The timing struck me. Though it seems all of life is at an inflection point now, in the middle of a pandemic, two just-published papers represent a crucial one for digital safety and citizenship education. Individually and together, they offer new guidance that simply mustn’t be lost in the Covid-19 din. The scholars point the way forward for teaching young people essential skills for life in a … [Read more...] about 2 new papers spell a turning point for digital safety & citizenship: Part 1
David Finkelhor
At last: Sext ed based on facts not fear
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
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
Safer Internet Day 2019: Risk vs harm, online & offline
What better way to mark Safer Internet Day than with clarity on the difference between risk and harm? Because, where online safety's concerned, the two words have been used interchangeably – inaccurately – for years. It was EU Kids Online, after surveys of more than 25,000 9-16 year-olds across Europe, that first made the distinction, reporting that, "as with riding a bike or crossing the road, … [Read more...] about Safer Internet Day 2019: Risk vs harm, online & offline
Wellbeing, digital or analog: A paper, a podcast
Confused about all that you’re hearing about the impacts of digital media and tech on young people? A just-published paper should clear that confusion up, reports Scientific American. Drawing from data on more than 350,000 teens, the paper, “show[s] persuasively that…technology use has a nearly negligible effect on adolescent psychological well-being.” Its authors, Oxford University researchers … [Read more...] about Wellbeing, digital or analog: A paper, a podcast