It's exciting to see the signs of adult support for youth voices and participation multiplying. It's important and it's time. Here is just a sampler of this encouraging trend: Agency for citizenship. In Internet safety circles, we're seeing increasing focus on citizenship (online and offline) rather than on safety alone – safety as a means to competent participation and expression in … [Read more...] about Youth participation’s growing momentum
Literacy & Citizenship
‘State of the Union’ & the student part of student privacy protection
There's a lot of confusion in the air about student data privacy, and some widely quoted words about it from President Obama in his address Tuesday night didn't help (but I suspect his speechwriters were just looking for a spot to put a high-priority topic into "a simple, dramatic message about economic fairness," as the New York Times put it: "No foreign nation, no hacker should be able to … [Read more...] about ‘State of the Union’ & the student part of student privacy protection
Millennials’ startup: Social change in a social-networking skin
How fitting for a social network service for social good to launch on Martin Luther King Day. Created by millennials to have "a positive ripple effect," its name, RIZZARR.com, comes from the Spanish verb "rizar," which means "to ripple or ruffle the surface." "Our goal is to provide a positive, globally connected platform where both inspirational news and content from Millennials are shared" by … [Read more...] about Millennials’ startup: Social change in a social-networking skin
Social media literacy in an app
Brilliant concept. A source of quick, digestible social media literacy delivered by an app, not parents (one reason why it's so digestible). I'm talking about the ThinkUp app. It's definitely not just for teens, but what a great application for a reputation-curation and media-mindfulness tool. It's so much more powerful than just googling oneself or getting a service like Reputation.com to help … [Read more...] about Social media literacy in an app
Two 2014 anniversaries that say reams about our kids’ futures
We don't want to let 2014 slip away without marking two anniversaries that are very important to our children: those of an invention and a convention. This year was the 25th anniversary of Tim Berners-Lee's release of his computer code creating the World Wide Web, now with some 3 billion users worldwide, and the 25th anniversary of the UN's adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child … [Read more...] about Two 2014 anniversaries that say reams about our kids’ futures