Nobody's completely sure – even social-media researchers who talk to teens a lot – but it is clear that the Formspring phenomenon didn't come out of nowhere. Remember those personality tests and fashion-sense quizzes in teen magazines? In the digital-age versions, danah boyd writes in DMLcentral.net, teens would – through questions and answers in pre-Web public online spaces like Usenet; "chain … [Read more...] about Formspring: What’s really going on?
Search Results for: bullying
Principal’s anti-Facebook plan: Is banning Web sites the fix?
It was an interesting pair of education news stories to break in a single week: a principal urging his students' parents to ban their kids' use of Facebook and the Teacher of the Year being honored for teaching with, among other things, Facebook (see this). In an email to parents, Anthony Orsini, principal of Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgeway, NJ, said that "the main problem is that … [Read more...] about Principal’s anti-Facebook plan: Is banning Web sites the fix?
Reflection on filters, social media & school
School filtering works better when less restrictive and blended with teaching students how to "take responsibility themselves for using new technologies safely," said a study by British education watchdog Ofsted I blogged about in February). Educator Tom Whitby and the amazing comments to his blog post, "Deal or No Deal" got me thinking about this all over again this weekend. User-produced … [Read more...] about Reflection on filters, social media & school
Sexting primer for parents: In case some basics would help
A lot of sexting numbers have been tossed around the airwaves after four separate national studies. I'd go with the latest (last December) from the Pew Internet & American Life Project: 4% of US 12-to-17-year-olds have sent "sexts," 15% have received one from someone they know (see this for more). Why Pew? Because they focused on the age range and issue of greatest concern due to … [Read more...] about Sexting primer for parents: In case some basics would help
Susquenita, PA, sexting case: A parent’s view
The day after the above blog post that mentioned the Susquenita sexting case, I heard from the father of one of the eight high school students involved. I'll probably post more perspectives in future, but I'm starting with this one, this week, because 1) I think the perspective of a father – of a teen whose involvement sounds pretty typical of students caught up in such incidents – may be useful … [Read more...] about Susquenita, PA, sexting case: A parent’s view