It was a picture-perfect example of how a law intended to protect children can be used to victimize them. But the juvenile judge didn't comment on the perversion of justice – or the prosecution's victimization of a teenager by ordering police to photograph the boy's genitals and threatening even more abusive treatment. He just eased the punishment meted out to the boy (his girlfriend was not … [Read more...] about Virginia teen sexting case: (Somewhat) reduced injustice
Youth
‘Revenge porn’: Exposing cruel disclosure
This is a sidebar to my earlier post about social norms as one of the solutions to social cruelty online, zooming in on one form of it. "Revenge porn" needs to be understood and exposed for what it is so it can be neutralized. Its power to harm will lessen as we stigmatize the shaming rather than its victims. So let's be completely clear about what revenge porn is: malicious distribution of … [Read more...] about ‘Revenge porn’: Exposing cruel disclosure
For our kids & ourselves: Presence in a digital age
Presence has never been harder or more needed – in this age of hyper transparency, connection, opinion and information, all in a media environment that's networked, so that "speed of delivery" is a calculation of the past (it's all just here already). Presence is needed by adults as much as children. It means different things to different people, including "attentiveness," "focus," and … [Read more...] about For our kids & ourselves: Presence in a digital age
Proposed ‘rightful’ framework for Internet safety
Internet safety is a basic right of Internet users. But it's not the only one. There are other fundamental rights that Net users of all ages have, and I propose that Internet safety will actually serve all Internet users better – and have much more relevance to the younger ones in our homes and schools – when we put it in context, in a framework of online rights. It's a framework for all users' … [Read more...] about Proposed ‘rightful’ framework for Internet safety
Textbook case of what NOT to do in teen sexting cases
The Washington Post has done some important reporting on a teen sexting case in Virginia, spotlighting what could (should) go down in history as a textbook example of how police can abuse rather than enforce child pornography law in the digital age. A 17-year-old boy "is facing felony counts of manufacturing and distributing child pornography," the Post reported. I'll let you read the Post … [Read more...] about Textbook case of what NOT to do in teen sexting cases