Just yesterday I received a friend request on Facebook from a student at my school. It is not odd that he found my name on Facebook. It is not odd that he perhaps wants to be my friend. What strikes me as very wrong is that on his profile he says his birthdate is 1986. That would indicate he is 23 years old. The picture he posted is very seductive. Does this 10 year old digital native know what he is creating? I know that this particular kid has 112 times the digital skills as I have. And he flaunts those skills every hour of every day.
Then I looked at his friends. Many I knew as either present or former students at my elementary school. Many had obviously wrong birthdates. Many had very suggestive pictures. Are their parents so digital dinosaurs or so digital tourists that they have not checked their young children's Facebook profiles? Do they get this cyber world?
I am scheduled to teach the I.safe curriculum to my kindergartners through fifth graders in the very near futue. Can I help keep these digital native children safe on.line? Can I teach two lessons on on.line predators or cyber-bullying and make an impact?
I am no longer on Facebook. I am truly frightened.
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Lets try to attack this from a P.O.V. that plays into their misconceptions. If their moral compass does not point in the direction of honesty and safety, than how can we show them that it would be in their best interest? Often a course correction from an adult mentor with the proper nonthreatening voice can put them on track.
ReplyDeleteMany young people from your own generation spent a lot of effort rushing through their adolescents to be older and get into the cool group. Think cigarettes rolled in the sleeve of white t-shirts. Many young people joined the army and lied about their ages to serve in the generation before yours. Many young people don't see the value in child hood because it is not presented as a good place to be. Their are privileges that come with age and that is reinforced on every level from the principal on down. Seniority? How does the idea of Seniority play into our current culture? Gladwell writes that many of the biggest companies now advance people on popularity and charm over seniority. How can we get ten year olds not to be focused on seniority? Maybe by not idealizing age based privileges in the first place.
oh yeah and this
ReplyDeletehttp://www.marcprensky.com/writing/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecFizWZgIiA
ReplyDeleteOur friend Ian Jukes climbs atop the question again! I also have followed Alan November recently. Having now ordered five new books, I should be set for some intense reading. Patrick, your comments are well spoken. I will re-think my approach and consider the DFL and DSL language differences when planning my teaching. Thank you.
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