MySpace Debate

Today after lunch I went into the teachers lounge to get a piece of cake and came across teachers talking about their students having MySpace Accounts. I sat down to listen to what they had to say and after awhile I had to interject my thoughts on social networking.

What was very blatantly obvious was that teachers need to actually see what a MySpace Account looks like and understand the parameters of what a social networking website are before they speak. Almost everyone has against MySpaces. 1) They don't understand 2) They never actually went to research what a MySpace really is and 3) They only know what someone has told them and or the bad publicity of MySpace. So of course they are going to assume (we all know the real definition of assume is) that MySpace is a very dangerous place and should be banned.

Education
Education
Education

1) We need to teach the teachers that technology is here to stay and that kids today have more ways to express and communicate to their friends then they did 5 years ago. (Ignoring it or banning it will not work!)
2) We need to teach our students what is appropriate and what is not appropriate information to be displayed on the internet. (Blogs, Wikie, MySpace, Facebook, webpages the list goes on and on)
3) We need to educate the parents about precautions they should use when allowing their child to access the internet. Refer the to the PBS Special - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/

Technology is here to stay and the kids will be kids. MySpace and Facebook are just another way for them to express themselves and communicate to their peers. If it is not an online social website, they are texting via the phone, talking on the cell phones, email, and/or the good old fashion way - writing notes.

Back to the conversation in the teachers lounge. One child that they keep going on and on abouts MySpace really was not that bad for his age group. One teacher kept going on and on, on how bad his MySpace was. One teacher asked me if he could come down in the tech dept and see what they are all talking about. I told him sure. True this child's MySpace needs to be set to private and there was a few questionable songs and one bad picture. But for the most part it was not bad at all. This child is a trouble maker in class and he has been targeted with being a problem child. so of course his MySpace is going to be really bad in the eyes of a teacher.

What was frustrating was that 5 of the teachers who were in on this topic for discussion for a few minutes all left with an opinion already set in their heads that MySpace is bad and none of there students should have them.

Here in the real world kids will use foul language when they are talking to their friends and when they think no adult will hear or see. Kids will try to look older then they are. Kids will test the boundaries of any adult. Kids think MySpace (Or any other social networking site) is a safe haven for them to express who they think they are.

So what is the answer?

Education