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Student -created videos telling powerful stories!! D.U.S.T.Y. is an afterschool program for middle and high school students in Oakland, CA. DUSTY students work on computers to create their own Digital Stories, as well at to generate rap and hip hop "beats and rhymes." Throughout the creative process, students learn to master programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, iMovie, and Fruity Loops with the help of skilled instructors. At the end of each semester, the students' creative masterpieces, including digital stories, raps, beats, and performances are showcased in some sort of final event at The Parkway Theatre, The Metro, and other local venues.

In this information technology age, children and youth in West and East Oakland face the additional disadvantage of a digital divide, which separates ethnicities, socio-economic classes, genders, and ages. Youth from low-income communities rarely have access to cutting edge communication technologies or, just as importantly, to empowering uses of them. A comparison between the number of computers per Oakland school with the schools' statewide academic performance ranking, or API, revealed that some schools with high numbers of computers have very low API's. This discrepancy suggests that simply having technology is not enough; rather, to improve student academic outcomes, technology must be meaningfully used.

The cyberbullying suicide story of Ryan Halligan, as told to Middle Schoolers at a school assembly. The raw pain in this video will move you to tears and it's obvious that John Halligan's story of his son makes an impact on his youth audiences as well. For more information on how to get copies of the video, go to Safe Passage Media . I like the fact that he encourages "bystanders" to get involved.

These powerful stories teach teens to examine their behavior and encourage them to be proactive in preventing victimization of themselves and others.Teens share their own "Real-Life Stories" about issues affecting them on the Internet such as cyberbullying, online enticement, and giving out too much personal information. At CTAP, we love these videos and frequently feature them in our workshops and trainings "Feathers in the Wind" and "You Can't Take It Back" are two of our favorites. "Amy's Choice" is also a compelling video clip.

This is not the usual Ryan Halligan video that shows up all over the Internet. This particular story was recorded for the Oprah Show by Harpo Productions. Ryan's dad always speaks with such painful and raw emotion about this tragic story.

A Platform for Good (PFG) is a project of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) designed to help parents, teachers and teens to connect, share, and do good online! At FOSI we work with leaders in the field of online safety and, regularly, we hear about incredible stories and exciting opportunities in our digital world. We hear stories of parents, teens, and teachers using technology to raise social awareness, encourage activism, enhance our education system, and of course, have fun!

The game Monster vs Piggies is the story of a zombie monster who is tapped out and would like to catch some sleep but due to the tiny monsters in his neighborhood he can't. It was a different story before when he used to be a singing monster proudly singing 'I'll get up when pigs fly'.

As teens across the country head back to school this year, far too many of them are facing the entrance doors to their schools with feelings of fear, trepidation and dread. For an increasing number of students across the nation, schooldays are filled with the never-ending cycle of taunting and abuse from their bullies. But this year, in an unprecedented display of solidarity, thousands of strangers who have been through the same harrowing experiences, are sharing their private tales of torment with these teens for the first time ever because of the story of Olivia Gardner.

Although there are those high-profile news stories of how cyber bullying has led kids to commit suicide, most of it is much lower key. High-school-age kids tell stories of how cyber bullying has become a routine part of the world they inhabit, so pervasive that they can't imagine a time when it didn't take place.

Students read and interpret a fictional short story about a girl who was nearly abducted from an online predator. For a real life version of this, see Katie Canton's story.

Over the Line? With half of all 14- to 24-year-olds admitting they've been digitally abused, it's a timely, integral question. And MTV is trying to help teens answer it--by asking each other. Ever type something you wouldn't say in person? Ever had someone trash you online, then later claim they were "just joking"? Think your digital drama might be over the line? Submit your story, rate others' stories and help define the line between innocent and inappropriate.

Flames of Moral Panic: You may have noticed that the media has fully embraced "sexting" [a term invented by the media] as the latest horror story about teens and technology. First it was about how the internet is teeming with predators a la "To Catch A Predator," with the most dramatic stories focusing on girls who met these predators in real life [read the real deal here: Online "Predators" And Their Victims]. Next it was about cyberbullying, highlighting the most extreme cases that ended in young people having to switch schools or even more tragically committing suicide. The latest is "sexting," where teens are naively sending and receiving sexually explicit photos or video of themselves to friends via cell phone, again, with the most dramatic cases highlighted.

The Internet can be a rich and valuable source of information - and an even richer source of misinformation. Sorting out the valuable claims from the worthless ones is tricky, since at first glance a Web site written by an expert can look a lot like one written by your next-door neighbor. This lesson offers students background and practice in determining authority on the Internet - how to tell whether an author has expertise or not, and whether you're getting the straight story.

The Internet can be a rich and valuable source of information - and an even richer source of misinformation. Sorting out the valuable claims from the worthless ones is tricky, since at first glance a Web site written by an expert can look a lot like one written by your next-door neighbor. This lesson offers students background and practice in determining authority on the Internet - how to tell whether an author has expertise or not, and whether you're getting the straight story.

The Internet can be a rich and valuable source of information - and an even richer source of misinformation. Sorting out the valuable claims from the worthless ones is tricky, since at first glance a Web site written by an expert can look a lot like one written by your next-door neighbor. This lesson offers students background and practice in determining authority on the Internet - how to tell whether an author has expertise or not, and whether you're getting the straight story.

"The Case of Internet Piracy" was developed by judges and professors to teach students about the law and the courtroom experience.

Don't believe everything you read on Bebo. That's the message an angry mother is sending by suing six U.K. newspapers that lifted a story off social-networking site Bebo about her daughter's supposed wild party.

First-person account of cyberbullying incident involving a classmate.
Two years ago, two of my classmates were the masterminds behind an insidious plot to bully an innocent schoolmate. Her name was Honey. She was obese and had a weird behaviour. Everyone ridiculed her online eccentricities - she would always boast about guys chasing after her. My classmates, Jasmine and her accomplice, Jenny, decided to create an entirely fake Friendster account and use it to 'befriend' their target. They were curious and wanted to know who the guys were as there were no pictures posted in her Friendster profile. It was an attempt to prove if she was fabricating the stories or otherwise....

Latest story of an 8th grade student being harassed online after giving her password to some friends. After a falling out, they sabotaged her MySpace page, changed her password info and proceeded to post sexually provocative information.

Bullying middle school program. The pupils at Franklin Middle School tapped into real-life experiences as they filmed "The Stories of Us," a 25-minute movie being sold to American schools as part of a new anti-bullying program. They wrote, produced and acted in the film, which many educators say looks more like a documentary than make-believe. Previews of the two films can be accessed at : http://www.storiesofus.com/previews.html

This video from WebWise Kids tells Katie Canton's story and is excellent to use in class with students. When she was 15, Katie met a 22 year old guy in a chatroom and fell in love. Only after playing the game MISSING with her family, did she come to realize that "John" was an online predator. He is now serving 20 years in prison, after Katie worked with the police and turned in evidence against him. Katie has become an articulate spokesperson for Web Wise Kids and she speaks at school assemblies to advise other kids. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

You've gotta love this: A Twitter digital story created by 140 Elementary and Middle School Students Across the Globe!

10-minute video from Web Wise Kids telling Katie's story. Note: there are other versions of this video available, but this one is the most complete because her parents are helping to tell the story. Katie is now the WWK's Spokesperson & Ambassador to Youth. She shares her powerful first hand testimony with other young teens and parents so they know that what happened to her and her family can happen to them.