What a wild and crazy week this has been! I spent Wednesday and Thursday of this past week working primarily in Washington, DC. As I was traveling around the city, I would tune into local radio stations for music and commentary to pass the time. A big issue that is being raised in DC regarding education and social networking is very relevant to what we are discussing in this class.
School administrators in Washington, DC and the surrounding Maryland/Virginia counties are considering seeking the ability to access the social networking sites of students they serve. In short, teachers and school administrators would be able to log into sites like Facebook and Twitter to see what students are saying and doing. Schools are arguing this ability would be an added security measure and could help prevent bullying and fights that typically go unnoticed. From a larger perspective, having such access could allow schools to prevent school shootings like that in Columbine High School and Virginia Tech.
As you can imagine, this is a touchy issue for parents, students, and school administrators alike. As I tuned in all week, listeners from every walk of life were calling to voice their point-of-view and opinion. Many are impassioned about their view and refuse to compromise, while others see this challenge as a way to better utilize social networking in the schools. One parent raised an excellent point over the radio: Schools should be encouraged to create a social networking account and allow students, parents, and all concerned constituencies to befriend the group. By encouraging participation, all parties may come to embrace the social networking tools and further engage students in this new venue. This same parent argued that forcing students to surrender their privacy in the social networking world will only encourage them to interact with each other somewhere else and will destroy social networking as an educational tool.
There seems to be no easy answer to this issue. My point of view is simple: the Internet has always been a regulation-free entity that has allowed any and all to participate and learn. I believe that social networking should be treated the same way. But, I'm not a parent of a student who is being bullied or who attends Columbine High School. So my solution fits my needs, but my needs only. I do think there is ground here that can be given by both sides (allowing access or NO access) that will improve the vitality and educational potential of social networking. I think this parent I mentioned above is on the right track...
I'm most concerned about what my blogging followers think regarding this issue. Those of you out there who listen to me - what do you think?
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When do you sleep. ha! When would a school have the time to check into all of their students blogs, facebooks, etc.? Do they have the resources to hire someone to "spy"? I guess I have mixed feelings about it - I understand the need to stop violence but on the other hand - where is the perceived privacy of the person writing. Although it blows my mind that people think what they put on the internet could in anyway be "private". My thinking is - if there is going to be a "right to view" then the parents should probably be the first line of defense but what a can of worms that could open up. (And then some parents promote the violence) Maybe these sites could flag posts that referred to certain words like , kill, knife, murder, just want her/him to die, that kind of thing - of course I don't know where they would flag them too - and who is going to monitor all of the crazy adults on these sites - that is another can of worms. It sure is a different world from when kids carved their initials in the old oak tree isn't it.
ReplyDeleteGreat points Dianne - thanks for your thoughts. I don't see any easy answers. I agree - ideally the parents should be the first line of defense. But, in some cases, they are the enablers. I guess only time will tell!
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