Teach42

Will has posted an entry that addresses a topic we’re going to hear quite a bit about for the next few years. With students doing so much publishing, on line safety is an issue that is going to be at the forefront of many people’s minds. His post specifically deals with Xanga, but he could have been talking about MySpace or Blogger or any discussion board out there.

Let’s face facts. Students are going to be leaving their mark on the web. They are not going to be passive readers like so many people are write now. They are going to be posting, commenting, quoting, moblogging, editing and publishing. Oh, and just to ensure that there’s no confusion, I’m not talking about doing school time or on school grounds. I’m talking about from home, from their friend’s house, from the library and from their cell phone. They will be publishing their life, whether educators ‘approve’ of it or not. They’ll do it for no other reason than because they can.

It presents a very real problem. Students are releasing personal information about themselves without even realizing that they are doing so. They are leaving little trails that lead right to their house or school that any predator with access to Google could follow. It’s a problem that people should be concerned about.

Unfortunately, when faced with a problem of this nature there are two ways that it is usually dealt with; The problem is either ignored or restricted. Most schools are simply avoiding the issue because this sort of on line interaction may not be happening during school hours. If it is happening during school hours, the knee jerk response is to block the offending sites. They don’t address the offending behavior (besides possible disciplinary action), but they do their best to restrict the issue from repeating.

Both are a great disservice to our students. Restricting access to blogs is like banning hammers because a person hit their thumb with one. Or taking away the blocks in the classroom because someone got a sliver. It just isn’t reasonable. While I do agree that you shouldn’t be giving four year olds a hammer, but the time they hit middle school they need to have acquired the skills they need to use the tool appropriately.

It’s all about education. It’s about life skills. And have no doubt that learning how to be safe in an online environment should be considered a ‘life skill’.

At the NICE meeting I was at the other day. We discussed quite a bit about the dangers blogs can represent, all the different things that could possibly go wrong. At one point I interjected and related Will’s Secret Life of Bee’s story, about how students, parents and even the book’s author wound up collaborating together through the use of blogs. As much as we have to recognize the hazards involved, we also have to keep in mind the positive things that can come from such an endeavor. We can’t let a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch.

It all comes back to education, we can’t ever forget that. It’s all about education.

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