March 28, 2008
Curbing Bad Student Behavior Online
There is a growing sense that bad student behavior online—pirating music files, posting drunken photos on their Facebook page, passing along malicious gossip about other students on the Web—has roots in earlier childhood, when they were not taught that, even online, there are boundaries.
Now a British psychologist, asked by her government to review how parents and children are affected by new technology, has weighed in with some support for this notion.
This week the psychologist, Tanya Byron, released her report, noting that in an increasingly risk-averse world, where children are not allowed to play outside without supervision, they are naturally drawn to the Internet as a place for exploration, to test their skills and their limits.
Ms. Byron says, however, that just as parents have taught children to cross streets safely—by doing it in stages, achieving more independence as they show more responsibility—parents need to exercise the same careful allowance for growth with the Internet. Parental controls on Internet searching and content retrieval should be pervasive, Ms. Byron argues, and gradually relaxed as children show they know right from wrong, and harm from health.
And perhaps, by their college years, parents won’t be facing a lawsuit from the recording industry because Johnny downloaded 40 songs in his dorm room without paying for them. —Josh Fischman
Posted on Friday March 28, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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That would require the parents actually, you know, parenting.
— TM Mar 28, 08:43 PM #
I think it’s wrong to assume that children and young adults do things online that they don’t do offline. The only difference is that the online is permanent and traceable by parents. Students were gossiping and bullying long before they Live Journal, AIM, and Twitter.
Also, what leads students to “pirate” music is far more complicated than not knowing the boundaries for acceptable Internet behavior.
— Sara Mar 29, 12:04 AM #
Good article and for the most part a correct premise. Soon after I purchased my Audi, I joined an online community named “Audizine.com” hoping I wouild find commonality among fellow Audi enthusiasts. What I found was a gathering of mostly affluent college- and high-school aged students running wild with outrageous online behavior. Believing they are simply talking amongst themselves, I have read posts that teem with raw anger, hate, obsession with material goods and sex — it’s an unreal peek. Even the so-called moderators are addicted. College students will sometimes disclose their school but the high school kids rarely disclose. Refer to the “General Chit Chat” subsection for a glimpse. You can scan as a guest but need to join for posting privileges.
— Douglas Mar 31, 08:47 AM #
UGGH!
We need to spend less time meddling in the lives of our students. What they do outside of the classroom is none of our business.
— T Mar 31, 09:02 PM #
Meddling? It is our responsibility as adults to teach our children (be they younger or older) how to be good members of our communities, whether they be online or real. If not, we will end up with the “un-society” we deserve.
— Rhea Apr 1, 07:36 AM #
If students are going to stop maliciously gossiping about each other online, teachers have to stop maliciously gossiping about each other and about students as well. Students learn uncivil behavior from their teachers. I did.
— Thomas Apr 20, 07:54 AM #