The timing struck me. Though it seems all of life is at an inflection point now, in the middle of a pandemic, two just-published papers represent a crucial one for digital safety and citizenship education. Individually and together, they offer new guidance that simply mustn’t be lost in the Covid-19 din. The scholars point the way forward for teaching young people essential skills for life in a … [Read more...] about 2 new papers spell a turning point for digital safety & citizenship: Part 1
Kimberly Mitchell
IBPA 2016: Focus on the positive
It's fitting that the last day of a bullying prevention conference focusing on empathy, kindness and resilience happened to be Election Day 2016. Whether or not they were thinking about it, some 750 educators, students, researchers and practitioners together capped off possibly the most divisive, indecent, relationally challenged presidential election season in our history by modeling and … [Read more...] about IBPA 2016: Focus on the positive
Finally defining digital citizenship: Help from top researchers
If it's to have any real impact, “digital citizenship” needs to be clearly and simply defined. That’s what the US’s leading youth online risk researchers propose in the latest study on digital citizenship. In fact, the University of New Hampshire researchers made three recommendations: Separate it from digital literacy (Internet and technical skills) and cyberbullying prevention, which are … [Read more...] about Finally defining digital citizenship: Help from top researchers
Tech likely not the main problem in cyberbullying: Breakthrough study
There are some groundbreaking takeaways (and many more insights) in new research from the University of New Hampshire – "The Role of Technology in Peer Harassment: Does It Amplify Harm for Youth?" – and my headline is one of them. Another one is the answer to the question posed in the authors' headline: "no," their data indicates. But before going any further with the takeaways, a bit about the … [Read more...] about Tech likely not the main problem in cyberbullying: Breakthrough study
Challenging ‘Internet safety’ as a subject to be taught
"Way back" in 2008 – at least a decade after "online safety" was starting to be seen as a subject that needed to be taught to children – I suggested that it was becoming obsolete. Now what I'm seeing is that it never really was a single stand-alone subject that could become obsolete. We'll look back on it as a risk-prevention placeholder that society created until our research-based understanding … [Read more...] about Challenging ‘Internet safety’ as a subject to be taught