Haley:
So she had just kind of said, "I want eight to 12 pages," which would end up being 16, "of just content on digital safety and all the things that go along with that."
So when I did a deep dive on digital literacy, I found that there's all kinds of things that you could potentially add into an activity book. So I went with the route of focusing on fiber internet obviously, but then taking the route of just being kind online and knowing how kids are, with being around them all the time, and how they would absorb that information.

Andrea:
Welcome to Connected Conversations, the official podcast of Kosciusko Connect. Kosciusko Connect is a subsidiary of Kosciusko REMC. Since 2021, we have been providing lightning-fast, reliable fiber to the home internet service to rural portions of Northern Indiana.
On Connected Conversations, we talk about fiber internet, technology, community, and how to navigate the digital world in which we live. I'm your host, Andrea Melton. Thank you for connecting with us today.
Hello, and welcome to another fun episode of Connected Conversations. Today we are going to be talking about some of the things we have going on here at Kosciusko Connect that are focused more on our younger community members. This one's for the kids, well, and really the parents, of course, who want the best for their kids.
We've recently announced our very first Kosciusko Connect activity book for kids now available for free at our office. And I'm so happy to have my co-worker, Customer Engagement Specialist Haley Donahue with me today to talk about the activity book as she is the one who created and designed the book. Hi, Haley.

Haley:
Hi.

Andrea:
How are you doing?

Haley:
I'm good. How are you?

Andrea:
Good. And so you've joined me here on the podcast before, but please tell the listeners today, Haley, just a little bit about your role and what you do here at Connect other than designing activity books.

Haley:
Sure. So a lot of my daily work includes talking to customers on the phone, doing some marketing, graphic design, social listening, that kind of stuff, and then anything else that we need to do, sales for business or residential customers, really just filling those gaps.

Andrea:
Awesome. You're wearing a lot of hats.

Haley:
Yeah.

Andrea:
At Kosciusko Connect, we are always cognizant of the fact that our roots are grounded in the cooperative world. The people in this building have a commitment to cooperative principles, and while Connect is a separate company from Kosciusko REMC, we can't help but continue engaging in a way that keeps our subscribers' best interests in mind.
So one way we do this is by providing resources that help you, the listeners, our subscribers, navigate the digital world from this podcast to our weekly blog on our website that covers a variety of topics, to the additional services we offer like Guardian Protection.
So at the end of last year, our Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Tara Haack, had the idea for this kid's activity book. Haley, tell me about the initial conversations around this book and its intention.

Haley:
So the initial conversation around the book, she kind of gave me creative freedom on it and kind of the stuff that would be in it. So she had just kind of said, "I want eight to 12 pages," which would end up being 16, "of just content on digital safety and all the things that go along with that."
So when I did a deep dive on digital literacy, I found that there's all kinds of things that you could potentially add into an activity book. So I went with the route of focusing on fiber internet obviously, but then taking the route of just being kind online and knowing how kids are, with being around them all the time, and how they would absorb that information.

Andrea:
Right. Absolutely. So when we talk about being safe online, we're not just talking about unknown strangers and cyber threats and hackers, but also issues like bullying and the way kids interact with each other online. Very important.
Haley, had you ever designed anything like this before? What was your background in art and design?

Haley:
So no real background, honestly. I was very underqualified for the role of designing this activity book, if we're being completely honest. But I do have a passion for design and art. I've always painted, illustrated, flash art kind of stuff, and I've done a lot with the church stuff and my kids have a little small business called Sunny Days. It's just a fundraiser that they've done. So I've done things for that, but really nothing in Adobe until now.

Andrea:
So you used the Adobe Creative Cloud or Adobe Illustrator, InDesign?

Haley:
Yeah. InDesign, for sure.

Andrea:
It's InDesign to design the book.

Haley:
Yep.

Andrea:
Very good. Well, I beg to differ, because I think you did have a background. Even if it wasn't in a professional capacity, I know that you had an artistic background. And from the initial book to how it turned out in the end, it's obviously you're quite talented in that realm.
So tell me more about the process with this activity book, because you alluded to it a little bit, but I know you had people in your life who gave you input along the way when it came to fleshing out and designing the book.

Haley:
So I did a lot of sketching in paper pencil form and just kind of looking online at what maybe other internet providers were doing or what's out there on Amazon and what does a character look like, things like that. So I decided on simple shapes just because Splice looks like our logo, he's a circle, so [inaudible 00:06:15].

Andrea:
Tell us the characters' names again for those who maybe they've seen a picture of the book but they haven't really investigated. Tell us about them please.

Haley:
Yeah. So cool, let's go with Splice first. He is the yellow circle-looking guy. He was obviously based off of the logo. And then there is Speedy. He has a long body and really long legs so he can speed through houses and be speedy like fiber. And then there's Core. Fiber has a core, so he has a large core, because he uses his values.

Andrea:
I love it. The characters went through a little bit of development and change too. Maybe some color changes.

Haley:
Yeah. Didn't even know that until Lauren from the paper was here. I was like, "Oh, Splice used to be red. That's not right. He's yellow."

Andrea:
Speaking of which, I'm glad you brought that up. We had Lauren Zunger here from the papers the other day to talk with you about this book. We sent out a press release, as we often do, when something notable is going on here at Connect, and a lot of folks picked it up. So we heard about the Connect activity book on WNDU, and in the newspapers, and then Lauren came in to interview, so it's been getting a lot of attention.

