By some miracle of god, I remembered to call the school and inquire about the project involving students building and publishing personal web pages. Ask, and ye shall receive, and what I received was pleasantly surprising.
Let me begin by saying the school is a rural one in a low-economy area. It’s a big school with a large student base (being one of the rarer English schools in La Belle Province…
But the school is going to try and even out those odds. I had a nice conversation with the very personable and savvy principal of the school regarding teens publishing personal web pages. We both knew what the truth is: the internet’s social network is more important to kids today than their right arm. Offered a choice of which to lose, the arm would be cut first.
Rather that alienate students by staying in the stone ages, the school is going to educate kids about internet safety the best possible way: by letting them have first-hand experience rather than lecture them about the dos and don’ts. Kids are going to join up with social networking sites anyways – might as well let them, and show them how to stay safe while doing so.
I agree. And while I’m oh-so-very-aware of the dark sides of the net and the behind-the-scenes, I’m also aware that through ignorance, we fail. Only through knowledge do we achieve power.
The principal pointed out that there have been a few incidents recently in the area involving young minors – really young ones – and the Internet. In each case, the parents were blissfully computer ignorant. The kids knew more than the parents did about the Internet and computers.
I have an edge on other parents, the principal pointed out. I work in a virtual world, and I’m aware of what goes on. I know the risks, I know the strategies and tactics, and I can actively monitor my child’s Internet activity remotely. I am educated, not ignorant, and through this education, I can work with the school to encourage my daughter’s own education.
I hadn’t thought of that, and thus, we have a 180 Jamie flip. The saying “if you’re going to do something, do it right,” struck me. I think I’m going to teach my child some of what I know about SEO, tactics marketers use, blogging, and all sorts of things.
After all, as the principal mentioned, why would I not want my child to partake in the good things and the beneficial opportunities the internet does provide, especially since we live in a rural area where communication with other regions is limited?
The last thing that the principal pointed out was that he’s thinking further ahead – a teen who can manipulate web data and pages now, who knows the ins and outs of the virtual world, will have greater opportunities for both the job market and the potential to earn money online. It felt a little like preaching to the choir, because here I was, a successful online entrepreneur, being reminded that on the web, there is money to be made. If my daughter has proper skills once she gets older, she can benefit from them and become an online entrepreneur as easily as she could be anything else she wanted to be (she mentioned hairdresser, interior designer, model, makeup artist and rock star lately).
Good points. I’m convinced. The permission slip is signed, and talk around the house when my daughter is here will start to include plenty of netspeak. If you can’t beat it, join it.
