Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Sexting report

I've heard of the term sexting before, I think it may have been in a song on the radio. Not really sure, but I never really thought much about it up until reading all these articles and watching the video about Hope Witsell and Jesse Logan.
I think it it really sad to see these young girls commit suicide for a stupid act they committed, but as the article on "Digital Citizenship" talked about there are consequences for the actions we make using technology.
I still wonder though, why this would/could happen to good kids. In the article entitled, "'Sexting' bullying cited in teen girl's suicide" stating that "Good kids are the ones this is happening to;... good kids; they're the ones who are committing suicide when a picture like this gets out." I wonder does it have to do with something psychologically for the girls to think that they needed to send a picture of themselves to a guy in order to prove their love or something. I honestly don't know and can't think of a good enough reason to do such a thing. Another thing that surprised me was that the school did not notify Hope Witsell's parents about the contract the school counselors made her sign when they noticed cuts on Hope's legs. Hopefully these girls stories will teach other girls or even boys a lesson.
As a future teacher, I think schools should start at an early age teaching students the correct and appropriate uses of technology. I finally obtained my sub license and had the opportunity to sub for a kindergarten class in my town and I noticed there were five computers in the classroom. The teacher assistant told me the students used the computer to practice there vocabulary and math by playing a game using a specific software program. I thought to myself, "wow" I remember I did not have computers in my kindergarten classroom. I think the first time I was really introduced to computers in a classroom was in 5th grade.
The responsibility schools have in teaching students how to use technology responsibly is a major one because technology is slowly but surely being integrated in classrooms. The article about whether or not to allow students have cell phones in school was interesting and discussed both valid pros and cons to the topic. I don't really know where I stand in this argument since I do not have a lot of background knowledge regarding this issue but it is definitely a big responsibility on a schools behalf. The article on Digital Citizenship gave examples and scenarios of inappropriate uses of technology and strategies for teaching children how to go about using technology in a proper manner. This would be something valuable to discuss with students especially since they do not really know what they are doing at such a young age; and a prone to experimenting which can sometimes lead to an unhappy ending.

2 comments:

  1. I felt the same way when I read the sentence talking about how things like this are happening to the "good kids." That really emphasized the idea that there is something going wrong with student use of technology; it is not the same drug dealer that has a reputation for getting into trouble. They are good kids (like Hope) that are making simple mistakes that are ultimately leading to devastating consequences.

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  2. I agree with you, that technology is slowly becoming a huge part of everyday life, both inside and outside of the classroom. If we as teachers address the consequences of sexting and cyber bullying in the beginning of the year, students will see the outcome of it and hopefully make them more aware of how the use of technology can be harmed.

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