Okay so I went to a Saint Paul Public School. For those of you who didn't go to one, here's the scoop: in the school district social networking sites are banned! That's right, it's impossible for you to even get to the home pages of Facbook, Twitter, Youtube, or Myspace (like anyone goes on MySpace anymore anyways)
Okay well, I lied. It's not impossible. By the second semester of Freshman year you've spent enough time in the computer labs to figure out how to bypass the district blocks and get online to whatever site you want. It's not actually that hard. Just a matter of removing and adding certain letters. according to the New York Times It's quite common to block Social Networking sites, and just as common for students to bypass the systems
When Thom McKay realized that his son had figured out how to get on the social networking site even though his New Jersey middle school had blocked it, he asked the boy in astonishment how he had done it.Many schools block these sites because it could be a distraction. they say that it's just keeping focus away from what a student is doing.
“Pretty easy, Dad,” his son retorted. “Don’t be an idiot. We know more about computers than the teachers do.”(NYTimes)
I can't say I disagree. I started writing this at noon. It's now about an hour later. I've spent quite a bit of time chatting on Facebook with my best friend and watching Micky Mouse cartoons on YouTube (Don't judge me, you're never too old)
But there have been some benefits from Social Networking sites in the name of Education. My friends and I in high school have arranged study groups to meet online and exchange notes via Facebook, I've made event pages for study parties since I have started college.
Clay Shirky of Here Comes Everybody might be onto something when talking about how social networking has made it a lot easier to organize groups of people.
This year, the state of Missouri has banned teachers from adding students as friends on Facebook saying it was unprofessional. I can see how they can find it inappropriate, students, teachers, people in general post too much on their page and some adults it would be hard to see in a professional light.
However, some people have argued that having teachers as friends on Facebook has been a good thing in helping students communicate with teachers. I've known some teachers to create special Facebook pages just for students and I've known others that refuse to add students as friends until they graduate from school.
It's really a complicated issue. It causes distractions, it causes organization, it's unprofessional, it's better connections, it reaches students on their levels. New media has created many new ethics and values on what is acceptable and what is not. But they are all so scattered and all so case by case that it's becoming really hard to really find out where the boundaries are. Even when there are some, people sure know how to cross them huh?
Riah J Davis
I went to a small school in Wisconsin where all social networking sites were blocked as well. There were ways around it, but our technology guy could see what everyone in the school was accessing from his office. So, if a student was on a website they shouldn't be on, he would exit out of it and send a message onto their screen saying they shouldn't be on it.
ReplyDeleteComment from Brooks: "I like how you talk about the pros and cons to Facebook. Most college kids I know only talk about the pros and leave the cons out. One thing is certain, it is a distraction, but I think you hit on one key thing; it reaches students on their levels. This is something we, as students, can relate to. Personally I know in a school setting, it can be distracting, but at the same time, the school administrators never had social networking sites, so it just might be the fear of sites they see."
ReplyDelete