Time marches on and the hands of time have no reverse setting. There is an increasingly more aggressive and imposing climate among society’s elites to legislate private behavior. This is the third article this week where we address another aspect of the nanny state. The culprit this time is public education. The issue is a New Jersey middle school principal is imploring to have parents forbid their children from social networking and text messaging.
Principal Anthony Orsini, Benjamin Franklin Middle School, in Ridgewood, New Jersey sent out an email on Wednesday asking parents to help get all the school’s students off social networking sites and to get them to stay off text messaging.
He wrote:
"Please do the following: sit down with your child (and they are just children still) and tell them that they are not allowed to be a member of any social networking site. Today! "Let them know that you will at some point every week be checking their text messages online! You have the ability to do this through your cell phone provider. "Let them know that you will be installing Parental Control Software so you can tell every place they have visited online, and everything they have instant messaged or written to a friend. Don't install it behind their back, but install it!"
"It is time for every single member of the BF Community to take a stand! There is absolutely no reason for any middle school student to be a part of a social networking site!"Let me repeat that - there is absolutely, positively no reason for any middle school student to be a part of a social networking site! None."
Beneath the shroud of being the assertive strong leader what surely is a part of it is fearing the repercussion of possible events which could happen at his school. There have been a few alarming reports of Facebook postings being used to bully students and spread gossip including the case of a girl driven to her own suicide.
There is no question the use of computers opens kids up to all kinds of new possibilities both good and bad. From the first chat rooms widely used in the 1990’s, there have been situations where kids have been lured into bad situations. However, do we see any coverage of the good?
Maybe we just take that for granted, but kids have so many more options to talk to other kids who share their interests and experiences. Kids who’d otherwise be lonely have many new possibilities.
Parents do take on a huge responsibility when they allow their children to use computers. It’s not a toy where kids can just be given the machine and away they go. Every parent must have a firm conversation with his or her kids and establish what their kids can and can’t use their computers for and what on-line behavior is forbidden. Additionally, parental control software should be setup that monitors their kids’ activities and shuts off access to off limit sites. Additionally, kids should not have computers in their bedrooms. The computers they use should be in a common area in the house with no expectation of privacy that mom and dad could be looking over their shoulders at any time.
The approach should be more one of guidance and less one of being punitive. Kids will not be happy either way but if they understand where their parents are coming from it won’t be as bad. Why not print out where the kids have visited on line and discuss it with the kids?
“I see you’ve been out on the Ravens site a lot this week. What do you think of their draft picks?” “Oh Fox News, I didn’t know you were following the news. Tell me, what did you learn out there?” Taking such an approach takes the threatening aspects out of it, and besides a well-informed adult could see trends or interests and maybe make some suggestions where they might find some more interesting stuff that’s perfectly acceptable.
Humans are social animals. Kids are especially social. In a world where parents are less likely to want kids to travel from one neighborhood to the next unsupervised, kids might now find their community on line. Encouraging the proper etiquette of social networking is all part of the learning and growing process. Likewise, parents should establish guidelines on what time kids can use their computers. Kids need to get outside, exercise, play around outside, and not become couch potatoes.
What does not work and is absolutely regressive is outright prohibition. It’s all too easy and way too ignorant to slam the door on things that might cause isolated trouble and some inconveniences. Principal Orsini is way over the line. Hopefully, members of the community will actively challenge him.
Principal Anthony Orsini, Benjamin Franklin Middle School, in Ridgewood, New Jersey sent out an email on Wednesday asking parents to help get all the school’s students off social networking sites and to get them to stay off text messaging.
He wrote:
"Please do the following: sit down with your child (and they are just children still) and tell them that they are not allowed to be a member of any social networking site. Today! "Let them know that you will at some point every week be checking their text messages online! You have the ability to do this through your cell phone provider. "Let them know that you will be installing Parental Control Software so you can tell every place they have visited online, and everything they have instant messaged or written to a friend. Don't install it behind their back, but install it!"
"It is time for every single member of the BF Community to take a stand! There is absolutely no reason for any middle school student to be a part of a social networking site!"Let me repeat that - there is absolutely, positively no reason for any middle school student to be a part of a social networking site! None."
Beneath the shroud of being the assertive strong leader what surely is a part of it is fearing the repercussion of possible events which could happen at his school. There have been a few alarming reports of Facebook postings being used to bully students and spread gossip including the case of a girl driven to her own suicide.
There is no question the use of computers opens kids up to all kinds of new possibilities both good and bad. From the first chat rooms widely used in the 1990’s, there have been situations where kids have been lured into bad situations. However, do we see any coverage of the good?
Maybe we just take that for granted, but kids have so many more options to talk to other kids who share their interests and experiences. Kids who’d otherwise be lonely have many new possibilities.
Parents do take on a huge responsibility when they allow their children to use computers. It’s not a toy where kids can just be given the machine and away they go. Every parent must have a firm conversation with his or her kids and establish what their kids can and can’t use their computers for and what on-line behavior is forbidden. Additionally, parental control software should be setup that monitors their kids’ activities and shuts off access to off limit sites. Additionally, kids should not have computers in their bedrooms. The computers they use should be in a common area in the house with no expectation of privacy that mom and dad could be looking over their shoulders at any time.
The approach should be more one of guidance and less one of being punitive. Kids will not be happy either way but if they understand where their parents are coming from it won’t be as bad. Why not print out where the kids have visited on line and discuss it with the kids?
“I see you’ve been out on the Ravens site a lot this week. What do you think of their draft picks?” “Oh Fox News, I didn’t know you were following the news. Tell me, what did you learn out there?” Taking such an approach takes the threatening aspects out of it, and besides a well-informed adult could see trends or interests and maybe make some suggestions where they might find some more interesting stuff that’s perfectly acceptable.
Humans are social animals. Kids are especially social. In a world where parents are less likely to want kids to travel from one neighborhood to the next unsupervised, kids might now find their community on line. Encouraging the proper etiquette of social networking is all part of the learning and growing process. Likewise, parents should establish guidelines on what time kids can use their computers. Kids need to get outside, exercise, play around outside, and not become couch potatoes.
What does not work and is absolutely regressive is outright prohibition. It’s all too easy and way too ignorant to slam the door on things that might cause isolated trouble and some inconveniences. Principal Orsini is way over the line. Hopefully, members of the community will actively challenge him.
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