Maine ASCD Weblog

First Amendment Schools

The issue of MySpace and students’ free speech rights is apparently getting even more traction. I was contacted by a reporter/producer from ABC News who was collecting information about this issue for a story being pitched to Good Morning America. And, I see that WCSH-6 Portland looks to be doing a similar story early next week. Despite the presence of a recent story on the ABC website suggests that teen interest in MySpace may be waning, I don’t think the larger issue of freedom and responsibility is going away any time soon.

As a balance to the movement of the pendulum in one extreme direction, the First Amendment Schools project needs to be mentioned and its goals lauded.

A recent article in the Washington Post – “Students Flex Rights to Understand Responsibility” by Valarie Strauss provides a good description of the works and goals of the program and includes details about schools around the country involved in the project. The article even mentions Kennebunk High School and shares several interviews with students and staff there.

The First Amendment Schools project is supported and co-sponsored by ASCD who provided grant awards in the early years of the project. The mission of the First Amendment Schools project is the development of “a national reform initiative designed to transform how schools teach and practice the rights and responsibilities of citizenship that frame civic life in our democracy.“ Launched in March 2001 on the 250th birthday of James Madison, the project identifies schools “committed to becoming laboratories of democratic freedom” and supports these efforts through supplemental funding, publications, and opportunities for networking. The project utilizes four Guiding Principals in its efforts: Democratic Freedom, Rights and Responsibilities, Community Engagement, and Active Citizenship.

In this day and age of increasing censorship, heightened fear, and political turmoil, returning to our core values as a democracy is essential, and using all these issues to teach kids, rather than control them, should be a primary responsibility of all teachers.

Perhaps Kennebunk HS Principal Nelson Beaudoin says it best, "I think schools go about doing things the wrong way. They try to do things to kids instead of giving kids an opportunity to fully participate in what happens to them."

~John Brandt

Getting Strict

I guess after reading a piece in the Des Moines Register today, I should say I’m glad I live in Maine. Teenagers in Maine take note.

In the article by Lisa Livermore and Tim Higgins, they describe a series of new restrictions being placed on students in Iowa due to concerns by parents, educators and lawmakers that their youth are a bit out of control.

Legislation being considered by the Iowans includes everything from blocking pornographic internet sites on public library computers, to banning the use of cell phones by teenagers while driving, to a ban on “professional extreme fighting” which is apparently causing Iowan youth to mimic this behavior.

The article also cites numerous new restrictions being imposed by local school officials including, banning possession of water bottles and backpacks in school (kids are apparently filling them with alcohol and drinking during the school day), and assigned cafeteria seating during lunch (it was not clear what this is supposed to accomplish). Oh, and one school in Des Moines has banned hugging.

There are numerous references to real issues in Iowa cited in the article as well. The authors note concerns with underage drinking on college campuses, and teenage drivers, concerns that we have here in Maine as well. But I guess my reaction is that many of these things could be dealt with locally without the need for the state legislature taking action. Apparently, one of the lawmakers last year proposed banning flashy hubcaps that spin within a car's wheels — popular among teens and young adults. I guess this guy is a bit extreme.

A professor of curriculum and instruction at Iowa State University, cited in the article states

“…he has seen a trend of more regulation for teens, which started in the 1990s after several highly publicized school shootings caused administrators to more security.

“The trend accelerated with the passage of federal legislation requiring more standardized tests and a social climate of fear triggered by the war on terrorism, he said.”

What do you think?

~John Brandt

Instant Messaging

This is IM from My generation....

~John Brandt

The Blog Police

As noted in a previous blog entry, recent discussions on the ACTEM listserv mirror conversations that are being held among educational and technology administrators around the country. The concerns are regarding student free speech and various web journals and just how much we should censor students.

“Blogs are still unfamiliar to less computer-savvy adults. But a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that 1 in 5 kids between the ages of 12 and 17 - about 4 million - keeps a blog. About twice that many regularly read them” writes Amanda Paulson in a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor. She goes on to report the significant angst educators, technologists, and parents are experiencing when youth express derogatory, cruel and even threatening thoughts in these various web site. Where exactly does one draw the line between these comments and free speech?