Haley:
Yes.

Andrea:
It's been pretty neat. And I think because it is so topical, I'm kind of not surprised. Sometimes we maybe send out a press release and don't hear much back on it, but people took interest in this and it's because it is such an important topic in our modern digital society.
Haley, just how important do you think it is to introduce these online safety concepts to kids?

Haley:
Oh, it's huge. And I don't think there is an age where you should start, I think it should be a conversation always. I mean, I have a 7-year-old, we've talked about things online since he was probably four, maybe even younger. Just him knowing that things on the internet aren't always what they seem, or something could be embedded in a kid's YouTube video or whatever the case may be, you hear about all these horror stories, it's super important from toddler to teenager, especially teenager obviously, but yeah.

Andrea:
Absolutely. And important to lay that groundwork early so by the time they are reaching those ages where they have more freedom online, they make good choices and are kind of aware of threats.
So you do hear about a lot, and I have some statistics that I found that were interesting on cyberbullying from DoSomething.org. 27% of kids admitted to doing or saying something cruel to someone else online. So we have over a quarter of kids saying, "Yeah, I've been mean online. I've done that before."
Approximately 37% of kids age 12 through 17 have been the target of cyberbullying. 60% of kids have witnessed and mostly ignored cyberbullying. They admitted to that. Girls are much more likely to be both the perpetrators and the victims of cyberbullying.
Only one out of 10 kids will actually tell their parents that they've been bullied. And this last statistic, more than 50% of kids aged 10 to 12, or what we call tweens, have been exposed to inappropriate online content. So everything from hate speech, vulgar language, to violence and sexually explicit language, images and videos. So that's over half of kids at that age, 10 to 12. And we know encountering that type of content can have a negative impact on a kid's self-esteem, emotional development, and so much.
So, and really, statistics like these are the reason why at Kosciusko Connect, we believe it's so very important to provide resources, educate, and really just continue the conversation around online safety and digital literacy. And I believe this activity book for kids is just such a great early step in introducing some of these concepts to young kids. And I love what you did with it. So great job, Haley.

Haley:
Thank you.

Andrea:
We would be remiss not to talk a little bit about Guardian right now. So other than educating your kids on online safety, it's really very important to have additional parental controls when it comes to your home internet connection.
Kosciusko Connect does offer Guardian Protection, which is an affordable advanced internet security add-on that gives you that complete control over your home network that you're looking for. And it's 12.95 a month to add that Guardian Protection to your Kosciusko Connect app and to your normal service.
Haley, I know you've had a great experience with Guardian yourself as a mother of two younger children. Which functions of Guardian do you find the most useful in your everyday life?

Haley:
Yeah. Not only is Guardian just good for parental controls, but overall virus and hackers, it takes place of that malware, so that's awesome. I've gotten a few notifications that the VPN detected or a virus was blocked or hacker. I don't think I've gotten a hacker one, but definitely virus and VPNs.
But my favorite is the content blocking. So my kids watch YouTube. I don't love it, but they do. So being able to go on the backend on the app through Guardian and enabling content blockers such as the things that you said in those statistics, the sexual conduct and the crude language. I even have gambling blocked, which I don't think my kids are smart enough to gamble, but it's out there. He can click on it, it's out there. So just having those content blockers, you can set them by age or you can go in there and customize them, which I've taken the time to do, so it's super helpful.

Andrea:
Very good. Thank you for sharing about your experience with Guardian with us. Anything else we would like to say about the Kosciusko Connect activity book for kids?

Haley:
Yeah. It is free for pickup, so I encourage everyone to come out and grab a copy. It's got some awesome content from digital footprints to how the fiber is ran. So even as adults, if you're curious how we run your fiber, it's in that coloring book. So step by step, Splice will show you the way.

Andrea:
This is so true. I learned things from the book actually that I didn't... I've been here less than a year, so I'm still learning all the ins and outs in the tech of the fiber world. It is a great book with a great glossary of terms too.

Haley:
Yes, yes.

Andrea:
Oh, and also we want to talk about the little crocheted version of our friend, Splice, who was sitting on your shoulder in some of those great photos that the newspapers picked up. Tell me about that.

Haley:
Yes. So shout out to Alexis Elliott from Crew 2:22 at Living Hope Ministries youth. I'm a whole over all of that youth ministry stuff there, but during the process I included them a lot of the time just because they're my leaders in training and I lean on them a lot.
So especially Alexis, she is very creative like me and talented, they all are, but she is very artistic. So I got her input quite often. And during the process, she is learning to crochet, so she crocheted Splice for me and brought it to me to church, and it almost brought me to tears because it was full moment there from start to finish. These kids have just been with me through a lot of my life, so seeing her getting excited for it was really fun.

Andrea:
Aw, that is so special. What a great memory.

Haley:
Yes.

Andrea:
Thank you to all the kids who helped you out, Haley, and gave you input.

Haley:
Yes.

Andrea:
I enjoyed hearing about their input too.

Haley:
Yeah, they did great.

Andrea:
Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Haley, for taking the time today to talk about the activity book and our commitment to helping families create a safe home network and online environment. I appreciate you coming in.

Haley:
Yes, not a problem.

Andrea:
And I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
You've been listening to Connected Conversations, the official podcast of Kosciusko Connect. From all of us at Kosciusko Connect, thank you for connecting with us today.