Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Cyber aims
The Professional Association of Teachers yesterday called for websites such as YouTube and MySpace to be closed down so as prevent on-line bullying. Much as I sympathise with their attempt to deal with this problem I believe that their objective is unachievable.
There are a number of reasons for this, not least the fact that both sites are commercially successful and based in the United States of America, however the chief reason is that there are so many of these types of site now that it is almost impossible to contain them.
I am aware that since YouTube was taken over by Google they have been much stricter and quicker to remove unacceptable material. That has been a help but nobody can hope to keep track of all the material that is posted on this site or similar networking sites such as Google Video, Bebo, MySpace, Facebook and many others that I am most probably too old to know about.
The obvious solution is some sort of internationally accepted code of conduct to protect children and to ensure that material available to under-18s is properly regulated. That is something that needs to be taken forward by the UK Government.
Equally as worrying was a report on the ITV News last night looking into the use of social networking sites by children. Their investigation revealed an increasing trend for underage kids to post their mobile numbers, e-mail addresses, home addresses and lots of other personal data on-line where it can be accessed by others. Some sites even insist on a mobile phone number before they will let you register.
The potential for abusers to use this information to stalk young children is frightening and something needs to be done about it. An international code of conduct would help of course but so would better education of children about what lies out there and on the danger of providing certain types of information in places where it can be accessed by strangers.
The problem is that to most parents and quite a few teachers this world is an alien landscape. They do not know what goes on in these forums, never mind what their children are putting up there. That is why we must include adults in this education programme too.
When I was a child I was told never to accept sweets from strangers. In this day and age we need to expand that advice to encompass new technology and the strange world of cyber space as well.
There are a number of reasons for this, not least the fact that both sites are commercially successful and based in the United States of America, however the chief reason is that there are so many of these types of site now that it is almost impossible to contain them.
I am aware that since YouTube was taken over by Google they have been much stricter and quicker to remove unacceptable material. That has been a help but nobody can hope to keep track of all the material that is posted on this site or similar networking sites such as Google Video, Bebo, MySpace, Facebook and many others that I am most probably too old to know about.
The obvious solution is some sort of internationally accepted code of conduct to protect children and to ensure that material available to under-18s is properly regulated. That is something that needs to be taken forward by the UK Government.
Equally as worrying was a report on the ITV News last night looking into the use of social networking sites by children. Their investigation revealed an increasing trend for underage kids to post their mobile numbers, e-mail addresses, home addresses and lots of other personal data on-line where it can be accessed by others. Some sites even insist on a mobile phone number before they will let you register.
The potential for abusers to use this information to stalk young children is frightening and something needs to be done about it. An international code of conduct would help of course but so would better education of children about what lies out there and on the danger of providing certain types of information in places where it can be accessed by strangers.
The problem is that to most parents and quite a few teachers this world is an alien landscape. They do not know what goes on in these forums, never mind what their children are putting up there. That is why we must include adults in this education programme too.
When I was a child I was told never to accept sweets from strangers. In this day and age we need to expand that advice to encompass new technology and the strange world of cyber space as well.
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It is a failure of education - of parents (for it is they who are responsible for children and their education rather than teachers) and of children.
The fault does not lie with the technology, but with the people who use it- the problem of children giving out personal information - you should be teaching your children not to give out such information (which does rather go against the government's agenda for a surveillance society...) and with the YouTube videos - people should use them as evidence to deal with the problems.
The fault does not lie with the technology, but with the people who use it- the problem of children giving out personal information - you should be teaching your children not to give out such information (which does rather go against the government's agenda for a surveillance society...) and with the YouTube videos - people should use them as evidence to deal with the problems.
Unachievable and dare I write this: stupid. YouTube, MySpace, etc. are HQ'ed outside the UK. There is no way, no how that any action in the UK would have any real impact absent putting in blocks on every router between the UK and the rest of the world and no court in the UK would order that.
