PYW FCE OCtober meeting

Members of the Dorrance PYW FCE met Oct. 10 at the home of Mary Lee Bohnen. Roll call was taken and members in attendance were Bohnen, Rita Habbart, Betty Jo Lloyd, Donna Fay Major, Aubrey Ptacek and Mary Ann Thill.

Minutes from the Sept. 7 meeting were read and approved, along with the treasurer’s report. Election of officers took place. There were no additional bills or communications.

The annual soup feed was discussed in detail.

The soup feed will be held Nov. 11 at the Dorrance DCBA building from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Soups served will be chili, vegetable beef, chicken and noodles and ham and beans.

Sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, cornbread and a variety of homemade pies will also be available. Ptacek gave the lesson “What’s on Your Device?” This lesson was about smart phone basics, types of social media and the top social media platforms currently used. A short history of communications was provided, from using smoke signals to Morse code to the smart phone. The use of privacy settings was an important topic of discussion regarding Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

Another topic of discussion were the problems with individuals posting and sharing photos of their children/ grandchildren on these platforms. The concerns are they could be used for child pornography and that these images are on social media forever.

Fraudsters can put together names, birthdays and even addresses from online family posts and use this information to steal an identity or crack passwords.

There are also concerns about teens spending too much time on social media, some as much as nine hours a day, and the impacts this has on their mental health. There have been surveys done that found the use of these social networks are associated with teens having high levels of anxiety, depression, bullying and FOMO (fear of missing out). It’s feared they can also foster poor sleep habits and a negative body image.

As a parent or grandparent, have discussions about what platforms are and are not acceptable, when it’s appropriate to share, limit usage and review your privacy settings.

With no other business, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting will be Nov. 11 at the DCBA building for the annual soup feed. Betty Jo Lloyd, Secretary