Category: digital citizenship

Posted in acceptable use, digital citizenship, media literacy, parent education, parents and technology

Eight Questions to Ask When Media is Manipulated

Posted on by Marti Weston

Digital media manipulators use and modify information in any way necessary to support their views. The truth, context, intention, and even a person’s reputation are irrelevant, as Mrs. Shirley Sherrod discovered this week. What do children learn during these media spectacles?

While it’s tempting to focus on the unprincipled young-adult blogger who posted the edited, out-of-context video, the more compelling issue is how it’s increasingly acceptable to use digital media to embarrass and publicly humiliate others. Although the victim can be in the national news, more often it’s a child on the other side of a classroom. Thus the task of initiating conversations to help children understand ethical digital behavior takes on greater urgency.

These questions aim to help a parent get started. Continue reading “Eight Questions to Ask When Media is Manipulated” →

Posted in acceptable use, cell phones, digital citizenship, digital parenting, parents and technology, setting technology limits

Taming the Technology Gadget Obsession at Home

Posted on by Marti Weston

Today with everyone connected all of the time, families need to think about scheduling disconnect time at home. Recently I read that, before cabinet meetings at the White House, the president requires attendees to leave phones and Blackberries in a basket by the door. Without interruptions from communication devices, people can concentrate on the conversation and on the important issues. Most importantly, cabinet members are able to listen to each other without distractions.

Can your dining room be gadget-free during meals?

Families, too, need uninterrupted communication time. Parents may want to develop home guidelines that mirror cabinet meeting expectations. The Pew Internet and American Life Project offers wide-ranging information setting sensible mobile phone and texting limits.

Family meals are the perfect time to disconnect phones and Blackberries. Increasingly, pediatricians and other family researchers believe that regular, all-family mealtimes provide children with a range of advantages. To improve communication and interaction, each person can turn off the ringer and deposit his or her phone in a location away from the table, preferably in another room. Dinner table conversation can proceed uninterrupted so family members will listen more carefully to one another. Make the dining room a gadget-free zone during meal times.

Continue reading “Taming the Technology Gadget Obsession at Home” →

Posted in acceptable use, cell phones, digital citizenship, media literacy, online safety, parents and technology

Media in a Child’s Bedroom?

Posted on by Marti Weston

As parents, we make decisions every minute of the day — some based on things we really know. Others assumptions turn out to be based on things we have heard or believe. It’s the latter assumptions that cause us the most problems. In today’s media-centered world people make interesting decisions about the access their children have to television and computers, some of them based on what is known and some not.

Most people know about the need to limit television, understanding that too much TV viewing can lead to quality of life and health issues. The document, Setting Limits of Screen Time, posted at the Center for Media and Child Health (CMCH), provides ideas and suggestions with links to some of the published research about children and television viewing.

Continue reading “Media in a Child’s Bedroom?” →

Posted in acceptable use, cell phones, digital citizenship, online safety, parents and technology

Pay Attention to Potential for Cyber-bullying Before it Starts

Posted on by Marti Weston

An article in today’s New York Times, Online Bullies Pull Schools into the Fray, describes the enormous difficulties that texting, e-mail, Facebook, and other unlimited online activities cause for Middle School students, their parents, and their schools. Take some time to read it and reflect.

My reflection leads me to think that while cyber-bullying is the immediate problem, the larger issue is the need to change the way parents and their children think about digital tools. While me must always address problems, it seems way too late to effectively change errant digital behavior in Middle School if students have not received years of training in the art of digital citizenship long before they arrive in sixth grade.

Behavior and digital behavior go hand-in-hand. Parents regularly address civil, polite, and respectful behavior from the moment a child arrives at his or her first play-group. Does digital behavior get the same parental attention? The moment a child sits at a computer or sees mom and dad working on e-mail, the citizenship lessons should extend to the digital world. If the conversation does not start until a child gets a phone that texts and takes pictures — an entertaining toy from perspective of the youngster — it is way to late.

Continue reading “Pay Attention to Potential for Cyber-bullying Before it Starts” →

Posted in digital citizenship, digital parenting, online safety

Protecting Personal Information: The Jigsaw Puzzle Metaphor

Posted on by Marti Weston

Parents can use the jigsaw puzzle metaphor to illustrate how easily one online person can gather personal information about another individual.

In the digital world just two revealed personal facts provide enough information to help someone figure out and learn more about a person. While today’s online kids all know not to share a combined first and last name, they are less savvy about combinations such as a first name and an athletic team or school identification — details that can be combined and used to identify even more information about a child.

The jigsaw metaphor, which I’ve used for years with fourth and fifth grade students, concretely illustrates how it’s possible to figure out information.

Continue reading “Protecting Personal Information: The Jigsaw Puzzle Metaphor” →

Posted in digital citizenship, parents and technology, resources to read, Uncategorized

Parents, Please Don’t Belittle Yourself

Posted on by Marti Weston

Recently, while on vacation, I found myself talking to parents of middle school children at the local swimming area. As often happens, we spoke about children, jobs, and the wonders of vacation. When they inquired about what I do, I mentioned that I concentrate on educational technology and teach in a K-12 school.

Almost as soon as the people heard about my work, they began talking about technology and media — their lack of skill and understanding, their children’s immense comfort and skill, and how their kids can solve almost every computer problem in the house. A few minutes later I listened to their concerns about social networking, YouTube, Facebook, and how much time their children spend on the computer at home and on their smart phones just about anywhere.

I asked who sets up the computer in the house?  One of the children, most answered. I asked who does the system upgrading?  The children. I asked whether either parent had a Facebook or Twitter account?  No, some of them said. Not enough time –too busy.

Continue reading “Parents, Please Don’t Belittle Yourself” →