If the teaching unions sought legal action in the USA to shut down YouTube etc. then 'Freedom of speech' doctrine would be an issue (re: no US court has the power to shut down YouTube because of cyber bullying the First Amendment would apply and even if an judge did issue a court order to that effect it would be overturned by a higher court; there are exceptions such as misuse of intellectual property (e.g., infringing a patent, but these are very narrow exceptions and don't apply here; also the judge would likely not encourage the the parties to reach a settlement, creditors/vendors can force a shutdown if the newspaper can't pay its bills by stopping credit, cutting off supplies, newspapers do go bust and shut down without triggering First Amendent issues). Also a private actor such as a private sector employer can block its employees from accessing YouTube on company premises on company time, this isn't a freedom of speech issue. Some forms of Federal government action don't fall under "freedom of speech"; even in the USA the First amendment has its limitations, which are often misunderstood, e.g., the enumerated "spending power" of Congress is found in the main part of the U.S. Constitution and Congress is free to pretty much free to spend taxpayers money as it sees fit subject to "the people" exercising their power on voting day - what Congress wants Congress pretty much gets subject to U.S. S. Ct. and Presidential veto power (but Congress can override a Presidential veto if it really wants to), but even the U.S. S. Ct. can't override the U.S. Constitution - that takes an amendment (which takes a lot of state legislatures to enact). But the First Amendment protects newspapers and web sites from government ordered shut down if the issue is publication of trash material the First Amendment will trump and prevent such shut downs.
Democracy is a very sacred cow and no teaching union or government should ever have the power to shut down a website because they don't like cyber bullying, this is such a weak reason to shut down a website in the USA, a legal argument based on such reasoning would almost certainly be kicked out on a Summary Judgment Motion.
If the teaching unions sought legal action in the USA to shut down YouTube etc. then 'Freedom of speech' doctrine would be an issue (re: no US court has the power to shut down YouTube because of cyber bullying the First Amendment would apply and even if an judge did issue a court order to that effect it would be overturned by a higher court; there are exceptions such as misuse of intellectual property (e.g., infringing a patent, but these are very narrow exceptions and don't apply here; also the judge would likely not encourage the the parties to reach a settlement, creditors/vendors can force a shutdown if the newspaper can't pay its bills by stopping credit, cutting off supplies, newspapers do go bust and shut down without triggering First Amendent issues). Also a private actor such as a private sector employer can block its employees from accessing YouTube on company premises on company time, this isn't a freedom of speech issue. Some forms of Federal government action don't fall under "freedom of speech"; even in the USA the First amendment has its limitations, which are often misunderstood, e.g., the enumerated "spending power" of Congress is found in the main part of the U.S. Constitution and Congress is free to pretty much free to spend taxpayers money as it sees fit subject to "the people" exercising their power on voting day - what Congress wants Congress pretty much gets subject to U.S. S. Ct. and Presidential veto power (but Congress can override a Presidential veto if it really wants to), but even the U.S. S. Ct. can't override the U.S. Constitution - that takes an amendment (which takes a lot of state legislatures to enact). But the First Amendment protects newspapers and web sites from government ordered shut down if the issue is publication of trash material the First Amendment will trump and prevent such shut downs.
Democracy is a very sacred cow and no teaching union or government should ever have the power to shut down a website because they don't like cyber bullying, this is such a weak reason to shut down a website in the USA, a legal argument based on such reasoning would almost certainly be kicked out on a Summary Judgment Motion.
# posted by 
: 2:10 PM
: 2:10 PM
God forbid the professional association of teachers would consider the idea of sitting down and pushing for overdue curriculum change on the issue of internet safety in the modern age, instead of sitting on their hands pretending the world is still like it was 10, nay, 5 years ago. Instead of bleating on with sensationalist and overtly authoritarian recommendations how about we teach our children the good and the bad of this world in an acceptable manner and not wrap them up in cotton wool and leave them more vulnerable than ever?
One of the big dangers facing children is the abuse of drugs. I hope we can all congratulate the South Wales Police for the successful Drugs Raid at the Dunvant / Killay area of Swansea on 1-8-07. It involved the home of a "prominent" Swansea person!
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