Read the latest news and brand new pieces on youth, social media, and emerging technologies! We focus on preventing harm and promoting positive online behaviors.
Chatroulette, sexually-offensive content, and cyberbullying
An increasing amount of educators and parents are asking us our thoughts on “Chatroulette,” which was created by a Russian teenager in late 2009. User traffic has increased from 500 people a day last November to 1.5 million daily as of March 2010, and major IT companies are seeking to purchase it from its ingenious […]
Cyberbullying Panic?
Several high profile incidents have put cyberbullying at the top of the headlines in recent months. When Sameer and I first started studying this problem over eight years ago, it was rare to see a cyberbullying story in the media, now they are everywhere. Larry Magid, a technology journalist who contributes to a number of […]
RapeLay – sexually explicit video gaming and youth culture
Recent press coverage has been focused on “hentai” video games being produced in Japan and distributed all across the world in an underground manner. Hentai generally refers to sexually explicit or pornographic comics and animation, and video games of this ilk have been available for years overseas. Recently, though, they have been “ripped” from DVD-ROMs […]
Criminal Charges Filed Against Bullies in Phoebe Prince Case
It is not often that students are charged in criminal court for their participation in bullying. But that is what happened this week. As has been well-publicized, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince of South Hadley, Massachusetts, committed suicide in January after experiencing extreme levels of bullying from her classmates. After conducting a thorough investigation, District Attorney Elizabeth […]
Implications for teachers who socialize with students online, and how to avoid them
Let’s return to our multi-post (here, here, and here) discussion of student and teacher interaction on social networking sites or in other online venues. Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace are primarily for socializing. “Socializing” involves interacting for social purposes, and “social purposes” are those marked by friendly companionship with others. It seems, therefore, […]
Student-Teacher Interaction Online – Another Perspective
Sameer and I have talked a lot about this issue in recent months, and while we both basically agree that teacher-student interactions online are risky business, we struggle with how to best approach the issue. Earlier today he posted his thoughts on the issue. I would like to take this opportunity to re-articulate mine to […]
Student-Teacher Interaction Online – Another Perspective
Sameer and I have talked a lot about this issue in recent months, and while we both basically agree that teacher-student interactions online are risky business, we struggle with how to best approach the issue. Earlier today he posted his thoughts on the issue. I would like to take this opportunity to re-articulate mine to […]
Students and teachers becoming a little too “friendly” in cyberspace
As we have previously discussed, a recent article published in Education Week entitled Policies Target Teacher-Student Cyber Talk suggests that some educators and pupils are informally connecting and chatting online with increasing frequency, where relatively innocent interactions may have the potential to escalate into inappropriate relationships. While such cases seem to occur rarely, a few […]
The Changing Nature of Adolescent MySpace Use: 2006 to 2009
Sameer and I are just putting the finishing touches on a paper that examines the social networking behaviors of adolescents who are on MySpace. For the past five years, we have annually taken random samples of MySpace profiles and analyzed them for content to ascertain any changes in adolescent participation and information sharing on the […]
Schools Have a Responsibility to Proactively Stop Bullying
A federal jury recently ordered the Hudson Area School District (Michigan) to pay $800,000 in damages to a student who endured years of emotional, physical, and sexual bullying. Dane Patterson was in middle school when the bullying began as simple name calling and verbal harassment. It escalated in high school and included being pushed into […]
