Comments on: Let’s Just Scare the #$%& Out of Them, Ok?

By: Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu

Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:29:31 +0000

think we should not only teach children about their digital footprint but model it ourselves as well, through responsible web use.

By: Games

Games — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:14:11 +0000

For me that is just so wrong.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:38:15 +0000

Perhaps we could extend this innovative approach to road safety. After all cars are pretty damn dangerous too. We could tell them stories of kids who failed to look when they crossed the road…
Then we could move on to safety in the home. You can get a nasty burn from a kettle…
If we play our cards right we’ll have a whole generation that goes nowhere and does nothing.
On the other hand we could empower them to live safely and productively in an exciting world.

By: Tim Goree

Tim Goree — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:18:29 +0000

Hey Jeremy,
Blocking certain sites due to an extreme amount of inappropriate content (like YouTube) is actually the law, at least here in California. YouTube is not the only place for you to do what you are seeking to do. Educators do need to get inventive sometimes to go in the right direction, despite the administration, or in this case, the law. Try TeacherTube.com….

By: Craig Colgan

Craig Colgan — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:04:22 +0000

From my blog Municipalist on this:

Examples of “scare-tech” meetings, especially to youth, are ever increasing, it seems. My congressman recently held a “community forum” on the same topic for kids and their parents. I was not present but the fear tactic seems to have been employed there too. The local news media covered it, and no congressman is going to give a hoot about such “issues” unless there are votes to be harvested from seeming caring and in touch.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:42:51 +0000

Will –

Great blog. First, I want you to know that when I saw your keynote last year in Omaha, I have been hooked on the social network or web 2.0 intitatives. I am amazed daily at how fearful the older generation is on this subject. I think your post nails it. Most administrators and school boards seem only to focus on the negative consequences these technologies have.

I have an example of You Tube. I teach an Art of Film course, which I informed my students I would have them create You Tube accounts to post their PSAs, Documentary projects, etc online. Further, I explained it was to learn from others and try and connect them with others having the same interests. I was shot down by admin. I cannot require them to get accounts or advise them to use it. Even when I explained why I desired this for the students (buidling networks, connecting them to others, using the technology in educational and appropriate way), it seemed to be taboo.

This implies that the educational system (in most regions) still thinks learning is prohibited except in a classroom. We have tools to extend student learning outside of the classroom but it isn’t acceptable? We deny a students that opportunity. Seems hipocritical to me, we want to teach 21st Century Skills so students an operate successfully in the world yet can’t use/teach the tools that will help them get there? I’d be interested in your thoughts.

By: Connie

Connie — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:38:13 +0000

This is shocking. I take every opportunity to teach students how to protect themselves.

We can not control who views our information, but we can control what we place on the internet.

Thank all the teachers who take the time to work with kids and teach them how to protect themselves.

By: Randy Rodgers

Randy Rodgers — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:31:50 +0000

Will,

A couple of years ago, I was given the task of creating a district website and training material for Internet safety. One of the first shortcomings I recognized in my own experiences was that I had no experience with the most commonly used web resources, namely social networks. I joined MySpace and, later, Facebook, and began to explore. It was enlightening and helped clear up any misconceptions I had, and this helped me to create much more effective resources. Now, I am occasionally given the opportunity to share with students. I try to use humor and to show the amazing, positive aspects of the sites. I also frequently encourage teachers to sign up and get familiar with them. It is no different with so many other modern technologies. Teachers are far less familiar and proficient than their students, and the result is that they are unable to effectively address the subject in their classrooms. Ignorance tends to reproduce itself, unfortunately. Thanks for the post!

By: mrsdurff

mrsdurff — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:33:35 +0000

That officer is so gonna be sued and should not be on the force. That is just so wrong. My mouth is literally hanging open in shock………….

By: And He Blogs » If you have kids, you should read this!

And He Blogs » If you have kids, you should read this! — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:56:47 +0000

[...] music here] Internet Predators. The latest example is by way of Will Richardson who points to an incident that happened in a Wyoming high school. An officer from the nearby Cheyenne Police Department came to the school and spoke to students [...]

By: Robyn W

Robyn W — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:43:02 +0000

Hi Will
Every week I get asked how to protect our kids online. Every week I give the same answer…sit down and talk to your children about what is appropriate and safe usage of the internet. We have most social networking sites blocked at school so although we can do our best as educators to teach and guide our children, parents too need to be doing their part.
We have a great resource here in NZ that I use in all my classes from yr 1 through yr 6 and the conversations I end up having with the kids is more thought out than what our parents give their kids credit for.
Talk with your kids, make them aware of the dangers but give them credit where credit is due….they know what to look out for.
We need to educate both parents and kids about net safety and how to protect out information. If not, it’s like teaching someone to drive a car when all I drive is a bike. Similar rules….miles apart in thinking.
Scare tactics make some of us “digital immigrants” happy that we have educated the kids, but I also know that when I was younger if someone said “don’t” I always wanted to try it!!!

Robyn

By: Doug Spicher

Doug Spicher — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:41:39 +0000

While I agree that this is wrong, what are the consequences of not reacting at all?

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:05:08 +0000

I don’t want to hijack this discussion, and I agree with what was written, but I’d like to point out that strangers are not the biggest dangers to our kids, especially the younger kids. As a general rule, we teach our children well how to protect themselves against strangers. Where we fail miserably is in teaching them how to protect themselves against family and others with close family ties of one sort or another. Believe it or not, 90-95% of all sexual abuse is perpetrated by family members, babysitters, neighbors, friends, yes, teachers, and other much-trusted people close to the children. These people spend months or even years, gaining the total trust of the children, “grooming” them for escalated activities. If you leave your child with a sitter and come back because you forgot something, is the child sitting on the sitter’s lap to watch TV? That may be fine, but it also may not be fine. Don’t ignore anything! Be aware of what’s going on, however innocent it may seem at the time! DO sit up and take notice if you child is suddenly asking lots of questions that seem to come from nowhere, or is spending too much time talking with friends and siblings about kissing, or other such things. Just pay attention. I learned this the hard way, and it was decidedly NOT fun.

By: Karl Fisch

Karl Fisch — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:23:50 +0000

Will, there’s some question about whether the officer actually made those specific comments. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_10281136

I do agree that they should be hearing this from those of us in the school community.

By: Julia Osteen

Julia Osteen — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:04:04 +0000

Cathy,
Thanks for sharing this experience. It gives me much to think about. I agree with Will that modeling use of the tools is the best way to go but until we get all of our teachers there I feel that times of focus on this topic will need to occur.