Bingo! This is what we here at the LAMP have said many times before in our workshops and materials: Media needs to be a family affair.  It’s not enough to set up filters; you have to actually talk to your kids about it and learn how to use it yourself.  Too often, I run into adults who look down on new technology as trivial or beyond their ability to understand, and the simple response is that it is not.  I think that we will look back on ourselves years from now, and wonder why we didn’t act sooner.  Schools also have to take the step towards utilizing new media in their lessons, and in tandem with this, administrators and federal funders need to make this possible by allocating money.  Stringent rules (like blocking YouTube from all NYC public school computers) are not the answer–an attempt to standardize something so complex as the Internet does not benefit anyone.

In my view, much of the antagonism adults feel towards new media has been created by sectors of the media itself.  It’s true that online predators exist, and that hateful and inappropriate material floats around in cyberspace.  What’s also true is that these stories are generally reported with more frequency than the positive things that happen with the Internet.  Unfortunately, however, fear of the unknown has prevailed, enabling big media to own the way we view things and turn our heads.  My hope is that the MacArthur report will reach educators and adults who are are paralyzed and overwhelmed by new media, and help them wake up to change and new responsibility.  If you have children, you’re already at an advantage to learn–have them teach you.  You might be surprised.

Dates: December 1st, 8th and 15th

Times: 3:00-6:00pm

Ages: 6th-8th grade

Cost: FREE!

Explore the many ways you can present yourself on the Internet through social networking websites and blogs.  Learn what to include (and what not to include) in an online profile, and how to build your own blog!

To register, call us at 718-789-8170 or send us an email.

All of this is a bandage over the real problem, which is a lack of media literacy and plain old responsibility. Everyone, not just athletes, needs to understand the possible consequences of material that is posted online, and it needs to be taught beginning at a young age. Right now, few if any of the average college-age students have received any formal media literacy training, and one could argue that they make these mistakes because they weren’t carefully taught. Of course, knowing that a certain action could be hurtful doesn’t necessarily keep people from doing bad things–but at least they go into the situation with awareness, and they have no excuse but to take full responsibility for their actions.

When I was in high school, the athletic code was breached all the time but rarely enforced, even in the case where a student was found drunk by her father, who happened to be the coach of her gymnastics team. If that were to happen today, her father would have to stand up to the entire athletic department and explain why she should be exempt from punishment, even as a video of her drinking is playing on their computer screens. Accountability is always a positive thing, and it is a tough lesson that we must each take responsibility for what we do every day of our lives. People are people, and by definition we all make mistakes, but the Internet can completely change the lessons we learn from them.  Perhaps our mistake lies in not teaching students about the power of media, but the lesson–which some have not yet learned–should be that quick fix-it measures, like banning social networking or the signing of an Internet ethics policy, are not enough.

When you are creating an online profile or posting a piece of your writing, it is of the utmost importance to remember that the content is out there forever. It is not like graffiti that can be painted over or washed off. I think that for the most part, people are fairly responsible and hold themselves to some degree of accountability, but the opportunity is there for anyone to post a nasty anonymous comment and have it published permanently, which happens too often. This aligns with the spirit of free speech–whether something is hateful, subversive or innovative, you can say it–but I question whether Internet users are catching up to the level of responsibility they need to have when publishing comments and content.

I agree with Bob Garfield when he says there is a difference between commentary and vandalism, and we need to teach people that difference. The advent of the Honesty Box on Facebook is used by some to declare a secret crush on a user, by others as a conduit for cyberbullying. It is up to the user to do the right thing.

Safe and responsible use of the Internet is everyone’s responsibility. The ability to publish original content is not going anywhere soon, at least in the United States, and so it’s up to us to talk to each other about accountability and standards of decency. It has been suggested that perhaps comments sections need to be regulated, but to me, this seems to be the equivalent of confiscating someone’s illegal handgun when there’s a knife shop down the block. There is always going to be a way to be mean, cowardly and irresponsible, and we didn’t need the Internet to teach us how to act that way. The Internet is nothing if not open and free, and I do believe the positives of a free Internet outweigh the negatives. The best solution is to hold ourselves and each other to the golden rule of do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

-Emily Long

Without being preachy, they got across the message that parents need to try to see this world from their kids’ point of view and not rush to judgment and action out of fear alone.

• One of the parents who was featured was too intent on acting out of fear and ended up alienating her children.
• Other featured parents were more open about how their children used the Internet, and, though filled with anxiety, were more open-minded.  In the end they (with the exception of one family whose child, sadly, committed suicide) had much more healthy relationships with their kids.

The one critique I have is that the doc featured suburban kids for the most part.  I would love to have seen the inclusion of inner city, even rural, families featured.  Teens in those environments have different stresses and different issues to deal with everyday.  These include poverty, lack of parental guidance in some instances, violence and lack of substantive activities and/or support at home and at school. Their relationships with, and use of, the Internet might differ as a result.

Realistically, I know that PBS was offering programming to their base viewership.  As a result, the program was targeted at that group.

We invite you to go to the PBS site and watch and comment on the program  All of the issues included in “Growing Up Online,” including social networking, cyberbullying, loss of privacy, online predators, identity creation and the like are worthy of much more open discussion by parents, teachers and other adults WITH kids.

I applaud the beginning of the conversation that this documentary offers.  We at the LAMP can continue the conversation here in the neighborhoods of Brooklyn.

Thanks for checking in,

Katherine Fry

Education Director, The LAMP