Ad4dcss/Digital Citizenship

Malicious gossip posted by unidentified users is sparking a new debate about free speech online. As the legal debate rages, some students are trying another tactic to shut down anonymous gossip online: attacking the sites' business model. They're organizing boycotts of JuicyCampus and similar ventures, to cut off traffic and, by extension, ad revenue.

As a guest columnist, Dr. Todd Curtis offers 10 tips for helping kids avoid online porn.

ToonDoo is a create-your-own Comic Strip tool. This comic strip was created by a student on the topic of cyberbullying.

This site is intended to assist K-12 school districts and other K-12 entities in developing their own Acceptable Use Policy for use of the K-20 Network. Since "local control" is a major tenet of K-12 education in Washington state, it is up to each district to determine what elements they wish to include in their own policy, and if they wish to include other elements not contained in the template that has been provided. Includes sample parent letters and permission forms, guidelines for Internet Safety Policies and sample board policies on Network use.

Vanessa Van Petten's e-book about kids online - I'm really looking forward to this!

Virginia, the first state to mandate that public schools offer Internet-safety classes for all grade levels. Nationally, Texas and Illinois are among states that have since passed their own Internet-safety-education laws, but unlike Virginia they don't make the courses mandatory.

We can do so much with what kids are excited about. So many opportunities to bring learning into what they are doing, what they want to be doing, where they are and want to spend their time.

From Anastasia Goodstein: Here are some of the lessons I've learned from studying young peoples' online habits, helping to launch a number of successful Web sites and TV properties for teens and twentysomethings, and founding a blog about youth culture for media and marketing pros.
1. Teens are multitaskers.
2. Teens prefer byte-sized entertainment.
3. Teens expect content on demand
4. Teens want to participate.

Notes from presenter Joel Gabel of Google's workshop for the Oklahoma Library Association meeting [12 May 2008] on "Safety on the Internet Highway."

Accessing music online and via mobile phones has never been easier, but it does raise legal, security and ethical issues. This new guide for parents and teachers provides essential advice about how young people can get the best out of downloading and sharing music online and via mobile technology in a safe and legal way, as well as providing tips for discussion.

Using mobile phones with students

Cyberbullying resulting in 12 year old suicide

Facebook, the world's second-largest social networking Web site, is adding more \nthan 40 new safeguards to protect young users from sexual predators and \ncyberbullies, attorneys general from several states said Thursday.

a very powerful article about the need to improve how filitering occurs at schools or other public facilities like libraries; ignorance among people like the late Justice Rehnquist and other US Supreme Court justices is disconcerting; it appears that the 19th century education practices in the training and professional development of our doctors, lawyers and chiefs in service to us through our government exacerbate the modern day problems with technology use and an open society.

Most parents accept the importance of digital media but wonder about the impact on students social skills, according to findings from a Common Sense Media poll.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that a Texas girl's family filed against MySpace and its parent company, News Corp. The family said MySpace didn't protect young users from sexual predators.The court ruled that the Communications Decency Act of 1996 "bars such lawsuits against Web-based services like MySpace."