I saw an interesting video clip today that exemplifies what I think could happen to our society. The inability to think for yourself, to make a decision or to analyze the situation and solve the problem may be the result of too much protection.
As school technology departments plunge ever onward to blocking all "harmful" materials and sites and as we are forced to teach-to-the-test and assess through multiple choice questions, are we encouraging a lack of self-confidence?
This video made me laugh, but it also gave me pause. How many times does a student click on a website that he/she thinks answers a question only to see the firewall's big red X appear? What happens if accidentally a 'nasty' site sneaks through? Do your students know what to do? Are we teaching them to solve a problem or that they are not to be trusted. Are we nuturing dependent citizens or ones able to protect themselves and make informed decisions?
View it and see what it says to you.
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6 comments:
Well, I tried but alas was confronted with a big blue page with ACCESS DENIED at the top. Of course you can guess where I'm located at this time. I'll try from home tonight.
Hi Sharon YES!! I teach a unit on self-esteem, decision-making and problem solving in 7th and 8thgrade health.
I watched the video clip and just shook my head at the learned helplessness that the video illustrated. It does reflect a lot of what we see.
I fully agree!!! I find children have a difficult time thinking for themselves. Part of this is because, we, parents and adults, schedule kids every minute of their day. What happened to allowing free play and unstructured time? Planned sports, TV, video games, and computers have taken the place of tag, kick the can, street hockey, and climbing trees. We really need to let kids have free time to think, imagine, and problem-solve without adult intervention. We need to help children accept responsibility and the positive or negative consequences that accompany their choices. We, adults, cannot continually come to the aid of children and intervene in their every movement. We need to be their to guide them, listen to them and just listen!! not try to solve everything for them. We need to help them accept the consequences that happen at school even if we don't agree. (barring any permanent damage)
There just isn't enough "boring" time in children's lives where they just have to think for themselves!!!
Is there a way that I can place that video clip on my website and direct parents to it during my next newsletter?
Thanks.
Jennifer
See below an email that I sent to some in our school that was a result of reading this blog.
Check out the blog below. Note that Sharon's comments focus on a growing trend among tech educators to get increased access. You won't be able to view the video from here because it's blocked.
I'm here in 201 with 4 students (none mine) trying to get caught up. 2 just came back from the public library complaining that all computers over there were full with elementary kids and... they were all on Myspace.
We should be teaching our students how to use social networks not blocking them. I know that there are dangers out there, and safety must be considered. I just think the way to do it is to teach them / help them learn, and monitor them.
My rant for today. I know there is another view to consider. J
Sending this home so I can see the video.
Sharon it made me laugh at first, then I immediately sent it to my administrative team. But, as one high school teacher said to me the other day, some of us don't even know that we should know some of this stuff!( Web 2.0)
This reminds me of a story published in the Reader's Digest a while back. (So, presumably a true story, it wasn't in their Laughter section. Maybe we're too late to save a generation or two.)
A man came upon a young lady in distress by her new car. She was cursing herself for having locked herself out of her car. As he approached she explained that the battery on her remote locks had been going for a while and she knew she needed to replace it, but she had put it off and now it wouldn't unlock her car any more. Pointing to a convenience store at the edge of the horizon she asked, "Do you think if I walked down to that store way down there they might have batteries that fit this?" And held up her remote control fob with the keys dangling below.
He said, "Well, you probably should drive down there as it's a mighty long walk," took the keys from her, and unlocked her car.
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