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Lookjed List Archive : Phorum 5
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Re: "My Space" and "Face Book"
Posted by: Tzvi Pittinsky (IP Logged)
Date: November 11, 2006 11:00PM
<HTML>Dear Shalom and List:
Web sites like My Space and Face Book are indeed a problem in all of our
schools. I believe that education of both parents and students is the best
way to deal with this. If we try to ban these sites for students in our
school, it won't work for many reasons. In general, it is hard to
discipline students for things that are not done during school hours or on
school grounds. Also, even if we could come up with a workable discipline
policy, it would be hard to catch students who would start using
pseudonyms to get their message across. It is very easy to be anonymous on
the Internet as we all know which is one of its biggest challenges. A ban
on these types of web sites would only encourage students to go
underground and continue their activities and perhaps encourage even more
students to get involved.
For this reason, education is the way to go. We are in the business of
education are we not? Last year, we had a presenter at Hillel Yeshiva from
the University of Pittsburgh who spoke both to students and parents about
these types of issues. This year, we hope to follow up with more speakers
on this issue. I have also given presentations to my middle school
students on Cyber Bullying where I touched on this problem. These
presentations were accompanied by descriptive letters for parents to read
with their children. I worked with other members of our administrative
team so that all educators in our school know the importance of this issue
and impart a clear unified message to our students.
The most important point I make to students is basic common sense. Don't
talk to strangers. Don't give out personal information about yourself.
Etc. These are rules of the playground that our Mommies always told us.
However, students need to be reminded that they are equally true online.
Kids feel that if they are at home in their bedroom they are safe. When
they are unsupervised online, even in their bedroom, this is not the case.
This is the most significant point to make to our children and especially
their parents who might not realize the need to pay attention to what
their children are doing online.
Kol Tuv,
Tzvi Pittinsky
Director of Technology and Professional Development
Hillel Yeshiva, Ocean, NJ</HTML>
Web sites like My Space and Face Book are indeed a problem in all of our
schools. I believe that education of both parents and students is the best
way to deal with this. If we try to ban these sites for students in our
school, it won't work for many reasons. In general, it is hard to
discipline students for things that are not done during school hours or on
school grounds. Also, even if we could come up with a workable discipline
policy, it would be hard to catch students who would start using
pseudonyms to get their message across. It is very easy to be anonymous on
the Internet as we all know which is one of its biggest challenges. A ban
on these types of web sites would only encourage students to go
underground and continue their activities and perhaps encourage even more
students to get involved.
For this reason, education is the way to go. We are in the business of
education are we not? Last year, we had a presenter at Hillel Yeshiva from
the University of Pittsburgh who spoke both to students and parents about
these types of issues. This year, we hope to follow up with more speakers
on this issue. I have also given presentations to my middle school
students on Cyber Bullying where I touched on this problem. These
presentations were accompanied by descriptive letters for parents to read
with their children. I worked with other members of our administrative
team so that all educators in our school know the importance of this issue
and impart a clear unified message to our students.
The most important point I make to students is basic common sense. Don't
talk to strangers. Don't give out personal information about yourself.
Etc. These are rules of the playground that our Mommies always told us.
However, students need to be reminded that they are equally true online.
Kids feel that if they are at home in their bedroom they are safe. When
they are unsupervised online, even in their bedroom, this is not the case.
This is the most significant point to make to our children and especially
their parents who might not realize the need to pay attention to what
their children are doing online.
Kol Tuv,
Tzvi Pittinsky
Director of Technology and Professional Development
Hillel Yeshiva, Ocean, NJ</HTML>
