Referred to variously as technopanic, predator panic, cyberbullying panic, etc., a lot of fear and anxiety has developed around the intersection of youth and the Internet.
He defined juvenoia as "the exaggerated fear of the influence of social change [including the Internet] on youth." This week, the first of a two-part series on Dr. Finkelhor's talk: why the fear is unsupported by the evidence and (next week) why all the fear.
"Referred to variously as technopanic, predator panic, cyberbullying panic, etc., a lot of fear and anxiety has developed around the intersection of youth and the Internet."
" He defined juvenoia as "the exaggerated fear of the influence of social change [including the Internet] on youth." This week, the first of a two-part series on Dr. Finkelhor's talk: why the fear is unsupported by the evidence and (next week) why all the fear.
Kids are growing up in a digital world. They connect, share, learn, explore, and play in way unimaginable just a
generation ago. This is the only world they know and their parents, teachers, political leaders and even the media
are all doing what they can to catch up. The emergence of social media, in all its extraordinary forms, is pushing the
boundaries of what we think of as private while giving us all, and our children, a platform to express ourselves anytime,
anywhere.
It can be an unnerving prospect to a parent or teacher to see their kids pack so much processing power in their
pockets. The media have played on these fears with screaming headlines and nightly news leads about cases of
online predators, pornography, cyberbullying and sexting. Some lawmakers have proposed online safety legislation
based on a single event, such as a suicide that had an online component to it. At least RQHVtate Dttorney
Jeneral suggested raising the age limit for kids accessing social media to 16 years.
While understandable, these reactions are not always helpful or healthy
Going deeper into the education sphere, YouTube has just launched a digital citizenship curriculum for teachers, which includes training in things like how to report content, cyberbullying, safety modes, and copyright. In order to be more easily accessed in schools, last year YouTube started offering a service that redirects all YouTube links to its Education channel, YouTube.com/Education. Check out the new digital citizenship curriculum
An 18 min vid about the ethical obligations of going online from the Australian Communications & Media Authority. Includes bullying, sexting, filmed fights & police action.
An engaging trailer for the film detailing 4 or 5 students who are being bullied and/or parents of teens who have committed suicide following bullying.
"William Shakespeare, the bard behind some of the greatest works in the English language, is coming to a Facebook page near you. Weekly Reader has teamed up with the Ophelia Project and White Plains High School to re-enact one of Shakespeare's plays on Facebook from April 26 to 28.
Much Ado About Nothing will be presented on a special page through status updates, posts, pictures and videos. The students helped create separate pages for their characters complete with pictures, in-character bios and likes. The project is meant both as an educational resource and a tool to combat cyber bullying.