I have learned a lot in this issue of copyrights, cyber bullying and netiquette. I found out that since the students have a lot more access to the internet than I did when I was there age. It is scary and unsettling on some things that they can witness innocently on their own with no supervision. The first part I will discuss is copyrights, that has been around forever, if not the internet it was a book that students were copying down word for word and now it is copying and pasting certain things from a website into their document that they are typing. I would educate my future students by showing and telling them good examples of "cheating" when you can just copy straight out of book, without noting it in citations, or quotes. Let them know that it's called plagiarizing, that is not tolerable on any level, tell them how serious the matter is and what precautions to take and how to correctly state something or put something in a proper manner in an essay, paper, etc. As far as cyber bullying goes, I think parents need to have more structure, restrictions and access to their child's information on the internet. I think that would control a lot of that. A child between the middle school and high school ages is hard enough as it is, but if you allow certain behavior to be allowed online by your child it is setting them up for far more failure. Children are cruel to each other, especially if they can text, blog, post or comment the discussion without having to tell them face to face. That goes for everyone these days, it is a lot more easier to say hateful things and take things hateful in a text or comment than face to face, because that comment didn't have an expression or meaning behind it so the person receiving these messages doesn't know how to take what the message is implying. I have witnessed so much of this just being an aide at the middle school this year. Kids are cruel, they are unhappy with their selves that they are wanting to bring everyone down with them and making the situation worse. There is a site/app now called Ask.com, I have not used this myself but I have heard parents, teachers and students talk about it and it is a site where you can post anything you want and it comes up as "Anonymous" and not yourself, so anyone can say anything like one post that I have heard is "Name the Top 5 Ugliest Guys in our 8th Class", and then the kids will comment and rank who they think. Now they are posting like it's just a joke, they were just kidding, but what they are not realizing is the damage it is causing for the people that get named in that post. I think more parents, students and even teachers should be aware of all that is going on and be familiar with the sites and apps that are available. Have some restrictions on what they can and can't download, I know that sounds easier than what it actually is but their is so much of this bullying going on in school and in person, why let it keep going where the whole nation can know about the issues. Why would you want to cause someone's death, or addiction from the people that are being bullied.
I want to teach my students the good, bad and the ugly on this situation, because it could easily happen to anyone of us, especially them the students. I want to make the statement, as mentioned in the text of Netiquette, that when using your Facebook, social media apps, e-mails or your blogs, to remember to treat others like you would want to be treated. The kids that will stand together will stick together and I wish we could get all the students and kids on board, but those kids that are making these posts about other children, are having rough time with themselves. We should reach out to them, but as a person we want to lash out and scold them because of their wrong doings, but things are never what they seem. I have learned that more and more since working with middle school age, they hold so many things in, they don't want to talk and their way to relieve the stress, the anger, the depression is to make up issues with others so they can be brought down to their level as well. I would like to start a program for parents to be more involved and understand the situations that are going on in their children's lives. I am so thankful that I know this information and I am at the between age where internet wasn't around when I was growing up, at least not like it is today, but I am in College and didn't graduate high school too long ago that I know what the information is meaning as well as all the apps and websites that they are talking about and I am very much aware of what is going on. I hope something gets created in time that this gets less of an issue than what it is right now.
I agree that knowledge is power. It is crucial to teach kids what is out there on the internet and what situations they may have to face and how to deal with them. If we just shelter them and don't teach them the terrible behaviors that they could encounter on the internet and how to deal with them, they are going to come across them anyways, but they will not be prepared with tools to help them escape the situation safely. Sheltering them only places them in more danger. I do believe that distinctions need to be made between copyright laws and plagiarizing. They go hand in hand, but plagiarizing is a little more obvious form of violating a copyright law. There are several ways to unknowingly violate the laws if you are not educated on them. I think we drill plagiarizing into students' minds and don't introduce them enough to the idea of copyright law violation. I think marrying the two together and exposing them to both is a good solution to preparing them for the world of the internet.
ReplyDeleteKara Hendricks
I agree with you! We as future educators need to teach our students about everything that is out there on the internet. Also, as future educators we not only need to teach them about what out there, but also the tools they need to help them use the internet correctly so that do not copyright, know how to use recourse the correct and fair way, and to make sure they are using the internet safely.
ReplyDeleteJacie Phillips