Comments on: It’s the Parents’ Fault. Not.

By: Sean Conner

Sean Conner — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:21:46 +0000

The notion that schools should feel compelled to teach good digital citizenship is one I find to be self-evident. Whether we are preparing students for their professional careers, attending to their affective needs, or simply regarding their general safety, this skill set should be addressed by the school.

What I find interesting in this dialogue stream is that no one is questioning the role of the principal as chief disciplinarian of the school – the one who, in this scenario, “calls a student to the office” to address poor behavior. The truth of the matter is that our school cultures encourage the principal to manage the lunchroom, monitor the busses, have a presence in the hallways, and to chaperone the dance. Educational leadership appears to be lower on the list of things to which principals attend. The saddest part of this reality is that principals have largely chosen this role for themselves.

Interestingly, it is the principals who ought to be pushing technology staffers for fewer restrictions on their networks and for more accessabilities for staff and students. They should be crying out for their teachers to adopt a new model of instruction as they assist them in developing it.

Instead of developing a model that ought to be in place, principals are managing the model that is in place. Each and every innovation is another thing to be managed, and if it can be properly managed, it is welcomed. If it cannot be managed in the current construct, it cannot occur.

Because of this management approach, innovation is less likely to occur. If, for example, we waited for the FDA to create the cure for cancer, it would never happen – it’s not their job; they regulate. Managers are important, as is the FDA, but the role of the principal should not be filled by them. That position should be filled by an academic leader, a person who innovates and leads others to do the same. The managers are then left to make the evolved vision work.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:30:39 +0000

I think this is a very touchy subject and it applies different in the world of education and administration. From the administrators stand point I think by not allowing students to access certain sites it cuts down on their disciplinary issues and things of that nature. Now from an educator’s perspective these types of sites can be helpful as well as social tools for students. I think when you mentioned that parents may not all be capable or feel it is their job to instill these so called internet values you were completely right. We as teachers need to start very young in educating students on what is acceptable and what is not. This is not a process that could be started in the 8th grade by then the students have already been doing their own thing on the net. By having a district plan on how to handle internet practices and procedures while on school computes would have to be established throughout the schools and community.

By: Laura Pilker

Laura Pilker — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:54:49 +0000

Couldn’t agree more. I am a Technology teacher at a small K-8 private school in Maryland, and I start educating my students about safe online behavior in Kindergarten! Of course, it is age appropriate, and becomes more specific and less general as they progress into Middle School, but I think that in this case, the best defense is a good offense. I would rather warn my students and get them used to being open in these types of discussion early than worry about their safety later in their lives, when they have already developed bad web habits.

By: david stong

david stong — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:30:02 +0000

What a smart post. Thank you. Some elementary educators still think cell phones should be banned and miss an opportunity to teach proper use. Where do students learn the social implications in the use of cellphones, use of the internet, use of repositories, wikipedia, myspace and facebook? And possibly more importantly, where do elementary educators get the skills and insights to teach their students? Shouldn’t this sort of outreach be a core mission of higher ed?

By: bodmas blog

bodmas blog — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:14:21 +0000

Opening the curriculum firewall?…

Will Richardson
……

By: Doreen Overstreet

Doreen Overstreet — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:13:22 +0000

Interesting thoughts. I used to work with a school that had a session just for parents about social networking sites and how to teach their kids about using them properly. Althouh I like your idea about including students in the discussion.

By: Brenda’s library blog » Interesting Discussions About Cyber Safety

Brenda’s library blog » Interesting Discussions About Cyber Safety — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:45:23 +0000

[...] a look here for interesting thoughts on whose responsibility it is to make sure our students are using social [...]

By: Michelle Baldwin

Michelle Baldwin — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:53:31 +0000

Good news… schools will soon be required to educate students on internet safety. In our schools, that will also translate into digital citizenship.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1492

By: Danielle D.

Danielle D. — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:12:20 +0000

I find it funny that the principal is willing to go out of his way to look at the student’s personal online accounts, but is not willing to do anything but gripe about them. If you can look up this information on the students and pass judgment on them, surely there is something you can do to help these students become better educated on these websites. Yes, in an ideal world parents would monitor their kids every move on the internet. Speaking as someone who has to monitor the Myspace and Facebook accounts of my two younger siblings, it is not always easy to do so. My mother has no knowledge about the websites so asked me to monitor them. I do not always have the time to do so (not to mention they constantly change their passwords to keep me from logging in as them). The principal seems informed enough about the website, and since he is concerned I truly feel that he could work on doing something to educate both parents and students.While first grade may be a bit too soon, it is better to be safe than sorry. While parents may not come to an awareness night, I feel that integrating these skills in the students curriculum will help them in the long haul.

By: It’s the Parents’ Fault. Not. Weblogg-ed post - e-wot?

It’s the Parents’ Fault. Not. Weblogg-ed post - e-wot? — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:31:47 +0000

[...] post and comments on Weblogg-ed. It’s about new literacies, cyber-bullying and the roles of teachers and parents, the [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:47:29 +0000

Great post and comments.

We were recently given the opportunity to write a teacher training course in ‘Media Literacy’ for teachers in Singapore schools. One of the main focuses of the course is to develop knowledge and skills to enable the critical evaluation of different types of content across the different media available today. Helping teachers to empower children by helping them to understand, assess and manage risks – so they can make better choices.

The conversations we’ve had with schools here about Media Literacy seem to revolve around whether to integrate these literacies across the curriculum, or to integrate it into the English, General Studies and IT/Media syllabuses. Early days yet.

“Children and young people need to be empowered to keep themselves safe – this isn’t just about a top-down approach. Children will be children – pushing boundaries and taking risks. At a public swimming pool we have gates, put up signs, have lifeguards and shallow ends, but we also teach children how to swim.”
It’s from the Byron Review Report commissioned by the UK Prime Minister: Safer Children in a Digital Worldhttp://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview I can highly recommend it if you haven’t heard of it before.

By: Thing 7a Reflection | Traci Redish

Thing 7a Reflection | Traci Redish — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:47:08 +0000

[...] was reading through the articles in my reader, I came across an article by Will Richardson entitled, It’s the Parents’ Fault. Not. I agree that we must begin to teach students how to use the internet safely, rather than block [...]

By: Jill

Jill — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 01:16:17 +0000

http://www.faceourselves.com

By: Lisa Nielsen

Lisa Nielsen — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:36:33 +0000

Where is the link to your site?

By: Jill

Jill — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:00:32 +0000

Will,
A colleague and I have been talking about this issue for some time. We even went ahead and developed a curriculum for schools to use. It tackles the issues of cyberbullying and social networking behavior in and out of the classroom. It empowers teachers and especially students to do the right thing. We were shocked by the reaction of high school students who could not believe that college admissions officers would look at their Facebook page. “But that’s an invasion of privacy!” the students said. Why do they have the impression that anything they do online is private? Check out our site and let me know what you think! Thanks for all your work in this field – it’s much appreciated!