O Selfless Saviors

#567; O Selfless Saviors

I bookmarked this cartoon in November, then became sidetracked by other things and never got around to the posting I had envisioned.

Since 1983, Joel Best has been tracking reports and complaints about contaminated candies given to trick-or-treaters. Best, professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, assures concerned parents that "Tainted Halloween candy is a contemporary legend, spread by word of mouth, with little to support it."

Why bring this up in December, long after costumes have been packed away and pumpkins relegated to the trash heap?

While Halloween is a once-a-year occurrence, children and teens can access the Internet daily. Alarmed by news reports of online predators, unsure of how to navigate an unfamiliar digital landscape, parents and, in many cases, school districts, turn to heavy filtering as a protective measure for students.

What do adults fear? In the Final Report: Friendship section of the Digital Youth Project, lead author danah boyd spells it out:

"The same 'stranger danger' rhetoric and 'terror talk' that limit youth from interacting with strangers in unmediated public spaces (Levine 2002; Valentine 2004) have also taken hold online. There are school assemblies dedicated to online dangers, primarily the possibility of sexual predators. Mainstream media, law enforcement, teachers, and parents reinforce the message that interacting with strangers online is risky. While the percentage of teens who have experienced unwanted sexual solicitations has declined through the years (Wolak, Mitchell, and Finkelhor 2006), the fear that youth—and especially girls—are at risk has increased (Cassell and Cramer 2007; Marwick 2008). At a deeper level, the public myths about online 'predators' do not reflect the actual realities of sexual solicitation and risky online behavior (Wolak et al. 2008). Not only do unfounded fears limit teenagers unnecessarily, they also obscure preventable problematic behavior (Valentine 2004)."

To some, the solution rests, ironically, in reliance on technology.

Enhancing Child Safety (released by the Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States) has this to say regarding filtering and monitoring software:

"The Task Force remains optimistic about the development of technologies to enhance protections for minors online and to support institutions and individuals involved in protecting minors, but cautions against overreliance on technology in isolation or on a single technological approach. Technology can play a helpful role, but there is no one technological solution or specific combination of technological solutions to the problem of online safety for minors. Instead, a combination of technologies, in concert with parental oversight, education, social services, law enforcement, and sound policies by social network sites and service providers may assist in addressing specific problems that minors face online. All stakeholders must continue to work in a cooperative and collaborative manner, sharing information and ideas to achieve the common goal of making the Internet as safe as possible for minors." -Final Report, Executive Summary

Rather than "paranoia-inducing hypervigilance," our children need instruction, guided practice, supervision, and open lines of communication when engaging in online activities.


"After all, children are our future," and technology is part of their future.




"Fear of corrupting the mind of the younger generation is the loftiest of cowardice." -Holbrook Jackson



Related posts:

Al Upton & Jabiz Raisdana:
A Heavy Armor (March 14, 2008)
Listen (March 20, 2008)
A Confederacy of Dunces (March 27, 2008)
Spindles (April 5, 2008)

Filtering & censorship:
A Question of Censorship (October 3, 2007)
Only Those Places (January 18, 2008)
Unsuited to Age Group (February 17, 2008)
The Loftiest of Cowardice (September 27, 2009)

Civility

"Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present." -George Washington, Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior


In my last posting, The Prevailing Common Sense of the Field, I addressed the topic of "tweckling," or heckling on a Twitter backchannel. I concluded with a question: "Are there 'rules' - should there be?"

Evidently the answer to my query is a definite "yes."

While I was visualizing bored captives of a Death by PowerPoint presentation trying to stay awake (and maybe extracting a measure of revenge by wandering far off topic via undercover conversations), a much different scenario was being played out in a very public venue.

Academic, researcher and blogger, danah boyd, was recently invited to speak at Web 2.o Expo in New York City. During Dr. boyd's discussion of social media, a pointless, inappropriate, even vicious stream of comments was projected on a screen positioned behind her back. When event personnel told her that the audience was initially upset because she was "talking too fast," boyd tried to adjust her presentation style, to no avail. The crowd responded with outbursts and laughter.

Dr. boyd later wrote in her blog, "when I walk off a stage not feeling invigorated, all I get is the raw drain, the gut-wrenching, nauseating feeling of pure misery. 20 minutes of being punched in the face, kicked in the stomach, and the shameful sensations one gets when one is forced to watch a Lars von Trier film. That's how I felt at Web2.0 Expo."



danah boyd gave one of the keynotes at AASL's Rev Up Learning conference in Charlotte, just a few weeks ago. She was a compelling and knowledgeable speaker. It's inconceivable to me that she would be unprofessional in any public speaking engagement. Unfortunately, the audience at Web 2.0 Expo was much less than professional in their response to Dr. boyd's perceived flaws.

We teach our students to be good digital citizens, we preach the evils of bullying, whether in real life or online. If professionals cannot model civility, then how do we expect children and teenagers to display it in their own lives?

There are many positive aspects to backchannel conversations, but there should be some ground rules. Chief among these is civility.




"In a time of social fragmentation, vulgarity becomes a way of life. To be shocking becomes more important—and often more profitable—than to be civil or creative or truly original." -Al Gore, politician and former U.S. vice president





"Civility" by divinenephron