On the side of children

“The challenge is to create new relations between education and media to permit each child to grow and not to suffer”, explained Bishop JEAN-MICHEL DI FALCO of Gap, chairman of the Council for Communication of the French Bishops’ Conference, commenting on the theme of this year’s Journées chrétiennes de la communication (JCC) in France: “Children and the media: a challenge for education”. This year’s theme is, for the first time, the same as that of the 41st World Day of Social Communications to be celebrated in May. In his Message for the JCC (29 January – 4 February), Bishop Di Falco wonders whether “in the spate of messages transmitted every day there is any scope for freedom, responsibility and moral choice”. GROWING, NOT SUFFERING . “The growing influence of communication and the development of ever more powerful media have positive aspects, but sometimes perverse effects that are difficult to control”, points out the bishop. “The means and the tools of communication form part of the world of the young” and influence “their way of living, thinking, loving and working”. Nonetheless, according to the bishop, “genuine communication is not the medium but the message”; so the challenge is that of “creating new relations between education and media to permit each child to grow and not to suffer”. This is a challenge in which “parents play a paramount role”, observes Archbishop BERNARD BARSI of Monaco, who also sits on the Council for Communication of the French episcopate. He is convinced that “to educate children in a critical sense, and make them conscious of the dangers of the Internet, in particular violence and pornography, what is first needed is for parents to gain an awareness of what’s at stake. It’s not a question – he explains – of declaring war against these media, but of exploiting their positive aspects”.BALANCE OF LIFE. Starting out from the appeal of Benedict XVI in his Message for the World Day (education in the media requires education in the exercise of freedom), Monsignor ANDRÉ DUPLEIX , assistant general secretary of the French Bishops’ Conference, insists on the importance of “educating the young in discernment in the use of the almost unlimited means placed at their disposal by the new networks of communication”. “Since communication is becoming increasingly immediate and planetary, those born today and tomorrow won’t have the same rapport that we have with events and with history. Yet – notes the bishop – this does not mean we should renounce our educational responsibility towards them”. So what is the commitment contained in the connotation “Christian” given to the JCC? “It means, in particular – explains Msgr. Dupleix -, enabling the constant reference to the Gospel to develop and keep alive in us the necessary moral discernment about the means of communication we use, the truth and quality of the relations we form, and the balance of life we must learn and propose to our children and adolescents”.PROJECTS. As each year, the programme of the Christian Days of Communication, founded in France following Vatican Council II, comprises various projects. The eight dioceses of the Ile de France, for example, have organized a competition on the Internet, in which some 2,000 children aged between 8 and 10 have enrolled. Gathered in small groups in a parish or Catholic school under the guidance of some animators, they will be asked on Sunday, 4 February to answer 50 questions on line in 50 minutes on catechesis, the Bible, Christian festivities and the life of the Church. The day will conclude with the award of prizes to the winners and a reception. “We wish to enable children to discover – explain the organizers – that being Christians can enable them to enjoy moments of festivity at the diocesan level and, at the same time, we wish to demonstrate that the Church is able to use the means of communication in a creative way”. At Évreux, the diocese recently brought together over 120 experts in communication (editors of newsletters, communications delegates in the parishes, teams of local animation) for a day in which workshops alternated with testimonies. “God communicates with all of us and goes further by transforming this communication into communion”, said the Bishop, CHRISTIAN NOURRICHARD, according to whom “the Church cannot exist without communication. Evangelising means communicating, whereas remaining silent would be a sin of omission”. But, he explained, “if we don’t want to run the risk of fragmentation, it is important for us clearly to know where we are stand and in whose name we speak”. Meanwhile a “handbook” has been published on the website of the diocese of Angers (http://catholique-angers.cef.fr): seven recommendations to teach parents how to “accompany serenely” their children in using the Web.