I have a bias because I'm a judge, but I love this contest because it turns digital video producers 13+ into digital-citizenship educators (and teen educators usually have considerable credibility with their peers). The international contest, TrendMicro's "What's Your Story," invites teens to produce and submit a video for one of three broad categories: "Being a Good Online Citizen," "Using a … [Read more...] about ‘What’s Your Story?’: Video contest for digital citizens
Risk & Safety
Understanding cyberbullying from the inside out
If you really want to understand cyberbullying, take advantage of a perspective that's essential to the discussion. View it from the inside-out – from teens' perspective, rather than that of adults on the outside looking in. "Friending" our kids online can help fill in the picture a bit, but talking with our own children and checking in on the work of researchers who talk with lots of other young … [Read more...] about Understanding cyberbullying from the inside out
More on multitasking
I recently posted on "Student multitasking: Embrace or erase?" and got two questions from two different vantage points on the subject. I was trying to be as brief as possible and still quote some important points in school administrator Matt Levinson's outstanding book From Fear to Facebook, because I'd already written a long post on digital breathing room (kind of the opposite of multitasking). … [Read more...] about More on multitasking
A cyberbully’s explanation
A cyberbullying conviction in a US district court in Philadelphia starkly illustrates some important things. You might consider sharing this story at NJ.com with your kids and students. This was a particularly malicious act of cyberbullying, US District Judge Anita Brody said, so a lot of kids would probably say they'd never do such a thing and don't know anyone who would. But what they very well … [Read more...] about A cyberbully’s explanation
About teen drivers: ‘The Last Text’
It has to be one of the saddest titles I've seen. To help stop texting while driving, AT&T has produced a mini-doc about teens who have died, been critically injured, or have caused a death while texting behind the wheel, as well as those who sent the driver that final text. And the messages were so trivial: "lol," "where r," and "where u at." Said a young man in the video who has had to put … [Read more...] about About teen drivers: ‘The Last Text’