By blocking social media in schools and monitoring our kids at home, we've been falling down on the job – our job of educating them about how to protect their own privacy in an increasingly networked world. Blocking and monitoring has taught them to develop workarounds, not good privacy practices. "We want our kids to fight isolation with networks," said father and pundit Cory Doctorow in this … [Read more...] about A parent/author/tech pundit’s view on how to teach kids privacy
Archives for April 2011
The need to teach kids privacy self-protection
If recent news – about the iPhone, the PlayStation Network, and the privacy breach du jour – says nothing else, it says no digital media user can rely on companies to protect our privacy. No huge surprise, but an important reminder. And in this user-driven media environment, this reality will not change, no matter how many calls there are for more regulation. So, to get them in the mindset as … [Read more...] about The need to teach kids privacy self-protection
Education as art form: Winners of the ‘What’s Your Story?’ contest
The grand-prize-winning video – produced by Mark Eshleman and performed by Tyler Joseph – is a visual poem about a real-life choice we all continually need to make online. On a spare set with a black line of electrical tape laid down the center of the concrete floor, and with a taped plus sign on one side of the line and a minus sign on the other, Tyler performs his poem, which reads in … [Read more...] about Education as art form: Winners of the ‘What’s Your Story?’ contest
iPhone story & how kids’ ‘champions’ in Congress pay attention
This week's big iPhone tracking story offers a great example of how lawmakers don't seek out and react to the best information on kid safety available – and, of course, why parents need to take politicians' pronouncements on the subject with a grain of salt. Too often they are protecting their own interests more than they're protecting children. This week Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass) published a … [Read more...] about iPhone story & how kids’ ‘champions’ in Congress pay attention
When adults bully our kids
Just because bullying of children by children is in the news a lot doesn't mean it's new, growing, or done only by children. But it remains a problem – a very serious one for some children (see this ) – and "we will never address the bullying problem between our students if we don’t address it among ourselves," writes educator Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes in her blog. I … [Read more...] about When adults bully our kids