Let’s Create Non-Fear Based Online Safety Resources For Educators & Youth
Posted by anastasia on 09-04-2009
We tweeted a link yesterday about an Ofcom study reporting that “young people want more information about online privacy.” Of course, if you look at the stats:
- Over a quarter (28 percent) also believe that information is needed on how to keep security information such as passwords and PIN numbers safe.
- Just over a fifth (22 per cent) want more information on how to avoid inappropriate content online, and a similar number (20 per cent) want more advice on how to deal with cyberbullying.
- And while almost three quarters of 7-16 year olds say they have received some information about staying safe online, 23 per cent say no-one has talked to them about online safety. [this doesn't really make sense, maybe they meant "no-one has talked to them about online privacy.]
You could argue that most (72 and 78 percent) young people in this study felt they didn’t need this info, but I believe there is an opportunity to really engage with teens about their online experiences. Instead of fear-based talks about online predators or the dangers of the internet/phones, I view this as an opening for educators, librarians and youth workers to empower teens with information on how to manage their digital lives in ways that are practical, non-condescending and not full of “Don’ts.” Information that doesn’t gloss over the pitfalls, but that also doesn’t buy into the media-fueled moral panic around these issues either. danah boyd posted a while back that she was looking for likeminded practitioners to address these issues — I’m looking forward to seeing what she (and others) come up with.
Personally, I would love to see some sort of publicly available, collaborative wiki or resource site on these topics with the explicit bias of not being fear-based and focused on practitioners sharing experiences of what has been most effective when communicating with teens on these issues. I know there are individuals and organizations who have created thoughtful resources, games and other ways of presenting this information. Let’s aggregate it in one place where adults working with youth can pick and choose videos, presos and pieces of existing lesson plans and create their own approach.
A complimentary site would be for and driven by teens and young adults – a regularly updated online guide and forums focusing on managing their digital lives. It could be organized by topics — cyberdrama vs. bullying, sharing TMI, copyright, avoiding identity theft, etc. and include links to great resources as well as personal experiences from other young people (this would be a great new media project for one of the J-Schools or other communications program). Ideally this site would be promoted as a companion to any of the workshops or presos happening above…I would be happy to be an adviser if anyone wants to kick these off.
Categorized under: Totally Wired, Web
September 4th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
sign me up! I’m 100% in agreement. Fear-based education has never been effective (remember ‘Reefer Madness’ in the 70s? it became a cult film instead of an educational film). Thanks for posting this. Here’s to it!
September 4th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I agree! I would love to see more language that is instructional. I also think that it would be better to outline consequences of actions-not fear mongering per se, but more: “if you do this, then these factors may occur”. Informational based so that users of all ages have a stronger understanding of how “online social media” functions.
September 4th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
That’s exactly what Teenangels is all about. They are teens trained in cybersafety and responsible technology use. Once they “get their wings” the consult for the industry (Disney, P&G, AOL, Microsoft, Facebook, etc.) and write and do media.
We’d love to get more teens involved.
check out teenangels.org and its parent charity site, wiredsafety.org. It also qualifies as community service for school.
Parry
September 4th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I wrote a piece just the other day suggesting the time had come. Maybe we’ve got a movement here!
You can read it at :
http://www.robinraskin.com/blog/2009/08/30/internet-safety-it%e2%80%99s-time-for-a-new-battlecry/
September 5th, 2009 at 9:39 am
I am glad you brought up this issue. Researchers do not know how effective fear-based media education approaches are with students and parents. For students, fear-based approaches do not appear to speak to their experiences, needs, and perspectives about digital technologies. There are new developments happening in student and parent digital education that use other rhetorical frames besides the fear-based “safety” approach. Digital Citizenship and Cyber Ethics are emerging as the new frames in digital education, with a focus on responsibility, ethics, perspective-taking, and decision-making rather than the “don’t do this/that” mantra.
September 5th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Right with you on this, Anastasia; and I think (hope) we’re talking about a whole movement, Robin; and so agree, Kelly, that digital citizenship (and would add social media literacy) are the Net-safety subjects actually relevant to kids and teens. Proposing a rationale and framework for all this in “Online Safety 3.0: Empowering and Protecting Youth” (http://os3.connectsafely.org).
September 5th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Exc. post Anastasia, And aw, Anne, I was just going to nominate YOU to head up this task force! I’ve always felt you take a balanced and non-fear-based approach to internet safety and have been my hero on this ever since we met at the very first Ca. CyberSafety Summit!
Do you think a consortium like our KidsOnline unconf. of peeps might want to take this on? There are lots of moderator folks and legal beagles involved with that wiki already?
Either way, count me in…I see NO point in fear-based drama, as it tends to squish out the sides the more it’s heavy-handed…This is why I’m anxious to try out that ‘Smokescreen’ gaming thing, because I think informal learning might be a cool way to go with this too (e.g. leveled play tied to media/social literacy)
Better yet, let’s get some sort of cool service/certification process to empower kids peer to peer, using real life instances of problems and solutions akin to Anne’s forums at ConnectSafely, etc.?
Anything that keeps the law enforcement drama out of it would help, imho. (the “officer/specialist” that visited our school just kept me in eye-rolling mode watching parental gasps, clucks, and hand-wringing all night) e-freakin’ gad–Gotta be a better way.
Preferably youth-team driven to listen to each other’s experiences on privacy know-how. (we’ve tested it time and again seeding ‘forward to a friend’ firsthand tips on privacy vs. safety)
Maybe a riff on the FML app, only with instances of UGC real life privacy breaches & solutions? Hmn…brain popcorn perking here.
September 6th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Thank you for this important call to action! I couldn’t agree more and hope we begin to move in this direction across the board…of listening and empowering teen voices, educating rather than ‘fearing’ teens, and giving teens tools to make decisions independently.
September 7th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
I’d be very happy to be involved. I’m currently developing content for my local community here in the UK and had intended to start a blog and free local help after my talk later this month. I find the current “stay safe” websites lacking.
Let me know if your interested in working with me. I have webspace, blog space, Twitter all set up. Also have bags of enthusiasm
chris
September 8th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Thanks for all of these responses — I’m going to send this link to danah as well and see if there is any room for collaboration between what she may be working on….I wish I could be more of a facilitator right now, but I can’t step up at the moment beyond offering myself up in an advisory role.
September 9th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I’m going to be talking about this very thing tomorrow in an interview with a reporter who wanted to know if parents are going too crazy about online security. Amy– it’s so strange that I sent you an email about this just yesterday and here is this conversation on YPulse happening at the same time! Thanks for sending the link along!
My feeling is that so much fear-based online security information undermines teen confidence regarding their own decision-making and judgment skills. I also agree that the information can’t just be plopped somewhere and expected to have any impact. I like the idea of the teens getting involved– peer to peer- so that they can take part in their own education of this area that is clearly becoming their realm.
Solely focusing on the outliers– the predators and crazies– makes teens shut their ears and look the other way. It’s that kind of fear-based information that makes them say “it couldn’t happen to me.” So I agree that we need to talk about practical steps for the masses– not just for adults and parents to take (yes, policies, yes, dealing with the predators etc) but for the teens to arm themselves with the information they need to feel safe, stay safe, and take an active role in their own online experience.