From the "We’ve Been Saying This for a While" Department:
Whatever the specifics
of these cases, it’s clear that at a time when 19 percent of online
teens keep a blog — 4 million teens in all — schools need to
establish consistent blogging guidelines and give students remedial
education on the pitfalls of this new technology. Adults have learned
via cases of identity theft and the embarrassment of accidentally
misaddressed e-mails the need to vigilantly protect your privacy.
Having grown up with the Net, kids are so comfy with it, they regard it
as an old friend. They have developed such a false sense of security in
it that, unmindful of all the sick prying eyes out there — and without
telling their parents — they post pictures of themselves, along with
phone numbers and addresses.As much as we respect
our kids’ privacy, those rights go only so far. As angrily opposed to
having their onscreen browsings monitored as they may be, teens need to
know those feelings have to come second to efforts to keep them safe
from Internet lowlifes — and prevent them from recklessly causing
distress to others.
Of course we need to do teach guidelines and safety. It’s refreshing to hear someone else saying so for a change.
I am troubled, though, that students’ speech outside of the classroom has the potential to get them suspended from school. I guess in many ways this is like the adult world — I could lose my job, for example, if I were using this blog inappropriately.
But can and should students face severe penalties for their reading habits? How about their choice of adjectives used when describing a school or teacher they don’t care for? How about when they disagree with a controversial position taken by a teacher? (Mr. Neck from Speak is going through my mind as I write this.) At what point are students allowed to disagree, have controversial opinions, or downright trash talk?
As we move towards putting more and more content and conversation online, are our classrooms encompassing the entire Internet? Is there nowhere online a student will be able to go and speak his or her mind? (Am I overreacting? Possibly.)
I’m certainly not saying we shouldn’t pay attention to what our students are doing online. We’ve recently made some uncomfortable discoveries at school, stuff that shocked and concerned me. But should the immediate response to such be punishment? That seems to be the knee jerk reaction.
I don’t think punishment should be the immediate response. Conversation, though, definitely.
I mentioned in a podcast recently that I don’t like it that students are using their MySpace accounts to share the frequency with which they get high or engage in sexual activity — but I recognize that they have the right to share that information, if they so choose. I want them to understand, though, how such information can create a image that might not be desirable.
As Thursday was Bill of Rights Day, I am reminded of the value of a right to free speech, and just how easy excuses are to find to deprive students of their rights. How free are students in this new online world if their words will come back to get them when adults who do not care for what our students have to say and have the power to do something about it get involved?
How free will any of us be?
