February 28, 2008
THE BERKMAN CENTER ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF INTERNET SAFETY TASK FORCE TO IDENTIFY AND DEVELOP ONLINE SAFETY TOOLS
This press release can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/newsroom/pressreleases/the_berkman_center_announces_formation_of_internet_safety_task_force
When I originally read the press release I had to stifle hysterical laughter. I'm sure that they have finally figured it out!!! An electronic solution! Wow! That is sure to stop those young kids from being online.... Yep .. that's right. Let's provide parents and social networks with more unusable electronic leashes. What happened to providing "parenting" instruction to these parents so that there is no reason for the kids to do anything bad without being aware of the consequences? I don't know what the task force costs but it is a band aid solution at best. Do they really think that better electronic solutions are going to do anything at all to this generation of techno-savvy kids? You may as well try to hold up your hands to stop a tsunami. Within a few minutes of instituting any electronic barriers, the kids will have “work-arounds” posted on their MySpace pages and on a variety of websites that already have work-arounds for other electronic “solutions.”
3 comments:
Larry - I'm confused by your post. I don't think that any of us are arguing that we have figured out an electronic solution. I'm not even convinced that an electronic solution is the right path. There are many people involved in this task force who come from different sectors, including those invested in working with parenting and those who approach these issues from a legislative POV. You're welcome to criticize electronic solutions, but it seems odd to criticize the task force given that this is not our mandate. You know that, of all people, I'm fully well aware of the work-arounds that youth come up with, so why do you think that I'm invested in that kind of a solution?
danah -- I do understand your point of view but when I look at the makeup of the task force, and their "charge," it is clear that there is a serious bent toward finding or building a "technological" solution or solutions. I do appreciate that you are on the task force since I know your philosophical feelings about this, but when you read the list of groups on the task force there is no way that any opinion other than "let's figure out how to technologically stop all these problems using special technological options" will be the main focus. It just seems like a waste of money to me. And yes, I did note that there are some folks on the task force that do come from other "sectors" but they are few and far between and I seriously doubt that given the composition of the task force that they will be given any voice. danah, you and I both know that this issue has many sides. Sadly, the sides that seem to be taking the forefront are scary media tactics and throwing technology at the problem. And I am not even convinced that there is a problem. I hope that my posting did not denigrate your contribution to this group, but as you well know, the majority of those members of the task force are not going to care about parenting or even the psychological aspects of what is happening in the social networking world in particular, and with pre-teens, adolescents, and young adults in general.
Great work.
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