This story came out on Monday, though it hit Slashdot
today, so people are still talking about it: It's an article about how
the principal of a Catholic high
school in Sparta, N.J., told his students that they had to
take
down their blogs and Myspace.com profiles or face
suspension.
The ostensible reason
is to protect students from sexual
predators and other baddies who might exploit the personal
information kids post online.
A laudible goal, no doubt, but come on: A blanket
ban on blogging outside of school?
Extreme, and unworkable (or have you not dealt with any
teenagers recently?)
In a similar vein, Wired News
ran a story about how more employers are blocking
people from reading blogs
at work, ostensibly (there's that word again) to keep employees from
posting proprietary info on boards and blogs, among other
reasons.
One of those other reasons is the fear of
lost productivity. AdAge
(registration required) has a new study out about how U.S. workers will
waste the equivalent of 551,000 years reading blogs
-- you can read a Andy
Lark's writeup of the report.
On
the face of, it might not seem unreasonable. After all, you might not
want your office drones frittering away their
valuable work hours on gossip
blogs or sports blogs or
whatever.
The problem with blanket bans is that they
can also filter out the stuff that's actually
useful.
Now, granted, I work in
the industry, so it's only natural for me to be reading blogs at work
-- it's part of my job.
But blogs are a tool, and they're a tool that companies can use for
information sharing (see my post on Internal
Blogging).
Plus, no matter where you work, there are blogs talking about your
company, competitors and industry, written by people who use your
products or services or do thethings that you
do.
Check out Shel
Holtz's thoughts on this (blogged, course) and the Catholic
school blog ban.
In my own uninformed
opinion,
blanket bans on blogging or blog-reading just can't last, any more
than
bans on websurfing, IM, e-mail or listening to music (on headphones,
at
a reasonable volume) lasted.
Given enough time, they're just going to be too
widespread and too useful for companies
to
block entirely, and the more agile companies are going to figure out
how to
adapt these technologies (with restrictions or guidelines) for their
own purposes. Thanks. -- Joe
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
33 comments:
The article about the Catholic Church made me very angry. I was Catholic for 24 years. No longer.
Dianna
h
Queeniemart: As I noted, the Alerts team is working on the alerts delivery problem;
However, if you're trying to keep up with content on 100 blogs, you might want to look into downloading a free feed reader program (it's been described as like "TiVo for Blogs") -- it's a way where you can subscribe to the blogs you want to see, then you can see when new stuff gets published.
I'll be writing more about feed readers, but you can check out my article on the My News beta feed reader: http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/entries/476
Thanks -- Joe
interesting
natalie
I dunno, given the recent Myspace murder a little backlash might do some good for some kid.
Don't get the blocking aspect at all. I mean with an online news reader and an RSS feed, blocking my ability to actually open the banned site in my browser just does not work anymore.
Each company has the right to set limits on what employees do on company time.. so I really can't gripe about that and as far as the school banning blog reading and writing.. again.. if it is a ban on SCHOOL TIME.. then really not much you can do or say about that. I will have to go and read the article but I don't see how a principal can do anything about students blogging on their own personal time at home or off campus. That sounds like an issues for parents to talk over with their children. I could see in the further that some English teachers or writing teachers encourage students to keep a blog so they will write more often. And as we all know blogs can now be made private and open to only certain readers, so if safety is the issues you have a way of control right there!
I do agree that a blanket ban on all blogs is a disservice. There are many blogs out there that are more like news and information sites (such as yours LOL.. jk) and could help students or employees in research of certain topics.
Much Love,
Mary
My school is obsessed with myspace. Nearly everyone has one. It's such a big thing that signs on the computer lab doors say "No myspace blogging allowed" and you get kicked out if you're on it. But they haven't gone so far as to try to blanket ban them all. No e-mail, IM, or blogs during school but, outside of school, 100% fine. (And trust me, if our principal said that we had to disable our blogs and myspace profiles, most of our school wouldn't be there tomorrow.)