The article also points out the positive aspects of online student journals. Paulson relates the story of one New Hampshire teen who after experiencing the death of a parent and suicide of a friend, found support in his online community when he revealed his thoughts and feelings in his blog.

While some schools in Maine and around the country have responded by blocking or filtering student access to these sites, Paulson notes that laws may not be on the school’s side.

“A few private and parochial schools have tried to ban use of some blogs even at home. But experts say schools are on shaky legal ground, and some face lawsuits. One Pittsburgh senior is currently suing his school district on free-speech grounds, with the help of the ACLU, after he was suspended for parodying his principal on his MySpace site.”

But Paulson also offers some practical solutions - and all of these center on teaching rather than censoring. She notes that most teens are oblivious to the fact that what they publish on these websites are open to the entire world. She notes the following:

“’The key thing is that young people appear to be totally oblivious to the fact that everything they post in these sites is public, permanent, accessible from throughout the world, and easily transmittable to anybody,’ says Nancy Willard, director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use in Eugene, Ore. When adults read the sites, ‘teens argue that you're invading my privacy,’ Ms. Willard says. ‘That's just the point. It's not private.’”

BTW, a survey form on the Christian Science Monitor site asks readers to vote on how school administrators should deal with this issue. The results of the poll – at least when I read them – showed that a vast majority of readers believe as I do that students have the same free speech rights as adults. 

What’s your opinion?

~John Brandt

Ethics in the New Digital World

Most of us are struggling in this New Digital World, navigating without a map and constantly distracted by new and flashier technology. We are continually being challenged to be more productive, efficient and at the same time more accountable for what we do and for the work of those around us. Add to this now the question of ethical responsibility and you have a real challenge on your hands.

In an eye-opening article in the Ethics Newsline from the Camden-based, international Institute for Global Ethics, editor Carl Hausman presents some current and future ethical dilemmas for us to ponder. The current biggies are all there: Google's decision to acquiesce to the Chinese government and provide a censored version of their search engine; European newspapers publishing political cartoons that incite riots worldwide; and, the ultimate collapse of online security through the accidental publishing or display of personal financial information. He also shares some issues that perhaps haven't even happened yet - it's a good read.

For those of use in the educational world, dealing with K-12 students - the so-called "Digital Natives" per Marc Prensky - the ethical challenges of the New Digital World are also clear and compelling. But, I wonder if we are not taking advantage of a teachable moment.

Two issues mentioned in the Hausman piece, the rampant spread of plagiarism and the questionable accuracy and authenticity of information found on the Web, are near and dear to hearts of educators working with the d-Natives. Even before we had an Internet, students were relentless plagiarists. However, the temptation to do so now is all the stronger when it is so easy to accomplish with our new tools. Add to this the numerous public examples reported in the popular press and it's not surprising the kids are cynical.

But the ethical questions regarding plagiarism in the New Digital World are even more complex. Notes Hausman,

"Today, we are encountering entirely new views of the nature of original information. Is a paper that cobbles together cut-and-paste selections from ten different sources plagiarized, even if it is properly footnoted? Some would argue no, while others contend that a work with no original thought invested into it, relying entirely on snippets of work from others, constitutes 'global plagiarism.'"

Goodness, is this very blog now an act of global plagiarism?

One of the temperaments I have noted among school administrators and technology people is what I might call the "isolationist mentality." Schools around Maine, and around the country are responding to these ethical situations by "locking down" servers, limiting student web access through various filters and firewalls, not permitting students to have e-mail accounts, forbidding students to bring their school MLTI laptops home, and even blocking access to web mail. I will try not to judge as I am not in their shoes, but it seems to me that there is a golden opportunity here to teach responsibility and ethical behavior. To not challenge students to look at these issues and discuss the consequences is a shame. I'm reminded of numerous stories about situations where students were given responsibility to judge their own behavior and establish consequences and they were harder on themselves than the adults. Perhaps the d-Native would surprise us!

If we attempt to hide and protect students from challenges of the New Digital World, we do them a disservice. Not taking the opportunity to teach responsibility is a tragedy. What do you think?

~ John Brandt