Blogg-Ed Indetermination

“Is it safe?” is the iconic line from the 1976 movie thriller Marathon Man starring Dustin Hoffman (as Thomas Levy) and Sir Laurence Olivier (as Christian Szell). Szell, a former Nazi war criminal with millions stashed away in diamonds, mistakenly believes that Levy is the key to his escaping the U.S. with his fortune. Using torturous dental techniques that only masochist Arthur Denton could love, he tries to coerce Levy into into revealing knowledge he does not have, repeatedly asking him:

“Is it safe?”

The Bogey man thirty plus years later is the Internet but the question remains: “Is it safe?” This is especially true when talking about the Internet and children.

And there wouldn’t be much of a story here if the Internet was totally benign. Thus it is that dozens of books, web sites, consultants, speakers, and talk shows warn us of the dangers of the Internet. Millions watch as television news shows capture Internet predators and expose them to public humiliation and criminal prosecution. Security firms capitalize on the resulting anxieties of the public (and especially parents), resulting in the sales of millions of dollars of products and services each year to answer the question:

“Is it safe?”

“Yes, but only if you use [fill in the blank and our annual subscription to keep you safe].”

Safe Practices for Life Online: A Guide for Middle and High School Students by Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe asks the same question, but their answer might surprise you.

“It is safe?”

“Yes. If you use your head.”

In twelve chapters they outline ideas and lesson starters teachers can use to help students make wise decisions in choosing screen names and passwords, responding to cyberbullies, safeguarding personal information, and avoiding online scams. They explain how cookies work, how phishing scams appear to be legitimate, the pros and cons of instant messaging, social networking, urban legends, information literacy, and hoax web sites. I suspect that many teachers reading this book will come away with practical knowledge that they, too, can put to work in protecting their own online interactions.

Each chapter ends with five or more exercises that teachers can use with their students to explore a topic in greater depth. Some exercises are pretty lame, such as those that ask students to use Google to help define computer terms. The better ones are much more expansive, based on case studies, simulations, and thoughtful questions that could really engage mature students in substantive discussions. As is the case with any such lessons, their success lies in the ability for teachers to create a safe (no pun intended) non-judgmental classroom in which all points-of-view are allowed and preaching is minimized.

What I really like about this book is that I think it can be used to empower students to make rational choices.

A metaphor:

When you live by the ocean, you teach your children how to swim. You teach them how to play on the beach and in the water safely and responsibly. You let them know when they need to have an adult around, and what to do if there’s a problem. They learn how to read the currents and the skies. As your children grow you, too, grow more confident in their skills and maturity. Eventually your children reach an age where they can swim without your direct supervision. You can ask them “Is it safe?” and be confident that they will answer truthfully and correctly.

This book is like that. It can help students become safe in the ocean of cyberspace..

On rare occasions the authors are a bit too heavy handed for my taste, such as the blanket statement that parents should “Forbid IM until sixth grade.” Another minor criticism as that the book’s accompanying web site is still under construction. A book such as this requires an online companion to allow readers easy access to all of the wonderful online resources it references, as well as a means for the authors to update links and add new resources as they become available. Both Fodeman and Monroe have promised to do this.

This is the book I have been waiting for to teach students online safety. The authors have made a fine contribrution to the literature on Internet use in schools, and I encourage educators with interests in this area to read it.

We’ve been discussing a number of topics during today’s Summercore session about copyright infrigement, potentially hurtful blog and other internet posts by students, and related issues of ethical behavior among the so-called digital natives.

This is not a technical issue. This is not a Technology Department issue. This is an issue of ethical behavior that needs the same attention paid to it as we devote to other issues such as environmental sustainability, social justice, poverty and – as we discuss them at Castilleja School – our five C’s: Conscience, Courtesy, Character, Courage, and Charity (sorry, Heather, if I did not get them in the right order.)

This does not mean that the tech department doesn’t play an important role in the discussion of these issues. Indeed, we have an important role to play. It’s just that these issues are not under our exclusive purview. We co-own these issues with the entire faculty and administration – and the larger school community.

Thoughts, anyone?