Is it more unethical to allow threats to students/schools or to deny students/teachers access to instructionally relevant Web-based tools and content?
The Internet has changed the way students learn and communicate. With the click of a mouse they can instantly message one another, work together on projects, download all kinds of multimedia files, and post to blogs, Websites, and RSS feeds.
Computer security should be the first priority of any parent /guardian or educator when seeking protection of children on the Internet. To allow threats would be unethical. It is our responsibility to ensure the safety of children. Keeping Safe in Cyberspace
Access to people and information enhances instruction, but what happens when the "dark side of the Internet" sneaks around the corner and into the classroom or home? You have seen the stories on television about chat rooms, read about incidents in the newspaper where kids have been lured to meet strangers, and read the research in magazines about social networking and cyber bullying,
(See the articles from Multimedia and Internet @Schools magazine, Social Networking: A New Tech Tool and a New Security Concern for Teens and Schools May/June 2006 and Social Networking, Part 2: A Toolkit for Teachers July/August 2006). Keeping kids safe must be an ongoing effort through awareness, education and supervision.
Many sites appear to be good on the surface until you hit a link that goes somewhere you don't want your students to visit. For me, I have personally have had this experience. While I was searching for an article in one of my undergrad classes, I opened up a site that I thought was leading me to additional information. It happened to be a porn site that opened in full swing. I immediately tried to close the site, it would not close, and it keep reloading and reloading. I tried to shut the computer off and it would not shut down, bottom line the site had viruses and corrupted my computer. God only knows what a child could have possible encountered if they had opened this site.
Organizations like the Internet Content Rating Association and Safe Surf have developed rating systems as a means to keep the Internet safe for kids and parents. However, very few sites are using these rating systems. http://www.fosi.org/icra/
Over blocking: A filter that is highly effective at taking out content can be described as over blocking. Over blocking can filter out very important and acceptable material, such as health related information. Still, in many cases parents will still accept over blocking just to prevent exposure to other sites. As part of its defense of the Child Online Protection Act, which seeks to prevent minors from viewing commercially published harmful-to-minors material on the World Wide Web, the U.S.Department of Justice commissioned a study of the prevalence of “adult” materials and the effectiveness of Internet content filters in blocking them. (Stark, 2007)
Under blocking: Whenever new information is uploaded to the Internet, filters can under block content if the people responsible for the parties do not update their systems.So we don’t always have to say know to our kids, we can say yes to safe sites. There many out there, one is Whats What.me is a safe, secure, “kids-only” social network for “tweens” ages 7-13 -- using patent-pending facial recognition technology, moderation and kid-friendly features to teach kids positive online behavior, Internet safety and related life skills. https://www.whatswhat.me/
The Internet can be a wonderful resource for kids. They can use it to research school reports, communicate with teachers and other kids, and play interactive games. Kids who are old enough to punch in a few letters on the keyboard can literally access the world. It is our legal and ethical responsibility to protect them.
(Stark, P.) (2007) The Effectiveness of Internet Content Filters Department of Statistics University of California, Berkeley November 10, 2007, retrieved on Feb. 1,2011 from http://www/stat.Berkeley.edu/~stark/Preprints/filter07.pdf
(2009) What's What, LLC. retrieved on Feb. 1,2011from https://www.whatswhat.me/
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteThank you sharing the What's What website. It looks like it is filling a gap that is needed for the "tween" set. I read over the FAQs and the other information on the site, and it looks pretty good. But, it is a shame that it is a paid site. Of course, it is so important to protect our children and to ensure their safety, so I guess the fee is justified. I like that the parents have to be involved for the child to participate in the site.
But where do kids go if they cannot afford the almost $30 a year? Or if their parents don't want to be as involved as necessary? And, once the child turns 14, is there a teen version?
Your story about accidentally accessing a porn site while searching for a legit site when the box repeatedly refuses to close over and over has happened to me as well. It's so frustrating and I feel violated, in a sense. There is a really funny scene that was deleted from the movie "Love Actually' that depicts this same situation. If you have the DVD, watch the deleted scenes when Liam Neeson's character opens a link that he can't close. Makes me laugh out loud every time!
Thanks for your post,
Christi S
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post because you not only brought your thoughtful and considered opinion to the subject at hand, but had some great resources to back you up. I agree that the security of a child on a computer is of the utmost priority, and your personal experience with unsavory sites proved that encountered bad stuff is all too easy to stumble upon.
I liked what you wrote about "over blocking" and "under blocking", but I would have liked for you to expand on those ideas. For example, you mentioned that "filters can under block content if the people responsible for the parties do not update their systems." Update their systems how? Are you referring to security packages like Norton or McAfee, or something else?
Overall, you made some very strong points and had some great resources.
- Julie
As a parent I agree with you that protecting our children is of utmost importance and concern. As a teacher, I tend to lean more toward supervising, facilitating, and responsibility for ones own actions. I honestly believe that the earlier we begin teaching responsibility in the digital world, the better off our students will be as they (hopefully) mature into the next generation of adults.
ReplyDeleteStudents need to learn that there are real world consequences for "digital mischief." In school or at home it can be as basic as loss of privileges for a certain length of time. As an adult it can lead to job loss, legal trouble, or even prison. I honestly believe that too many students do not know how to learn and research properly on the internet. We have to let them explore on their own, just as in other areas of life. And just as in other areas of life, they will make mistakes and should definitely have to deal with the consequences of their actions.