In a nutshell, the WFS
is an online based training resource for youth leadership, netizenship
and fair global citizenship, bridging formal education and selfguided
learning.
is a Virtual Reality Representation of the "Sustainability Movement",
providing authentic overview and insights.
nurtures students' self-localisation in globalisation, personal
development and connection to civil society organisations and
democratic participation.
Lesson
Introduction to Cyberbullying - Avatars and
Identity
Overview
With the layering of identity through the use of nicknames and avatars,
as well as a sense of anonymity, it is easy for young people to
sometimes forget that real people - with real feelings - are at the heart
of online conversations. In this lesson, students are provided with
opportunities to explore this concept and discuss the importance of
using empathy and common sense when talking to others online.
Learning Outcomes
Students will demonstrate:
understanding of how online communication differs from faceto-
face conversation
awareness of how the distinct attributes of online
communication may contribute to inappropriate or bullying
behaviour
recognition of cyberbullying behaviour
understanding of the crucial role played by bystanders,
including themselves, in fuelling or stopping bullying behaviour
- online and offline
awareness of the impact of cyberbullying on targeted
individuals
knowledge of appropriate action to take when cyberbullying
occurs
awareness of rules for "good Netizenship"
Discussion: MySpace and Deleting Online Predators
Act (DOPA)
The following interview with Henry Jenkins (co-director of the Comparative Media Studies Program
at MIT) and danah boyd (PhD student at the School of Information, University of California-
Berkeley) was conducted via email by Sarah Wright of the MIT News Office. An abbreviated version
was published by the MIT News Office on 24 May 2006. We are providing a full transcript of our
interview online because we believe that it provides valuable information for parents, legislators and
press who are concerned about the dangers of MySpace.
"MySpace did not create teenage bullying but it has made
it more visible to many adults, although it is not clear that the embarrassment online is any more damaging
to the young victims than offline. Regardless of medium, the humiliation occurs when the entire school or
social community knows of the attack; MySpace and other online mediums may help spread rumors faster,
but they have always spread in the halls of schools pretty quickly. No one of any age enjoys being the
target of public tormenting, but new media is not to blame for peer-to-peer harassment simply because it
makes it more visible to outsiders. In fact, in many ways, this visibility provides a window through which
teen mentors can help combat this issue."
Online safety as we know it is obsolete
by Anne Collier, NetFamilyNews.org and ConnectSafely.org
I. Why obsolete?
a. Rooted in the ancient past - Web 1.0 - the Web of hyperlinked, static, one-tomany
"content" and clunky discussion boards and chatrooms, with users as
consumers/downloaders, and young users seen and referred to pervasively as
potential victims. (Obviously we've moved on to a multiplatform, fixed and mobile
highly user-produced environment, with users as full participants.)
b. Online safety 1.0 is dominated by lawyers and law enforcement people - wellmeaning,
of course - but experts in crime (many online -safety meetings for
parents and students in schools are still given by police, ICAC members, FBI
agents, etc.)
c. When crime is where expertise lies, criminals - predators - become the focus
of all discussion, and fear underlies it. Yet we know now that probably less than
one-tenth of 1% of teens are at risk of sexual exploitation as a result of any
Internet activity (and even fewer children under 13), according to UNH's Crimes
Against Children Research Center, and meanwhile the most common risk online
kids face is peer harassment - non-criminal adolescent behavior.
d. The predator p anic