Cyber-bullying and Managing Policy Dilemmas
Schools are expected to deal with the high-tech problem of teenager cruelty to one another in cyberbullying and similar abuses that often begin after-school or in the home but spill over students in school (see post of July 1, 2010). Parents expect school officials to restrict use of cellphones, iPods, laptops, and other devices to prevent such abuse and, when necessary, intervene to protect children and youth.
Yet that expectation clashes with one in which parents, employers, educators, and voters also expect schools to use the newest technologies—often the very same devices–so that students could learn more, faster, and better. They expect that students using these new devices will be ready to enter the labor market fully equipped to manage technological demands of jobs.
Where this conflict in societal expectations pinches even more is the accelerating use of high tech devices by the young. Since children and youth typically watch screens daily (TV, cell phones, laptops, and other hand-held devices) that screen time has grown from over 6 hours a day in 2004 to nearly 8 hours a day in 2009 (or over 53 hours a week excluding screen time done in school). Moreover, since teenage use of social media approaches the point of utter dependency upon the devices–see my post of June 17, 2010–-should parents, voters, and educators encourage children to spend even more time on screens in schools?
The question plumbs to the heart of a significant policy dilemma.
Voters and parents want schools to expose students to the most recent technologies to advance their learning
