What should we be teaching kids about posting pictures on-line?
September 30, 2009
The Ad Council last year created a wonderful video aimed at teenagers to warn them about posting pictures on-line (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja8xtQNQYDQ). In it, a young girl puts a picture of herself on a bed on a bulletin board in her school. Her fellow students each look at it make comments, and then take it down, only for it to magically reappear on the board. The idea, your picture will always now be available to anyone on-line because they can keep copies for themselves.
With digital / mobile technology more affordable then ever, tech savvy teens have created an explosion in on-line communications more than ever before. A decade earlier, it was easy to patrol with internet services like NetNanny or CyberPatrol. Parents could block access and prevent kids from utilizing certain sites.
Those same kids are now teenagers and hold the ability to visit the sites and post anything they wish via their mobile phones and PDAs. But who is teaching them what is right and what is wrong?
For generations, parents and educators have battled over what social topics should be taught and not taught in schools, SexEd being at the top of the list. But today, many parents don’t understand digital technology and have no idea what their children can access.
It seems our educational system is ready for a change, and classes in digital technology and responsibility need to be at the top of the list. The alarming trend of “sexting,” teens sending nude or semi-nude pictures to friends or social networking sites, has been a hot topic for the news the past couple of years. The Ad Council’s video, cited above, tries to teach teens the dangers of this in a very family friendly way.
Kids and teens have more access to the digital realm then ever before. But what are we teaching them? The fear of trying to educate them under the “guise” that it will just tempt them to do it is just not an option anymore. This silent treatment of a serious issue is just too damaging for a fragile group. They need to know now what their actions can trigger we ever hope to have them use it responsibly.
Wtfisthatnow's Blog 
I am very against this. I try to protect my kids from all this technology. Even with video games. I do have teenagers in my family and they surprise me as too how much sexual content is being shared through facebook, texting and chatting. I also control all tv that my kids watch since even in nickolodeon they show pre-teen age shows that cover topics like boyfriends/girlfriends, kissing and sex. I am not at all saying that I do not talk to my kids about sex they are only 2 and four but I try to heve come to me. I believe technology is taking this communication away by making it so easy and accessible. This is where the question of learning and teaching the right thing comes into play. I cannot believe that kids are learning the right thing from the internet. The emotional part is completely removed.