Hmm - joke fell flat Re: Have you had problems getting parents to attend an Internet safety night?

[EDTECH Editor-Jones]

From: Nancy Willard <nwil...@csriu.org>

Ok, folks, I will not try again to become a comedian on the evening of
Friday the 13th again. (This is based on some messages I have received
back.) But let me try a repeat:

> Well, one community appears to have an interesting twist on encouraging
> attendance:

> "Sexting and Internet Safety" Seminar

> *The information given in this presentation is very graphic with adult
> content.*

Ok, I will get my head out of the gutter. ;-)

Now I will be serious.

It is hard to get busy parents to do anything - especially come to parent
meetings. But it is important to recognize that the teens who are likely to
become involved in the more dangerous online activities are also the ones
whose parents are the least likely to ever come to a school event. So we are
not going to reach those more at risk teens by doing parent evenings anyway.

But what if some cop comes in and presents a Reefer Madness - Just Say "NO"
message - "If teens put pictures of themselves and their school name online,
a predator can track them down."

What happens when the school, or a teacher in the school wants to set up a
Web 2.0 learning environment? I have heard a report of this. The teacher had
set up a private ning. But a parent went to the school board and accused the
teacher of placing the students at risk of online predation. The school
board believed the parent and the teacher's behavior was criticized. And
this district is going to shift to a 21st century learning environment
when???

And what happens when those now-scared parents go home and try to talk to
their teens? How are those parent/teen relationships going to proceed? The
teens just lost the ability to talk with their parents if something negative
does happen - because they know their parents are primed to overreact.

Nancy
--
Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
http://csriu.org
http://cyberbully.org
http://cyber-safe-kids.com
http://csriu.wordpress.com
nwil...@csriu.org

Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social
Aggression, Threats, and Distress (Research Press)

Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Learn to Use the
Internet Safely and Responsibly (Jossey-Bass)

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[EDTECH Editor-Jones]

From: Larry Sanger <sanger...@citizendium.org>

> But what if some cop comes in and presents a Reefer Madness -
> Just Say "NO" message - "If teens put pictures of themselves
> and their school name online, a predator can track them down."

Wait--the part in quotation marks is *false*? It sounds perfectly valid to
point that out. But you go on to say that benighted school board members or
others in authority, who hear this, might overcompensate by nixing perfectly
safe online educational communities. That would be regrettable. But that
doesn't imply that it's wrong for people to warn kids and parents against
placing their pictures or other personal information online. In your desire
to keep people from seeing risks that aren't there or aren't serious, you
shouldn't try to stop people from seeing the risks that *are* there and *can
be* serious.

Also, are you going to beat the drum on this on a daily basis?

--Larry

[EDTECH Editor-Jones]

From: Kathryn Frech <kfr...@syrdiocese.org>

Larry Sanger <sanger...@citizendium.org> wrote:

> Also, are you going to beat the drum on this on a daily basis?

I hope we do continue to get regular reports from Nancy, even after this special series is done. I find her postings most interesting and informative.

Kathryn
--
Kathryn Frech, Librarian
Seton Catholic Central H.S.
Binghamton, NY 13905
http://www.setoncchs.com/library/

[EDTECH Editor-Jones]

From: M G Durrant <m...@ucet.org>

Kathryn,

Thanks for saying tactfully that which I was unlikely to say without causing offense. Ms. Willard's postings are compelling, although I too sometimes grow weary of the topic. The issue is sufficiently important that we need to stay focused on it, even when it is easier to turn a deaf ear.

There are drums which need frequent beating. This is one of them.

Nancy will not be looking for a new career as a stand-up comedian.

Guy Durrant
Daggett SD
Manila, UT