On Thursday, in Skills classes, all 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade students watched May Brooks-Kempler’s TED Talk, Think Cyber, How to stay safe in an online world. Her presentation served as a springboard for meaningful conversations with the students in the class, and really got them thinking. Her presentation is rich with information and practical advice, but there was a point she made early on that resonated for me. In passing, she asked the audience to consider that just over a hundred years ago, in cities throughout the world, there were very few laws or even accepted practices about crossing streets. My research shows that it was not until the 1930’s that traffic control was widely attempted in the United States, even though the first pedestrian fatality is traced back to 1899. One source indicates that the crosswalk was first successfully introduced in 1929 – which is still 30 years after the first fatality.
Ms. Kempler suggests that cyber-safety in the 21st Century is the same as road safety in the 20th Century. Her comparison is a hopeful one, as in the Skills classes, every single student could identify the tools and the rules that one needs to follow to safely navigate even the busiest streets. The notion of crossing at the crosswalk, looking both ways, and obeying the traffic signal was universally understood, and I would wager that this would be true of elementary school students as well.
While it would seem that road safety in 21st Century is a problem of the past, today’s adolescents have yet to benefit from universally accepted and understood rules that allow them to safely use the internet. Perhaps this issue is more complex than simply traversing a busy intersection, but I am not so certain that it is.
In the meantime, the students at The Beech Hill School will continue to work on becoming safer and smarter users of the internet; as the technology that is present for our teachers and students is remarkable. Eschewing technology because of the real dangers that exist would be as foolish as never crossing a street. Despite the lack of universal norms and controls, we have learned a lot about wise ways to utilize technology – and when to limit its use as well. I can’t imagine my life without my car, and after living in Philadelphia for a period of time, I can’t imagine trying to cross a street without crosswalks and traffic signals. Life is better with technology and will be even better still when we agree to use it in a safe way.