tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post6170273079062113613..comments2023-11-05T02:10:50.039-07:00Comments on Drape's Takes: Blogging: Just Another One of Those "Dangers"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-27215872341140541602008-01-14T14:31:00.000-07:002008-01-14T14:31:00.000-07:00WWK - another thing that I do (besides everything ...WWK - another thing that I do (besides everything you listed) is I let my teen-ager read my blog. I write it knowing that at any time he can read it and see what I am putting on line. He sees what is "acceptable" online behavior by watching how his parents handle it.<BR/><BR/>For those bloggers who are parents, it is another tool in your arsenal.<BR/><BR/>LLThe Lady Logicianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13441251478384866408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-79968063954397736432008-01-14T14:26:00.000-07:002008-01-14T14:26:00.000-07:00Regarding internet "anonymity"....we just had a si...Regarding internet "anonymity"....we just had a situation here in MN where several high school athletes were suspended from school for drinking. The evidence was pictures that the kids had posted on their "MySpace" and "Facebook" pages. The kids excuse (no kidding) was "those were private pictures - you can't use them!" They acted like they were completely stunned that someone accessed that info off of the internet!<BR/><BR/>LLThe Lady Logicianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13441251478384866408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-91593888798197056482008-01-11T12:52:00.000-07:002008-01-11T12:52:00.000-07:00WWK, thank you for your response.I couldn't agree ...WWK, thank you for your response.<BR/><BR/>I couldn't agree more that it is vital that we educate students and parents about Internet safety. Just as we would never allow a person to drive a car without first teaching them to do so safely, we must keep safety in mind when addressing Internet activity.<BR/><BR/>Nevertheless (and in spite of the video games and other content you have produced), <B>the message you are sending</B> - both on your website and on the banners - <B>is that blogging is always as harmful</B> as "predators, bullying, piracy, cyber-stalking, and viruses". <BR/><BR/>Is there not a better way? I think there is. For starters:<BR/><BR/>1. Remove blogging from your list of online "evils" - because it's not always evil - in fact, it's often quite the contrary.<BR/><BR/>2. On your website, it would be helpful for you to re-structure the paragraph I have quoted - perhaps breaking the paragraph into two: one paragraph explaining that blogging and social networking can be beneficial while practicing safety and a second paragraph focusing on the other issues at hand.Darren Draperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17578208859042859340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-88777240621343747462008-01-11T12:24:00.000-07:002008-01-11T12:24:00.000-07:00Darren,As the Web Wise Kids (WWK) representative w...Darren,<BR/>As the Web Wise Kids (WWK) representative who attended the press conference in Utah, I wanted to clarify that the stance from WWKs is not that blogging is bad. As a nationwide non-profit organization, focusing on Internet safety, our main priority is to address the issues that parents, teachers and law enforcement feel are the most important. In the last couple years, blogging and social networking have become the number one avenue for youth to use online for communication and connecting with friends and people they don’t know off-line – and thus one of the top concerns that community leaders have in how to educate their youth to protect themselves. One of our top priorities is to help raise the awareness that youth have of the scope of people who can and will view anything they post online. None of our materials say ”don’t blog”. Instead, we want to make sure that youth are educated in what can happen to them online, and what their actions can lead to. Hopefully, through education and something that isn’t just a lecture (all doom and gloom) but using youth's own medium (gaming) and something fun, engaging and interactive, they will learn to make wise choices online. <BR/><BR/>In MISSING, the Middle School game that is being released to 75 of the Utah schools the students follow the story of Zack, a 14 year old boy who has gone missing. The students who play this game, will play the role of detective and work with law enforcement and Zack’s father to find out what happened to Zack. In the course of doing this, they read Zack’s online diaries, chat logs and emails. Our hope is that as they learn about Zack’s choices online, they will realize that they have a choice in what they post and do online. Katie Canton, our Ambassador to Youth, was 15 when she was writing someone online. She thought he was her boyfriend, but through playing the MISSING game, she came to recognize that he was really a predator. Katie ended up testifying against this man and he was put in jail for 20 years. We hope to educate more youth, so they can avoid becoming a victim like Katie did. <BR/><BR/>For Parents of bloggers, you wouldn’t leave your home unprotected at night and you wouldn’t let your child just tell anyone on the street, their life story. The fact is, predators will go where the youth are, if they are on blogs, the predator will use that vehicle to access your child. Children need to learn awareness and be empowered to change their behavior online and make wiser choices. People, particularly youth, need to be their first line of defense. <BR/>Steps for Parents:<BR/>1.Have a conversation with your child about what activities they are doing online. <BR/>2.Have them show you their blog. <BR/>3.Establish the rules you have for your own home on what your kids can and cannot do. <BR/>4.Visit your child’s blog often. <BR/>5.Also, search for other blogs to find positive examples for your kids to emulate. <BR/><BR/>For the Youth Blogger, we stress the same rules for all internet safety issues, <BR/>1.Never offer your personal information, like your name, address, phone number, school name, and email address. Many youth will give out their cell phone #s online. <BR/>2.Be careful of the pictures you post online. Make sure they aren’t revealing more than you’re comfortable with. Make sure they don’t reveal any of your personal information too (i.e. school sports team). <BR/>3.Be aware of the pictures your friends post on their own blogs of you. Are you comfortable with those pictures being out there? Do you want a future employer or potential college to see those pictures? Many students lose scholarships and job opportunities because of their online postings. Most youth, don’t think of these things