Vickey
http://journals.aol.com/hopelessBlondie/amomentthatismine
I'd start a "Sparta HS Can Kiss My Butt" blog, then sue whoever at AOL gives my real name to this Nazi of a principal. The principal would get a free lesson in prosecutable free speech violations.
btw its not sparta high school its the catholic school in sparta dont diss
isnt it just silly what have we demeaned our selves to. people are just too silly. have some common sense and morals please. for the sake of all us around you.
It's all about being smart and safe. Believing that a rule has impact is much less effective than educating the students about WHY certain information should not ever be shared on the net. Whether the method is blogging or IM or boards - whatever. It's really stupid to share personal information and expose yourself to a wide audience of traouble. Period.
So, educators, educate. Rules do not empower students to make better decisions. While you are likely well-intended, establishing blanket rules will be less effective than teaching the kids the reasons behind them - and to use their heads before doing something stupid. (short-term and long-term)
Safe surfing!
They teach this is a free country. Then as soon as someone does what THEY disagree with, they want a law against it. How sad, America doesn't know how to be free... freedom is being able to do what someone else doesn't like.
I think to try and make blogging illegal is the most rediculous thing I've ever heard. What else are we going to take away from kids today? .. and companies. I have always used a blog.. mainly 'LiveJournal' it keeps me up to date with my friends, and it helps me sort out my day, and my feelings that way im not holding them all inside, and i can actually vent to <i>something</i>. I have never heard of, or encountered sexual predators on blogs. Sure they can be anywhere, they could be on im, on email, on the street. Heck I could lose my handwritten journal, and theyd know enough information to steal my identity, let alone stalk me down. Why dont we make handwritten journals illegal too??
Its so rediculous.
Researchers have shown that beyond formal education (k-12, trade and university, and even debateably within these institutions as well) the most effective training occurs through anecdote. We learn from talking about each other's related experiences, so much so that conversations by the water cooler during coffee breaks may be some of the most productive time an employee spends at the office. A more specialized and competent workforce requires that skills be obtained as a community, not just as individuals. My students tell me that they are willing to read things on blogs that would never have interested them in an actual conversation. Purdue University's freshman composition program is experimenting with ways that blogs can be incorporated into the learning process both to engage students more and to create peer-to-peer learning situations, which are less resisted than authority-driven learning, in addition to being a more "natural" way to learn.
i use just aim right now, though I use to be a member of AOL. I quit using AOL when I was told my PRIVATE (only allowed to be viewed by 7 readers of my choice) was a TOS violation. i was then given the run around about how it was a TOS and was never given a straight anwser. So now that I see AOL writing an article about how people should have the right to blog whatever they want. I am quite amused at the hypocrisy that they have. FREE SPEACH IS NOT FREE!
I'm a highschool student, and I have to say, this is ban is extremely ridiculous. If there was a ban put on Myspaces and blogs for teenagers, it wouldn't last long at all, because of the simple fact that we LIKE those things. It's a way for us to express ourself (blogs) and meet new friends like ourselves (Myspace). It's even more ridiculous that they're trying to control what we do in our free time, OUTSIDE of school. This possible future ban rubs me the wrong way, and I'm sure other students would agree with me.
If they ban blogs and myspace or whatever, what about zanga and livejournal and all that other stuff? I think those people just need to get laid and quit worrying over the dumb stuff... go smoke a bowl or praise God or... something. There's too many people in this world who are worried about everything else. I'm sure they have some worrying they need to be doing other than about kids on the internet. Now if it was like eight year olds or something on myspace and everything else... thats kinda weird and should be monitored but I mean, we're young adults. I myself am close to the Golden Eighteen. Isn't that when all the magic happens ;) *just kidding* This won't last. Nothing this broad ever does.
