http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/look-beyond-the-scare-stories-the-kids-are-all-right-20111024-1mfq6.html
In this article Dan Haesler looks broadly at societal attitudes that have plagued our civilizations since the beginning of time and are possibly more prevalent today than in the past. Interestingly enough, in many instances it is not just parents but educators who continue to believe and in some cases perpetuate the misconception that teens today are rapidly headed down the path to ruin. But, is this just adults trying to control their own fears in a world that is changing so quickly they are becoming more and more disconnected with the reality of what teenagers are actually doing?
Haesler sites the example that despite the belief that today’s teens are drug fuelled members of fight clubs who spend their time engaging in cyber bullying, sexting and creating chaos on our roads, the truth is somewhat different. He suggests that according to the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey the rate of cannabis use in teens aged 14-19 has halved in the last two years and that 97% of the same group had never taken cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamines or heroin. Similarly the rate of traffic accident deaths involving people under the age of 20 has decreased by 16% in the last two years.
Core to Haesler’s argument is the way in which our institutions engage in the banning of access to social media. For the purpose of this post I am including online gaming as an ever increasing form of social media. Haesler makes the comment that society used to believe that it took a village to raise a child, however by not encouraging teacher and parent access to forms of social media we are not creating opportunities for adults to mentor young people on what it means to be a positive member of digital communities. Livingston (2003) suggests that for adults the Internet is often just seen as the World Wide Web, however young people view it as an opportunity to engage in a broad range of social endeavours.
The village is still out there but it’s global. As parents and educators we need to take or create opportunities to engage in a broad range of online communities so as to ensure we give ourselves the capacity to share our own understandings, beliefs and experiences on what it means to be a good citizen no matter where your village exists.
Gregor MacKenzie
Gregor MacKenzie
References
Haesler, D. (2011). Look beyond the scare stories: the kids are all right Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/look-beyond-the-scare-stories-the-kids-are-all-right-20111024-1mfq6.html 26-10-2011
Livingstone, S. (2003) The Changing Nature and Uses of Media Literacy. Working paper London: London School of Economics. Retrieved on 20-10-2011 http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/13476/1/The_changing_nature_and_uses_of_media_literacy.pdf
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ReplyDeleteI feel that the education system is not doing students any favours by banning a lot of social media at school. There is much to be learned from the correct use of social media, so much in the way of teaching potential that it is a shame it is banned in most schools. The negative risks associated with social media could be turned around and used as a positive learning experience.
ReplyDelete(Jacqui Long)