To Learn Twice

I just got asked 4 tough questions from one of the schools' newspaper. 1.Is a program like Facebook safe for kids? Why? 2.What measures are taken to protect kids and prevent online predators? 3.Are online predators as big a threat as they are made out to be? 4.Do you feel that it is fair for school administrators to look at students' facebooks sites and punish them in school if they have inappropriate pictures or comments? Here were my responses: 1.Is a program like Facebook safe for kids? Why? Like anything else there is a level of safety that is based on how it is used. It is easy to forget in virtual worlds that the same social rules apply. We have all learned from an early age not to trust strangers, this advice holds true in our virtual environments as well. Facebook, and other social network sites, do have policies in place to help maintain safe atmospheres but there are always people that are on the fringes of society that will look for ways to take advantage of peo...

Just in case you hadn't seen the actual wording. .. my $.02 - doesn't define a social networking site - looks like it leaves it up to the "State Librarian" to determine this...  In case you were wondering her name is Anne Craig and here is some info on her She seems to be quite accomplished. Including being named librarian of the year.  I still question giving this decision to one person.

A report on Internet safety was released from Virginia - I expect that other states may follow suit. Maybe not Illinois - Offtrack Moment - we can't even get our test scores compiled. Well, that is not exactly true. We finally got our scores. This might teach the politicians not to fire a company until you get you results. Illinois has now hired ACT to administer it's tests. This should make scoring real quick for the high schools because our tests are written by ACT. Anyway - my original idea in writing this is that people are starting to wise up to the dangers of the net. Now I will wait for the obligatory backlash that the Internet is "bad". Things will get better when parents understand that they can unplug the computer at home and schools work with parents to educate the kids about what is out there. That is what I really like about this document. they talk about what students, guardians, teachers, techies, and administrators need to know about Int...