Of Mice and Middle Years…

Attribution license

I was listening to a tidbit of this article on today’s CBC newscast and I really need to take some time now and rant.

I have to date raised two teenagers. With my oldest (now 20) her high school years were accompanied by constant phone calls and slamming doors . Especially hated the phone calls when she was gone. Finally gave up. I never touched a phone until she left home.

My soon-to-leave-for-university-boy is the uber IM, Facebook and text networker. No phone ringing, but the same slamming doors. I have just recently realized when the phone rings, it might be for me…

I do not care what the technology is, kids will meet FTF. The social networking tool is the precursor, call to arms, or the executive summary of an event(s). If I recall, isn’t attraction to the opposite sex one of the strongest “instincts” of any species? Show me a researcher that has concrete data of the negative correlation of social networks and the plethora of FTF interactions, and I will type a recant. Until then, I think our kids are just…umm.. fine.

What would you do to safeguard children that may be involved with your social networked site? Well, Facebook, in conjunction with the power of the judicial system of 49 states, have decided on the following changes to help combat cyberbullying and sexual predators: A quick cut and paste to show the listed initiatives… See the full article here.

-Ensure companies offering services on its site comply with its safety and privacy guidelines.

-Keep tobacco and alcohol ads from users too young to purchase those products.

-Remove groups whose comments or images suggest they may involve incest, pedophilia, bullying or other inappropriate content.

-Send warning messages when a child is in danger of giving personal information to an adult.

-Review users’ profiles when they ask to change their age, ensuring the update is legitimate and not intended to let adults masquerade as children.

Just a thought…what present day institution that is directly involved with children would be the ideal conduit to address cyberbullying and predators and halt this “Big Brother ” mentality?
Here come the vid screens.

I remember as a boy in the mid seventies watching the T.V series called Space 1999 . The premise of the series was that a horrible nuclear explosion caused the moon to drift away from the earth into deep space. At night I would stare in wonderment at the moon and imagined what it would be like to be looking up from earth and see that terrible event occur. One night I dreamt that this actually happened. I remember looking up and hearing someone yell “BOOOOOOM!”. There was no sound effect, just someone yelling “BOOOOOOM!”. At the time it frightened me because in my mind that was what it would have sounded like. I had no idea what that sound would be like, no concept that in actuality there would be no sound. I was young and that was that. Funniest thing I remember from my childhood.

As I sat Wednesday night in our session in EC&I 831 that focused on the order of closure on an educational blog by Al Upton in Australia, and my previous post on the recent events that surrounded the near expulsion of a student at Ryerson for his use of Facebook I recalled that dream.

I remembered the dream because in a very real sense it parallels the lack of understanding that these administrations of their respective institutions have in relation to these technologies. So instead of investigation and consultation to develop an understanding of these social networking tools and their applications, they come to their own rash and uninformed conclusions and act accordingly. They yell “BOOOOM!”.

It was very soon after (maybe a couple of weeks) I had that dream I recalled how silly it was to hear that yell. I wonder if these institutions are still yelling the same sound and how long it will take them to come to that same realization that I did those many years ago.

Although he will not be expelled, the Ryerson student has still been found guilty of academic misconduct, will receive a zero on ten percent of his course, and have to take a course in relation to academic misconduct. View the CBC article here.

If anyone has more information as to why he was found guilty and yet not expelled, I would be interested to know why.

Your thoughts?

I pasted some of the article…. See the full article link at the bottom…
Ryerson officials say website urged sharing of answers

Linda Nguyen , Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, March 07, 2008

A Ryerson University student facing expulsion for running a study group on Facebook should not be punished by school officials, but applauded for his innovation, a Toronto-based technology expert said Thursday.

“The online culture is outpacing the curriculum and education system,” said Jesse Hirsh, who has been studying social websites for more than a decade. “These students are being smart and using the Internet the way that it should be used. This is the future of education.”

But officials at Toronto’s Ryerson University disagree.
They have sent a notice of expulsion to first-year computer engineering student Chris Avenir after a professor came across a Facebook group called Dungeons/Mastering Chemistry Solutions where students were encouraged to exchange tips and answers for an online testing system.

See the full article here

Innovation or lack of academic integrity?