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Permalink Reply by Sharon Applebaum on July 12, 2011 at 9:02am

Recently, there was an article in our local paper ,http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/li-firehouse-refle..., regarding a change in the ethnic background of many of the local firemen in Great Neck. The connection to this topic is the decision of the children, now young adults, to join the firehouse, despite the concerns of their parents because it fits with their own ideas of community. 

Similarly, most kids will now use social media whether their parents are on board or not since it is a significant piece of youth culture.  Eventually, they will be in a friends home, at a social function, or at the park, and they will have the opportunity to create a Facebook or comment on a Tweet or YouTube video.   We teach our children how to share toys, how to cross the street,  how to respond to a stranger in the park offering them candy,  and how to be aware of their environment walking home from school.  The internet is just another venue for which we must address the concerns and behaviors of our growing children. It's not only a question of their safety, it's  also a question of how they treat others in this arena.  They can do it behind our backs or feel comfortable sharing their concerns and experiences online with us.

 

As a school administrator, I have had numerous conversations with students regarding online bullying and the ethical and disciplinary ramifications of this type of behavior.  Parents and schools need to team with one another to give students the skills and the savvy to participate in this ever evolving facet of our culture.  Like the digital clock and the ball point pen, social media is here to stay so let's help our young people learn to use it safely and effectively.

Permalink Reply by Brian Tomlinson on July 13, 2011 at 1:43pm

I totally agree Sharon, as parents and educators, it is our responsibility to learn, educate, guide, facilitate, help proprogate the usage of social media, and technology on a whole,  in a good way. Our children will come to us with some of the knowledge,we will need to help shape and guide that knowledge. For example, when my son was 8 years old after coming home from school, he began to list some of the new "words" he had heard at school that day. Some of these four letter, compound, and made up words were words that I had not even heard of but these kids know them. As my son was going through his "vocabulary list" I could see my wife, mouth wide open and about to burst into hysteria. I on the other hand calmly sat there and waited for him to finish. Afterwhich, I explained to him that these words that you heard are words we should not use, becuase they hurt, and are very rude, and they make people sad and mad. I also told him that these are words that people use when they have a limited vocabulary. I tell this story to say that had it not been for him telling me this, and me not there to guide him, and educate him in the correct way to speak to people he would have gone and and used the words that he thought was exceptable to use. 

Our children bring to the table some knowledge of technology, it is up to us to make sure they use that knowledge in a productive, effective and efficient way.

Permalink Reply by Blanca Duarte Martini on July 14, 2011 at 2:21pm

Sharon and Brian share important stories about the way way children make sense of the world around them, and how connections that children make to the world around them are often times, because of their community.

In the same way that we as parents support our children by guiding them when they have questions, how should we handle conversations about social media? Is this a conversation that needs to start at home, at school? What grade level or age is a good place to begin? What do you think?