After watching the Frontline special “Growing Up Online” last night, I’m left with a couple of thoughts. First, it was not as doom and gloomy as the trailer suggested; in fact, by and large I think it was fairly balanced overall. It pretty accurately described the challenges that educators face at this moment (despite the only 8 minutes allotted to the subject.) It refuted the idea that predators are sneaking our kids into the
night, and it gave a powerful portrait of the challenges that parents
perceive (real or not) as they watch their kids grow through a very
different adolescence than themselves.
And I think that was the major point that was driven home to me, that as much as I look at these social tools and “properties” as learning opportunities, as much as they are a part of my life, I understand them only from the viewpoint of an adult, one that came to the Internet and blogs and live streaming television with a pretty healthy sense of who I am and a well-developed and tested decision making process that made navigating these spaces fairly straightforward. As I much as I think I know about all of this, as I look at my own kids and try to imagine what they are graduating into online, I realize that I know very little. I can’t even imagine what it must be like for parents who really have no context for this discussion, which is another reason why schools have to make this a part of the way we do our business, and why we have to integrate what it means to live in this world throughout the curriculum, K-12, in every subject.
In case you’re interested, there is a live chat this morning at 11 am with the producers, and a host of other materials online.
Technorati Tags: frontline, social, myspace, kids
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I also watched Frontline and though I would have liked more about education, I thought they did a nice job. Without sensationalizing they dealt with some of the dangers of children in an online world. Despite repeated claims that teenagers don’t distinguish between the “real” and cyber world, several of the kids told a different story. In at least 3 cases it was very clear that kids were developing a different, or seperate identity online. In some cases that has clear benefits but I don’t know any solutions to the easy access to fellow anorexics or those who promote suicide.
I agree. From the trailer we all saw yesterday it looked like a doom’s day program for sure, however, the reality was much better. I would have liked to see them tackle the, “ok, so what DO parents do?” question a bit better. If I was a un-tech savvy parent, I’d be very tuned in, but still unsure what to do next. I feel bad for parents who don’t have any idea how to navigate the online world; I am sure many of them feel helpless when it come to their kids and technology.
The point you raise about the generational differences is huge, and a gap that will continue to widen. I’m only 24 and in the high school I taught in the last two years, I was definitely one of the most tech savvy teachers. I’ve had my own computer station since I was 5, thanks to my programmer dad, and I’ve been online since since I was 12, joined Facebook the week it opened to my university. However, even when dealing with tech issues and connectivity in my classroom, I always had students who were faster and better than I was. It’s an exciting thing, but it requires adults and parents to be very intentional about keeping up!
@JCB There may be easy access to anorexics and suicide promotion but there’s also easy access to healthy eating resources and places that promote living versus taking your life.
I thought the point about children going online to find what they’re looking for is apt.
While technology seems to have the power to transform our teaching (since our teaching hasn’t changed much in the last hundred years it probably isn’t hard to transform it) at home it seems to replicate traditional kid stuff like crushes, peer pressure, and bullying. The difference is easy access to unfiltered information and the potential for finding an audience.
In writing about this for my own blog, I came across a post from “Autum Edows” saying that Frontline misrepresented her. There’s more here. http://mindoh.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/be-afraid-be-very-afraid-take-two/
What came through for me was that the social communication of teens/tweens is in a ‘secret language’ that only kids understand… the language called “the Internet”.
If we freeze things the way they are, we might be able to bring more teachers into the present decade. http://thecleversheep.blogspot.com/2008/01/if-you-freeze-it-they-will-come.html
The most positive outcome (I thought) of the Frontline program was the focusing of attention on Cyberbullying as the primary concern for educators and parents of digital kids—as opposed to the constant attention to predators.
That’s a leverage point that can be used to encourage more positive conversations about the use of Web 2.0 tools in schools. While cyberbullying is a challenging problem in and of itself to deal with, it is decidely less frightening–and far more approachable—than online predators.
Bill
Hey Will,
I watched this last night and I can honestly say that in this country we try to steer the audience. You would have thought there was an Internet Boggieman who lives in the computer and is looking for our children.
I have always felt as an educator we need to guide through understanding and inspiration and not by fear! I can say that I’m truly afraid of Americans! Check out the blog I posted in reaction to “Growing Up Onlineâ€
http://nlcommunities.com/communities/putrino/default.aspx
Thanks for the heads up.
Yes… I really think we need to participate in their world rather than try to define their experiences through our own perspectives. This is very different than most of us experienced growing up. So I say, take the bull by the horns. Educate. Participate. Talk. Help them think clearly. Be interested and excited and the positive possibilities on-line. Talk about the impact of poor and impulsive decisions. For me, that was the one area that really stood out – this new medium for impulsive behavior. What can seem so funny one moment can be so destructive a few moments after “post” or “upload” is clicked. It is also so true that it is much easier to say things virtually that one would never say face2face – or to be misunderstood due to lack of body language and vocal expression/inflection. An analogy to safe sex can be made here, I think. Sex education for adolescents is so important. Yet, it is often on impulse where all of that education and good information is shoved aside and in its place – impulsive and risky behavior. As a parent, my prayer is that my boys can do a decent job of thinking before they post.
I watched the Frontline episode and thought it was a good primer for discussion. It seemed pretty even to me also. I hope my fellow staff members will watch it (if I can make it availble to them, maybe show parts at in-service) and we can discuss how to safely incorporate this digital world (because we are not in our school). I always find it interesting when kids post things on the Internet, then complain about invasion of privacy. I am a teacher and not a parent, so I have trouble understanding why/how a parent puts a computer in their childs room. I tell my parents to have the computer out where they “could” walk by at anytime. I know kids will still switch screens, but it is better than complete secrecy. In a way it is scary that children create complete alter egos and prefer to live in the digital world. That does not seem healthy to me (or productive to society).
Will – I think you’ve touched on the most important point of this documentary: there is a need to educate kids about the online component of their lives. People love to fly off the handle about online dangers, and some clever presenters have managed to make a living from scaring the crap out of parents at “Internet Safety Nights.” Meanwhile, the well-crafted iSafe curriculum goes largely unused in schools, and it is a completely free resource. I just read an item that some former FCC commissioners want to create online safety materials: my first question is why, when there is already plenty out there, and secondly, why should we trust them to create a quality product?
Again, I agree with some of the prior comments here – let’s not work from fear, rather this is an excellent opportunity to begin discussions and do what we’re supposed to be good at – education!