By focusing on a range of issues — sexual predation, teenage suicide, bullying, sexting, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual trafficking — Dr. Boyd has shown, often to the dismay of those in the tech community who believe that the Internet is the ultimate equalizer, that issues of race, class and gender persist in the virtual world just as in the real world. The children in families characterized by alcohol and drug abuse, financial stress, divorce and sexual abuse reveal their struggles online just as they do off.
“She was the first to say that the teenagers at risk off line are the same ones who are at risk online,” said Alice Marwick, a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft who works closely with Dr. Boyd. “It’s not that the Internet is doing something bad to these kids, it’s that these bad things are in kids’ lives and the Internet is just a component of that.”
Most broadly, with troubled teenagers and model youth alike, adolescent online behavior is a reflection of what teenagers’ social lives have always been: friendship, gossip, flirting, transgressing and keeping it all — good and bad — from parents.
Louise Phinney on 08 Jan 13"Children have infinite potential. Play is a natural vehicle for learning. Joy is most often found in simple things. Give children the space to create and the time to grow. Curiosity, imagination and creativity are timeless tools. Asking children questions is more powerful than telling them things. All children have basic needs, such as love and belongingness. Never underestimate the power of one caring adult in a child's life. Persistence, persistence, persistence pays off. Expect the unexpected. We need to strive to make learning transformational. There is a child in all of us."
