In 1978, an award-winning documentary showed a group of teen juvenile offenders being taken to a New Jersey maximum-security prison, where for three hours “a group of inmates known as ‘the lifers’ berate[d], scream[ed] at, and terrif[ied] the young offenders in an attempt to ‘scare them straight” so they’d stop offending, as Wikipedia tells the story. The film actually popularized the “Scared … [Read more...] about At last: Sext ed based on facts not fear
4 resolutions for Internet safety 2020
"Until now, protecting children on the Web has primarily meant keeping them off it,” wrote NPR’s Anya Kamenetz at TechnologyReview.com. Exactly. That has been the direct experience of children all over the world. Because for some 20 years, all around the world, governments, advocates, businesspeople, educators, parents have actually been trying to uphold our children’s rights of protection by … [Read more...] about 4 resolutions for Internet safety 2020
A pivotal book for digital safety & citizenship
The importance of the new book – Young People in Digital Society: Control Shift – cannot be exaggerated. It provides the scholarship we adults need to make the pivot of the 21st century: away from dictating to young people and toward partnering with them as we all figure out life in this ever more digitally powered world. It’s also a wakeup call. “Control Shift” is an economical, cleverly … [Read more...] about A pivotal book for digital safety & citizenship
New ‘Privacy Toolkit’ for youth, co-created with youth
“What do children know, and want to know, about where their data goes?” is the all-important question that leads the Children’s Data & Privacy Online project’s blog post about its just-released report. I say “all-important” because it’s a fundamental right of children to form and express their views on matters that affect them (see Article 12 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the … [Read more...] about New ‘Privacy Toolkit’ for youth, co-created with youth
Spark Change: A book taking (digital) citizenship to a new level
Olivia Van Ledtje, just now 12, tells the story of giving a talk in a western Massachusetts elementary school auditorium that was packed with students and teachers from three school communities – when she was 10. She writes that, after her talk, the students wanted to ask “loads of one-of-a-kind kid questions – the kind I can never feel fully prepared to answer. “Luckily, the one-of-a-kind … [Read more...] about Spark Change: A book taking (digital) citizenship to a new level