One family’s tech policy

One last gem from the Fox-Wiseman podcast that I blogged about last week in “Clicks & cliques” and that, if it isn’t already, should be searchable on the Web as text. Toward the end of the interview, Fox asks Wiseman to share her own family technology policy (Wiseman’s kids are 6 and 8). Here it is:

“Technology can be really fun to use, and it gives us incredible access to the world, but it is a privilege not a right, and because it is a privilege, you have the responsibility to use it ethically. What using technology ethically looks like to me is that you never use it to humiliate, embarrass … or misrepresent yourself or someone else, never use a password without the person’s permission, never share embarrassing information or photos of others, put someone down, or compromise yourself by sending pictures of yourself naked, half-naked or in your underwear. Remember that it is so easy for things to get out of control. You know it, I know it. So I reserve the right to check your online life, from texting to your Facebook page, and if I see that you’re violating the terms of our agreement, I’ll take your technology away until you can earn my trust back. This is my unbreakable, unshakeable law.”

See also: “‘Soft power’ works better: Parenting social Web users.”