealand went into a strict lockdown, conspiracy theories have become more popular.

The Prime Minister's chief science advisor, Juliet Gerrard, has launched a website aimed at correcting misapprehensions around 5G.

"There is no evidence whatsoever that coronavirus is in any way connected to 5G," it reads.

"It has all the ingredients for leading people to conspiracy theories," said Karen M. Douglas, a social psychologist who studies belief in conspiracies at the University of Kent.

"Rumours and patently unbelievable claims are spread by everyday people whose critical faculties have simply been overwhelmed, psychologists say, by feelings of confusion and helplessness."

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Feelings of helplessness fueling conspiracy theories in NZ]]> 127182 Sacred Heart College lets students use cellphones only at lunchtime https://cathnews.co.nz/2016/08/30/sacred-heart-students-use-cellphones-lunchtime/ Mon, 29 Aug 2016 16:52:29 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=86444 A new rule at a Lower Hutt school means teenage girls are allowed to check their phones only at lunchtime. Sacred Heart College has introduced a rule that means cellphones are not to be used during school except in the lunch break, or if the phone is being used as a learning tool in class. In Read more

Sacred Heart College lets students use cellphones only at lunchtime... Read more]]> A new rule at a Lower Hutt school means teenage girls are allowed to check their phones only at lunchtime.

Sacred Heart College has introduced a rule that means cellphones are not to be used during school except in the lunch break, or if the phone is being used as a learning tool in class.

In July, it alerted parents to the change in the school newsletter, asking them to contact their daughters only at lunchtime. They could also get in touch before and after school. Continue reading

Sacred Heart College lets students use cellphones only at lunchtime]]> 86444 Coping with cyber-bullying https://cathnews.co.nz/2013/04/09/coping-with-cyber-bullying/ Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:12:48 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=42475

What can be more painful to a parent than losing a child to suicide? The problem of cyberbullying was brought to national attention several years ago by the passing of 13-year-old Megan Meier, who committed suicide subsequent to cyberbullying by Lori Drew, the mother of another girl. Despite years of public campaigns and passage of Read more

Coping with cyber-bullying... Read more]]> What can be more painful to a parent than losing a child to suicide?

The problem of cyberbullying was brought to national attention several years ago by the passing of 13-year-old Megan Meier, who committed suicide subsequent to cyberbullying by Lori Drew, the mother of another girl.

Despite years of public campaigns and passage of laws against cyberbullying, the phenomenon is becoming increasingly common and children continue to suffer, with too may of them tragically taking their own lives.

What can you do to protect your children from the ravages of cyberbullying?

The advice we usually get from experts is that adults need to increase their supervision of children, to inform the school and the legal authorities when cyberbullying is discovered, and to fight for increasingly tough anti-bullying laws.

While such efforts may be helpful and are sometimes necessary, if you are depending upon them as the ultimate solution for your children, you are likely to be disappointed.

It would be wonderful if we could solve social problems simply by passing laws against them, but bullying has been an escalating problem despite passage of intensive anti-bullying laws. Getting the authorities involved against other people's children usually escalates hostilities, as their parents are likely to take their own kids' sides against yours, and the kids will hate your child for trying to get them in trouble.

Many bullied children who have taken their own lives did so after the authorities got involved. And as much as you may wish to, you can never fully supervise your children's use of cell phones and computers or you'll have no time for anything else. Furthermore, if you try to deprive them of all privacy, they are likely resent you.

If you truly wish to help your children avoid the pain of cyberbullying, it helps to take a different attitude towards the problem.

Would you give your children a car and let them drive it without having learned how to use it properly and how to avoid the dangers of the road? Continue reading

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