This makes perfectly good sense... to an extent. I'm an Army Brat and I use the blogs to keep in touch with my friends in Germany. It's much more effective then snail mail or fighting with the time changes for phone usage. Although the "blanket" might be useful to some; it would cause some complications to others such as myself. I think an alternative option would be to educate the youth on internet predators so that their more aware of possibly posting harmful information on the net. And as for workers using the internet for personal use, it doesn't show much for their work ethic; however, businesses can block those pages if it does become a serious problem. I think some officials could use a little more logical reasoning than jumping to bans. Like the article said... basically, in the end it would only hurt.
-Thanks- :-)
I am a recient graduate of that particular high school and this is no suprise. That school has done plenty of outragous things to take away students freedom, this is just the first one to make it into the news because people all over can have an opinion on it. Many diffrent rules there are totaly ridiculous; there are one way stairwells and hallways punishable by detention, just this year they've had uniform shoes with uniform laces, random drug tests to keep kids on their toes, uniform gym clothes, I received a 0 in gym once for wearing two diffrent colored socks, before this event kids have gotten suspended and permanently suspended for comments they left on other peoples myspace's, and a ton of other crazy and stupid rules that I cant remember at the time but ask anyone who goes there it is full of laughable rules.
never gonna work. the internet [sic] has taken over everything.
Howard Jay Meyer
http://spongeblog.blog-city.com
Most high school students do not know how to behave in the internet enviornment so this is nothing more than a safety protocol but in place by the people that teach them. Myspace is not only for blogs when I visisted that site it was not "work freindly" nude photos, obscene language, drug paraphaniala. Kids can find other ways to network amongst each other or use a service that chooses to include discretion as part of its service. As far as the the last "blog" why would you just leave your faith after 24 years of catholisism because a catholic school banned your blogging? you sound like a very devoted saint.
I remember several years ago there was a kind of similar uproar over some students being suspended/expelled from their private school because they went to a Backstreet Boys concert. While I think that it would be a good idea for the school to educate their students on the possible dangers of internet stalkers, and how to use the internet safely, really the school has no right to suspend students over keeping a blog (or other similar activities done outside of school). Of course, if I was a student there I would just get a new one with a fake name and be done with the whole ordeal.
I think that this particular school (the one wanting to pass such a ban) should worry about issues within its walls before trying to attempt to limit and ban activities that student's should have the right to do in their free-time. As for the comments made on sexually-oriented or drug-related information and such ... Let's be logical here, there's plenty of that already going on in our schools as it is, not to mention television and all forms of communication and media. If that's the biggest worry, the fact that students may be exposed to such information, then we might as well ban television, radio broadcasts, and internet use (something that will never come about). What needs to be done is make these kids aware of the consequences of their actions. And leave them to themselves. The only way to learn of risks and dangers is through experience and learning, regardless of the circumstance. This is the price we pay for having supposed free-speech. It's just something we have to deal with, like it or not. And as a parent, if you have raised your child to understand what results may come from certain actions, then you have no need to not be trustworthy of they're logic and decisions. That's the job as a parent. Keep in mind that they may be children now, but eventually they'll be independant individuals, adults, going off to live their own lives. All that's needed is guidance and trust.
I personally would like to know how that kind of personal regulation OUTSIDE of school is legal at all.
This whole damn things lame. Blogs may give out some personal details, but in the end sometimes it helps us. I have a friend who if it wasnt for her blog, she'd probeley of killed herself by now. And outside of school, thats our own life. Under our PARENTS rule. Not the teachers. ITs for our parents to decide not the teachers.
I go to that school! Yeah, the whole thing is ridiculous, but apparently very legal. It's pretty complicated but basically, since it's a private school, when you register you lose pretty much all of your first amendment rights. So as much as we want to argue that we have freedom of speech, technically we don't. I'm not saying that I support it (which I DEFINITELY don't) but whatever. I still have my blog, and I'm sure that everyone else in my school still has theirs. As far as rules go, they've always been ridiculous, so we're kind of used to them. There's this homework rule that if you miss 5 homeworks in a marking period (total) you get put on academic probation for 3 weeks. (it originally was 3 missed homeworks) and yeah, there are other stupid things like uniform shoes, and the staircases - there's one staircase for going up and one for going down, if you get caught using the wrong one you get detention. The rules are all stupid and pointless, but you get used to them. All I can say is that when I look back at my high school years, I'll remember that we made national news for banning blogs, and then I'll laugh.
