Vignette 1
From Bud the Teacher's Wiki
"We're here to discuss your child's behavior on a web site not controlled by the District, but that your child can access during school time. Her access of the site was to use it to bully another child, post pictures from her camera phone, and make vulgar statements."
"Why can my child access that type of web site from school?"
"Sure, your child can access that web site online...we allow kids to access those sites so that we can teach them what constitutes responsible use of the Internet. Teachers like to call this a teachable moment," says the teacher. "But, you see, this type of behavior occurs in real life. We're not helping anyone by pretending it doesn't happen online, too."
"Well, could you just teach her without letting her access the inappropriate site and exposing her to a sex pervert?" asks the parent. "There sure are a whole bunch of those around these days. And, how do you know that my child did the cyber-bullying?"
"No, you see, it's about kids being more connected, building skills that they need to survive. " replies the teacher
[in an aside to the teacher, the principal says, "Well, how do you know about the connections they're making? They obviously didn't keep you in the loop." inquires the principal. He's reviewing the police report.]
"I model appropriate use of technology in my classroom, and your daughter agreed to follow the rules," replies the teacher. "Since she broke the rules, we have to agree on what disciplinary action will be taken. It's not enough that a police report is being considered for cyber-bullying another student. And, I must warn you that police action is a real possibility in this situation"
[parent steps out for a moment]
"I'm worried we didn't do everything we could to prevent this from happening.The District is now liable because we trusted you and you weren't able to keep up with the 150 kids you see every day and what they were doing when you took your eyes off one of them for a moment." said the principal sympathetically.
"Yes, but that's the reality of life in a connected world," replies the teacher. "We have to give our children the opportunity to make mistakes in a safe environment."
"I know, but the Web isn't safe...they're no longer in your classroom when they're on the Web," replies the principal. "And, by the way, we're going to have to confiscate your classroom computer--the newer one that can connect to the Internet--check it for evidence, make a copy of it, then reformat it." The teacher grimaces. "That's happening as we speak."
[parent steps back into the room]
"You know," says the parent, "You people let my child access a web site where she could post these comments. What was it called? MySpace? At home, I control my child's access to the Internet because I want them doing their homework. I foolishly thought she would be protected at school from bad elements on the Internet. I don't know how any one teacher can control the situation with 20+ students in her classroom at the same time that he is teaching. At home, I told my daughter to be nice to others and not to do this type of thing, but kids are kids and she did it anyway. I'll speak to her again. I'm worried that I trusted you and the principal to help me keep my child off-line, but you didn't do it. After all, when she's at home, I make sure she doesn't go anywhere inappropriate--I unplug the Internet connection--or do these kinds of things at home. She must have done it here on a school computer while she was in your care. What are kids learning here? I don't want her to have Internet access while at school anymore."
"Oh," replies the teacher, "That's not an option. Haven't you heard? 'The World is Flat' and our kids need to be connected so that they can learn how to act in a global, connected community where online collaboration is critical to our economic survival as a nation. The Internet is a required part of the curriculum, and we have to take disciplinary action when a student makes a poor choice. That's what's happened here. Now, let's put together a contract about how to prevent your child from doing this again. She'll sign it and we'll continue to work together"
[a contract is put together and prepared for review with the student]
"Ok," replies the parent. "Thank you. In the future, why don't you IM me about that and give me status reports on his/her progress? Do you use Yahoo, MSN or AOL Instant Messenger?"
"Uhh," stutters the teacher.
"Instant Messaging is blocked," shares the principal. "We don't allow it because of the SPIM, and/or the viruses that are transmitted via Instant messaging."
"You mean," the parent smiles grimly, "the District blocks IM but not MySpace and those other web sites where kids can do anything, including creating bully-blogs to pick on each other or get stalked by cyber-predators?"
Silence.
"That's correct," the principal replies slowly. "We're developing a policy on blogging sites, however. There's been a big debate about the benefits of blogging and teachers really want to use this new technology with their students."
The parent leaves. The teacher settles into the chair...it's a long day. The principal stares at the teacher for a moment, sighs, picks up the phone and calls his secretary. He says in a weary voice, "Send the next one in"
Written by Miguel Guhlin
