Susan Benesch, founder of The Dangerous Speech project, tells the story of how worried people in Kenya were in the run-up to their national election in 2013. Dangerous, inflammatory speech around the previous election in 2007 had led to widespread violence involving more than 1,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of people being displaced, she said in a talk at Harvard’s Berkman Center, where she … [Read more...] about Counterspeech: New online safety tool with huge potential
School & Tech
Finally defining digital citizenship: Help from top researchers
If it's to have any real impact, “digital citizenship” needs to be clearly and simply defined. That’s what the US’s leading youth online risk researchers propose in the latest study on digital citizenship. In fact, the University of New Hampshire researchers made three recommendations: Separate it from digital literacy (Internet and technical skills) and cyberbullying prevention, which are … [Read more...] about Finally defining digital citizenship: Help from top researchers
From bystanders to ‘upstanders’ & leaders: How it’s done
This is one way it's done, anyway – the way #iCANHELP does it. And in more than a decade of writing about solutions to anti-social behavior online, I haven't seen one as effective, pro-social and pro-student as #iCANHELP. [Disclosure: I'm working with #iCANHELP to pilot a social media helpline for schools this year, so I'm biased, but this is why I'm working with them – besides the fact that 1) … [Read more...] about From bystanders to ‘upstanders’ & leaders: How it’s done
Digital citizenship’s missing piece
At the end of a long, thoughtful conversation on stage in Chautauqua, N.Y., last fall, public radio host Krista Tippett asked millennial author and commentator Nathan Schneider, "What makes you despair and what gives you hope?" His answer to both parts of the question focused on agency – the capacity to act, learn by doing and make change. "I think the sense of despair I feel comes from … … [Read more...] about Digital citizenship’s missing piece
iCanHelpline launched!
I'm thrilled to tell you that, after a successful crowdfunding campaign and with support from a number of social media companies and the Digital Trust Foundation, iCanHelpline.org, launched today. A joint project of Net Family News and #iCANHELP, it's the California pilot for a national social media "helpdesk" for schools. Though there are Internet helplines in many countries, none are just for … [Read more...] about iCanHelpline launched!