Changes in how we approach the "internet safety talk"

[Jenni Voorhees]

I have now had a wide range of experience being trained to lead internet safety discussions - I had the iSafe training, I worked with Parry Aftab (Wired Safety) and have all the materials from NetSmartz. I give talks to many local schools, both to students and parents.

My most recent evolution of "the talk" was quite different. I invited my own children, both high school students, to come along. We did a two hour workshop called "Anytime Anywhere Socializing". They ran the discussion - their goal was to help parents understand that, while there are known dangers on the internet that kids should be aware of and careful about, social networking is now an essential part of the teen experience. Their mission was to convince parents to relax and participate, but not be too overbearing. It was a fascinating evening, to be sure!

What are others doing along these lines?

[Karen Douse]

We are doing much the same. I never give a talk to anyone - parents, community, etc. - without having at least one student with me. We work with Parry Aftab and have a Teenangels group here, and our message is definitely that students must be educated and empowered to make a difference. They need to learn how to protect themselves and their friends and family members. Several of the girls joined Teenangels because of their concern for younger siblings, cousins, and neighbors. Our school counseling staff also works with all of us to educate both students and parents.

[Jamie Britto]

Great ideas here, I'll add a presentation I did that looks at the background of how and why kids are finding their space online. I also picked up an article from Will Richardson's blog that I found helpful. It was written by Dannah Boyd and is available here:

http://www.danah.org/papers/KnowledgeTree.pdf

[Laurie Bartels]

Hi Jenni,

I've always believed that students make for wonderful, informative educators of the adults around them, both faculty and parents. Great idea that you brought your children with you to your most recent talk! It is the students who are the authentic voices.

I had an idea for Professional Development Day (April 2008) that entailed approximately 14 students talking about their use of 14 different digital apps (many of them online social networks, but also gaming, and sites involving the arts, among others). The proposal didn't fly due to other issues taking prominence this year (sustainability and diversity).

I have heard wonderful press about Parry Aftab and think that her approach and materials are the most realistic and with a positive approach instead of using a scare tactic. Sadly, I have seen presenters push the scare tactics, which just buys into parental and administrator fears. Sigh.

Am curious how people here feel about being "friends" with students online. Towards the end of Dannah Boyd's article (see the link posted by Jamie), she suggests educators should have online spaces on student places, and that if asked to be a friend by a student, the teacher should accept. I have heard other educators state that they want to keep the distinction between student and faculty separate, that the faculty member is not a friend but rather an advisor, or mentor, or teacher.

I have not made up my mind about this, but that is partially due to my not having a space in any of the places where my students hang out. However, I have invited two students to join this Ning, and I do occasionally post to the robust student conferences on our school's email system.

For anyone interested more on this topic, arvid and Alex discuss it in their Wed, Dec 5 webcast: A Discussion of the Issues Surrounding Social Networking Between Fa.... They are going to continue the discussion this coming Wed, Dec 12, at noon. (Shameless plug, as two students from my school will be on the show :-)

Apologies if I veered off topic here!
Cheers, Laurie

[arvind s grover]

Well if we're going to shameless plug, here is the audio of the conversation with Laurie and my students along with Alex Ragone. I thought the conversation was quite helpful and eye-opening. I am meeting with the school leadership team in January to discuss how to advise faculty and students on faculty-student online interaction.

[Demetri Orlando]

This is not new news, and it's the same thing that Danah Boyd tells us, but Nancy Willard's analysis of the iSafe curriculum has some good points that pertain to this idea of internet safety instruction needing to evolve: http://csriu.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/my-review-of-i-safe/
(apparently someone posted under her name that she supports the iSafe approach, so part of this blog post is her refutation of that erroneous claim).

[Jenni Voorhees]

Thanks for posting this link, Demetri. I have been gradually writing my own curriculum because the I-Safe materials are so dated. I think Karen Douse will back me up when I say that Parry Aftab, while very impressive, also leans on the fear factor in her approach when she speaks. The difference is that she is so compelling in her manner that teens (especially girls) really listen and want more (hence the success of the Teenangels).

There is a lot of room for all of our creative solutions here...

[Jenni Voorhees]

I bring my own kids (11th and 7th grade) to the presentations I do as speakers - and now I request that parents and students attend the workshops together, so we all get the same message and we hear everyone's perspective. At the most recent workshop I was surprised when the questions, directed at my 11th grader, were from parents who were trying to learn to manage their own Facebook accounts. It ended up being a Facebook problem-solving session for a while! That's definitely a new trend.