Homework As An Excuse

Most kids like to spend time online, and many parents and teachers worry about the time students spend at the keyboard. As teachers move to assigning homework that may require use of the Internet to access and complete assignments, kids have a perfect excuse for staying online. All they have to do is to tell you is, “I’m doing my homework,” when perhaps they’ve finished what was required an hour or so ago. This is just another way kids are finding to circumvent what we want them to do. The answer is parent and teacher communication so parents will be aware of assignments and teachers will be aware of how long students are taking to “do assignments” at home. Parents need to learn how to monitor their children’s online activities and how to find out what’s actually assigned.

Posting & Sending “Less Than Appropriate” Photos

Terry Darr, librarian at Loyola Blakefield, an all-boys high school in Baltimore has started sessions at her school that give students the chance to talk about decision-making when using technologies. The groups discussed what to do if someone asks you to take “a less than appropriate” photo to post online.  Many said they’d take the photo as the person asked, for decisions about using it were the responsibility of the other person.  Were they saying that they were hesitant to turn down a friend’s request even though they knew taking the photo was not a good idea? Another question tackled in the sessions was what to do if you receive a nude photo from a girl you know. Most said that they would not forward the photograph. They expressed confusion about what to do with the photo and why some girls think sending out photos like this is a good idea.  The librarian wondered if discussions would be different if the sessions were coed and how honesty would be affected. The sessions focused upon real-life situations and moral decisions that students face today but that they don’t often get the chance to discuss and think about.  

Online Harassment - How Much Is There?

An Associated Press piece in the Baltimore Sun, Studies Spotlight Effect of Online Harassment, notes that finding statistics on cyberbullying is difficult. One problem is the way the questions about online communication are asked. Another problem is that what upsets some children may not upset others. A study on cyberbullying found that 1 in 3 children experienced bullying online, while another more recent study said that the percentage was 1 in every 10 children. No matter what the percentage is, cyberbullying, like bullying in person, continues to be a problem in schools and neighborhoods. It is interesting that one of these studies found that most (64%) children who are bullied online aren't also bullied in person and that most online bullying consists of brief encounters. Encounters that continue, according to the article, might better be termed harassment rather than cyberbullyig. With all this in mind, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention is attempting to study how electronic communication (email, text messaging, blogging, social networking, instant messaging etc.) affects children.