Never forget that Hitler was a Catholic, and wasn't he a real control freak! 'Nuff said. Like it or hate it? Don't care, because it's the truth.
Unfortunately the kids usually have themselves to blame. MySpace and a host of others have disintegrated into rumor mills, slander/libel fests, and outright child pornography. Nearly every week my Department deals with calls from people who have been falsely accused of crimes and misdeeds on these pages, mostly started by miscreant teenagers who confuse free speech with verbal vandalism.
The school may be extreme, but it is a private school. Take your chances (and your attitude) down the road.
You know, after some thought about this entire thing, I have decided that if these kids want to blog, then whatever happens to them - be it good or bad - is their own fault.
I don't really think that the school is to blame. After all, if kids are abusing the system, then these individuals are spoiling it for the others. If these kids are using it as a place to conduct digital mud-slinging matches, then the only ones who should be held accountable for such actions and consequences are these kids.
These days, it seems like people have this unwritten rule that a child cannot be held accountable for their actions because of their age, which to me is complete and total BS (pardon my language). Even at ages as young as 10, the concepts of Right and Wrong should be fully ingrained into you. So, these kids need to be taught and made to understand that their actions, or lack of them, will have consequences, and this whining about, "that's not fair!" is irrelavent.
Don't like it? Go to another school. If you're dumb enough to post personal information about yourself, whose fault is that?
The parents and school have a resposible to protect from sexao preterts. The chirld has to went say no. If they say yes an old enought to untostand the conquest of their sexal active they are the one to blame not the parent or school
If my child were attending that school, I would remove my child on principle. How dare they tell me or my children what to do when they are not at school? Aside from homework, they have no right. I hope that school loses half of its paying students due to their control issues.
Ok I know this has nothing to do with the subject matter however in haste I didnt have time to look for a more appropriate place to make this entry. I just read a story about a young man from New Orleans who had just been arrested for drug possesion, Heroin to be exact. This is the same young man who took it upon himself to commandeer a school bus and load it up with sixty plus people and drive them to safety all the way to the Houston Astrodome. Now if he hadnt done that those sixty peoples lives would have been in serious jeopardy and there may have been alot more than a couple of bruises and minor scrapes on the rescue personnell trying to save them once they were in a life threatening situation. Now dont get me wrong I in no way condone the fact that this guy was in possesion of heroin but come on give him a stern warning and tell him thats the only time in his life that he will get "out of jail free" so to speak. I know he has had some priors before this incident and he seems like he may be on his way to becoming a career criminal but just this one time I think he should be let go with a stern warning. It seems to me that the guy clearly has had to deal with alot of oppression and was acting out but now he has a chance to find his way into an honest life with the movie deal that has been offered to him. That deal i'm sure will go by the wayside if he has to do time. This is the kind of movie deal that needs to be done before the story gets too old. By the end of next hurricane season there may have been several storms that Katrina couldnt hold a candle to. So I say LET THE POOR GUY GO!!!! OH and as always i'm still waiting for a response from Ray Nagin about heading up his campaign for President of the United States. With the same slogan as usual NO MORE BULLSHIT!!!! RAY NAGIN FOR PRESIDENT!!!! God I love that guy he is definitely the genuine article . Peace all ........
I'm sure that principal has now spent more time and money defending his actions than it would have taken to send home an info sheet and hold a forum about Internet safety for students as well as parents. Someone forgot about the whole "teachable moment" process. Unfortunately, I'd expect the same kind of short-sighted mistake from many public school administrators. I'm not even Christian, but this is one thing you can't blame just on being Catholic!
As for teenage slanderfests, well, that's been a part of high school since long before electricity, much less the Internet.
Post a Comment