Today's New York Times features a huge, front-page story on cyberbullying and schools' responsibility/ability to react -- and Ridgewood's Benjamin Franklin Middle School is prominently featured.
I have to admit, when I saw the headline and saw "Ridgewood" in the first couple of lines, I cringed...a little worried about what I was about to read. I have to say, though, that by the end of the article, my overwhelming feeling was that of pride. The problem was well outlined, and our staff and students were portrayed as competent, caring and thoughtful, attempting to negotiate an uncharted legal, social, educational and moral landscape. The stories from other districts were fascinating as well, primarily for the way they illustrated the current state of flux for the laws and societal expectations in this area. When should schools get involved? How involved should schools be? These are not easy questions to answer and I thought Mr. Orsini, Mr. Wu and Ms. Wearley of BF very eloquently and capably communicated this.
I'm so glad we as a community are starting to talk about this more, so we can all move through this "wild west" period with a minimum of harm to students. I have no doubt we, as a society, will work it out. But this "in-between" time can be challenging.
Click here to read the entire NY Times story: Online Bullies Pull Schools Into the Fray.
Showing posts with label orsini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label orsini. Show all posts
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
If you're reading this blog, are you out of middle school?
Toward the end of Monday’s Board of Ed meeting, I raised a topic during “other business” that I would describe as having been “hot” over the past week or so. That would be the issue of technology and our students’ access to it. Perhaps you saw the letter that BF Middle School Principal Tony Orsini sent to parents, where he urged them to block their children’s access to all social networking sites, such as Facebook. Or maybe you received GW Middle School Principal Katie Kashmanian’s email in (semi) response, where she took a slightly different approach to internet safety for tweens and teens. Or maybe you saw one of the sound bites online or in the newspaper, since, in the space of 2-3 days, Mr. Orsini was interviewed or quoted by CBS News, Good Morning America, CNN, ABC Radio, Bergen Record, BBC Fox News…and was quoted, re-quoted, tweeted and retweeted among bloggers and others online around the country.
Obviously, Mr. Orsini’s email struck a chord. It’s gotten a lot of attention, and started people talking, which is (mostly) a good thing. It’s definitely gratifying to know that Ridgewood Public Schools have staff that truly care about our students – care enough to reach out to parents and go out on a limb with an important message.
As I said, a conversation has been sparked, and it’s a conversation we clearly need to have in Ridgewood.
To start with, it’s definitely not the school district’s job to tell people how to parent their children. At the same time, we can all recognize that the fallout from some online activities – bullying, harassment, gossip – comes into the schools and can affect both our teachers’ ability to educate and our students’ ability to learn. According to Mr. Orsini and one of the BF guidance counselors who was interviewed, they have been spending an inordinate – and growing – amount of time helping kids who are upset by online bullying, etc. The counselor said on CBS News that recently she has been spending 75% of her time on issues related to Facebook! That’s amazing! I can certainly see how that would prompt Mr. Orsini to act. I do understand his intent – to protect kids.
On the other hand, I don’t want Ridgewood to be the district that’s afraid of technology. Technology such as social networking is here to stay. It has taken hold. It has a lot of benefits and some risk, too. But, in my opinion, circling the wagons and locking the doors is not the answer.
What interests me more, right now, is how this incident has brought out into the light some issues...some mixed messages...and many opportunities for improvement.
Some questions I think we need to consider:
What is our “technology belief system?” What are our “guiding principles?” What is our vision?
How do we reconcile the different approaches of Mr. Orsini, who wants to limit (ban) students’ access to Facebook (for example) and Dr. Kashmanian, who has her own Facebook profile and a “Principals’ Blog” on the GW website?
How do we as a district balance the principles of Alan November, whom the District brought in last Fall, and who advocates teaching students to use technology wisely, with an educator's statement that seems to devalue technology because “90% of student homework doesn’t require going online?”
How do we as a community keep our children safe, protect them from bullies, stop aggressive online behavior, manage anonymous environments and help our kids to be good digital citizens?
How can schools partner with parents to address these issues and together...to create a vision for technology in our children’s lives?
I think these are good, legitimate questions…the basis for a conversation I’d love to have – and have it with gusto.
Hopefully in the coming weeks we can strike while the issue is hot.
I’d love to hear what you think.
Obviously, Mr. Orsini’s email struck a chord. It’s gotten a lot of attention, and started people talking, which is (mostly) a good thing. It’s definitely gratifying to know that Ridgewood Public Schools have staff that truly care about our students – care enough to reach out to parents and go out on a limb with an important message.
As I said, a conversation has been sparked, and it’s a conversation we clearly need to have in Ridgewood.
To start with, it’s definitely not the school district’s job to tell people how to parent their children. At the same time, we can all recognize that the fallout from some online activities – bullying, harassment, gossip – comes into the schools and can affect both our teachers’ ability to educate and our students’ ability to learn. According to Mr. Orsini and one of the BF guidance counselors who was interviewed, they have been spending an inordinate – and growing – amount of time helping kids who are upset by online bullying, etc. The counselor said on CBS News that recently she has been spending 75% of her time on issues related to Facebook! That’s amazing! I can certainly see how that would prompt Mr. Orsini to act. I do understand his intent – to protect kids.
On the other hand, I don’t want Ridgewood to be the district that’s afraid of technology. Technology such as social networking is here to stay. It has taken hold. It has a lot of benefits and some risk, too. But, in my opinion, circling the wagons and locking the doors is not the answer.
What interests me more, right now, is how this incident has brought out into the light some issues...some mixed messages...and many opportunities for improvement.
Some questions I think we need to consider:
What is our “technology belief system?” What are our “guiding principles?” What is our vision?
How do we reconcile the different approaches of Mr. Orsini, who wants to limit (ban) students’ access to Facebook (for example) and Dr. Kashmanian, who has her own Facebook profile and a “Principals’ Blog” on the GW website?
How do we as a district balance the principles of Alan November, whom the District brought in last Fall, and who advocates teaching students to use technology wisely, with an educator's statement that seems to devalue technology because “90% of student homework doesn’t require going online?”
How do we as a community keep our children safe, protect them from bullies, stop aggressive online behavior, manage anonymous environments and help our kids to be good digital citizens?
How can schools partner with parents to address these issues and together...to create a vision for technology in our children’s lives?
I think these are good, legitimate questions…the basis for a conversation I’d love to have – and have it with gusto.
Hopefully in the coming weeks we can strike while the issue is hot.
I’d love to hear what you think.
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