when they are posting materials online. <BR/>4.You have to assume that once you put it out there, you can never really get it back. Miss New Jersey was recently blackmailed because of a picture she had posted on her “private” social networking page. <BR/>5.Make sure you keep your passwords private. There are many stories of kids giving their passwords to “friends” and then the friendship ends and the password information is used to harm or defame the other person. <BR/><BR/>In regards to our banners that were displayed at this conference, the top education topics that were listed on them are some of our main focuses in educating the public: <BR/>- Blogging and social networking safety<BR/>- Predators – how to recognize an online predator and being aware that they are out there<BR/>- Bullying – youth now have access to each other 24x7 – instead of confining bullying to the schools, it has gone into the virtual world<BR/><BR/>At the bottom of the banner it has the words “Play it safe” - this is encouraging youth to not get off-line but just to be smart about what they are doing.<BR/><BR/>We also had a 2nd banner in the room with the headings: “piracy…cyber-stalking…viruses” These are all topics that our interactive games address. You can find out more about our program and also hear the story of Katie Canton on our web site, www.Webwisekids.org. I’d be happy to answer any other questions and concerns people have. <BR/><BR/>Thank you for your support of Internet Safety - an issue that involves the whole community in educating our youth. <BR/><BR/>--<BR/>Esther Cookson, Internet Safety Advocate, Web Wise KidsInternet Safety Advocate, WWKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08542102079586168885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-77029490142617182842008-01-11T10:51:00.000-07:002008-01-11T10:51:00.000-07:00You know, it's not that they ever really came out ...You know, it's not that they ever really came out and said, "Blogging is evil" - but the way they have it lumped in with every other malicious term makes those that don't know any better assume that everything about blogging and social network are bad. <BR/><BR/>A definite misnomer and unfortunate - not to mention <B>uneducated</B> - situation all around.Darren Draperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17578208859042859340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-49733203695211166392008-01-11T10:48:00.000-07:002008-01-11T10:48:00.000-07:00The result of this kind of campaign is that they c...The result of this kind of campaign is that they create a common belief. Just as Ken points out. "How do you know that? Everyone knows".<BR/>What I don't understand is why they do that. Is it excessive concern about child safety? I don't think so. When my son learnt to speak (18 years ago), I taught him not to talk to strangers on the phone, not to give information. It wasn't that difficult.<BR/>Is it ignorance? They don't know how powerful social networking can be for a person as a learner? I don't think so. They can't be ignorant.<BR/>Are they afraid of losing control? Are they afraid of freedom of speech? Are they afraid of the possibility of sharing knowledge and information openly and freely? Who knows...Gabriela Sellarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04218185338966433135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-21020607041187444992008-01-10T18:38:00.000-07:002008-01-10T18:38:00.000-07:00Darren,The blatant reference to blogging and socia...Darren,<BR/><BR/>The blatant reference to blogging and social networking as evil is surprising. Frankly it's irresponsible. Why wouldn't they address it from a teaching moment point of view? Seems if you deem it evil, it'll inevitably grow to become this forbidden fruit. Hmmm.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06871915063319722115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-42879280194583339972008-01-10T16:14:00.000-07:002008-01-10T16:14:00.000-07:00Wow. I bet teachers will have to cease and desist...Wow. I bet teachers will have to cease and desist too.Louise Mainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17904728127788238841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-59246790356077642192008-01-10T14:33:00.000-07:002008-01-10T14:33:00.000-07:00I had a speaker come in awhile back that made the ...I had a speaker come in awhile back that made the same argument. I suppose I should have asked for a copy of her presentation before hand, but you would have been hard pressed to find and teacher/parent/administrator that did not agree with her doom and gloom assessment.<BR/><BR/>Side note: 7th graders are making internet safety vids again this year. A popular piece of advice they want to include is "Do you know that MySpace is the most dangerous place online?"<BR/><BR/>When I say, how do you know that? Where are your facts? They say, "Everyone knows that Mr. P.!" Then go home and check their MySpace accounts.Ken Pruitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03400184066715185068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-72539171402652359482008-01-10T14:09:00.000-07:002008-01-10T14:09:00.000-07:00Unbelievable! A much bigger problem than blogging ...Unbelievable! A much bigger problem than blogging is that people think the internet is anonymous. We had a situation at my school just this last week that showed how supposed anonymity online is so much worse than blogging. This, however, is a classic example of how anybody can do something bad with good tools.jethrojoneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065159896166632977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-34939996872976937442008-01-10T13:43:00.000-07:002008-01-10T13:43:00.000-07:00Interesting how being a predator, cyber-stalking, ...Interesting how being a predator, cyber-stalking, pirating, etc. are all ILLEGAL activities... and BLOGGING is right up there with them?!?<BR/>Sorry, just my initial reactions. I'm going to go back through this with a fine-toothed comb. Thanks for the info!Ed Tech Hackshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10373451742495741275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-77387356414030599712008-01-10T13:42:00.000-07:002008-01-10T13:42:00.000-07:00I knew you'd love that, Shareski!The way the media...I knew you'd love that, Shareski!<BR/><BR/>The way the media twists things is extremely frustrating.Darren Draperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17578208859042859340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293651735518246988.post-31892772589952186922008-01-10T13:37:00.000-07:002008-01-10T13:37:00.000-07:00Blogging=Predators=YIKES!Blogging=Predators=YIKES!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com