My first thoughts when reading this article were about teaching internet safety by instilling fear.I agree with the article that this is not an effective way of teaching internet safety, or really the best way to teach anything. Many people in this country try to teach about drug and alcohol safety, and sex education by instilling fear in the students they are teaching. This seems to actually backfire when working with students. It is more important to be honest with students and tell them the actual information that will benefit them. A possible result of trying to instill fear in children is having them think we were lying to them once they start to gain their own experiences.
Cyber bullying is something that needs to be taught a lot more. This is an area where the law has not been able to adapt yet. Students should know how much they can hurt others by being mean online. I remember when I was in high school, I had a live journal account. There was a point where someone started anonymously leaving really mean comments on all of my posts. This really hurt me and really made me doubt myself as well as the validity of my thoughts and feelings. This was a pretty long time ago and I have recovered from this experience, but I do not wish for others to go through it. Especially at a point in their lives where they are so unsure about themselves.
The only way to actively change how internet safety is taught is to come up with innovative new curricula The truth is that many students are more tech savvy than their teachers. Teachers must be educated themselves about the internet and its realities.
I really enjoyed your post this week Jason, especially the first part about how fear is not an effective way of keeping kids safe. It seems that in almost all aspects of life when kids are taught to not do something in this way that they end up just rebelling and doing it anyways. I think it is essential for us to be good role models and inform the students of internet safety instead of just scaring them or even banning them from the internet all together.
ReplyDeleteI also liked how you added a personal story about cyber bullying and how it can make you feel. Things like journal accounts or social media can be a great way for students to express themselves or connect with others but at the same time can be a very easy way to deeply hurt someone through bullying. Both of these aspects are key to remember when we become teachers.
I completely agree, cyber bullying is such a horrible thing. Schools do focus a lot on bullying, but it is so important these days to integrate cyber bulling just as much. I think the worst thing about cyber bullying is the ability to by anonymous online. I've had a similar experience to yours, when I was in middle/high school, some website became popular where people could anonymously ask you questions and then you would respond to anything they asked. Of course it became this horrible thing where people would ask incredibly inappropriate things and say horrible things. It of course just made me hate myself. I've never considered how horribly "cyber bullied" I was from that site... That sucks.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that fear isn't how you should teach students. I thought your points were valid and true but I also think its not a way to get through to students because if they have no experience then why would they be afraid, just because we said so? I just don't think it really instills anything in them if we just teach through fear.
ReplyDeleteI also think that cyber bullying is something that needs to taught more about. Not having any personal experience with it i can't really understand its effects but i can imagine. I also think helping students understand that just because its only and they can be unanimous doesn't mean its not as bad as bullying in person and to help them not dehumanize the people online because they aren't actually looking or talking to the person they are bullying.