Cyber-safety: which path to take?
Nov 15th, 2007 by robynjay
Donna Hensley has sent through information regarding an ACER seminar Youth Cyber Safety –
Serious Threat, Serious Impacts with Michael Carr-Gregg to be held at ATP next Monday 19 November. As you know we kicked off the year considering and have continued to explore the notion of cyber-bullying so if it wasn’t so darned expensive I’d be heading along to see what he had to say.
[image: megadem]
What riles me about the seminar promo is the continued fear campaign it engenders in adults/ teachers. Unless we are looking over our childrens’ shoulders they are getting up to no good - lurking around in all sorts of murky places and generally getting up to no good…
Safety online is all about keeping adult predators away. OR IS IT?
Evidence suggests the greatest stranger danger comes from children’s peers!
This one day intensive seminar is devoted to discovering the impacts and outcomes of young people’s use of social networking websites, cyber bullying, internet addiction, filtering software and online games.
Recently a 16 year old computer whiz took only a few clicks to bypass the filters used in the government’s $84 Million National Filtering Scheme. His method ensured the toolbar icons were not deleted; his parents believed the filters were still working…
Do you really know what our youth “do” online?
The Australian Council for Educational Research invites you to join leading adolescent psychologist, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, to explore youth cyber safety issues including:
* why Cyberia is a legitimate world, and how today’s youth live in it
* the shortcomings of existing solutions and structures
* common problems and practical solutions for your organisation
* case studies and resources which illuminate and demystify core issues
Sure its an important issue that requires attention and indeed I continue to advocate for inclusion via exposure/critical conversation in our curriculum, but as a mother of two highly digitally literate young adults it just astounds me. Sure there are dangers there; it’s a bit like letting people loose on the streets of Sydney. But we deal with the issues through frank open discussion, trust, exposure, awareness raising and education not by imposing blocks. A friend, single mum of a 17 year old, recently told me that she maintains the log in details of their family computer and that her son is only allowed to access it when she is at home. Stop and think for a moment where this type of fear comes from and what the consequences will be.
If you manage to head to the seminar drop us a line and let us know what conversations ensued.