Catholic Schools and MySpace
I have blogged on the problems of MySpace in the past - mainly that some of the blogs which teenagers set up can be very dangerous.
For example:
A 16-year-old Pompano Beach girl who says she attends Cardinal Gibbons in Fort Lauderdale lists 100 Myspace friends on her Web page. Among several photos of her and friends is a prominent picture of one holding up a poster board that reads "I realy [sic] love Older Men!"
Because of these dangers, Catholic schools in Florida is seeking to take action.
As a step toward encouraging morality, combating school bullying and promoting Internet safety, South Florida Catholic schools are crafting policies to make culprits pay for their actions at home.
"There are borderline pornographic references about kids and statements that would not make someone feel comfortable coming to school," said Archdiocese of Miami Superintendent of Elementary Schools Kristen Hughes. "What's part of what used to be parent work has become principal work."
The Archdiocese of Miami, which includes Broward County, has fielded so many calls from Catholic schools during the past month, they're considering creating a penalty for degrading classmates online.
And the Diocese of Palm Beach County is working with attorneys to draft a policy against abusive postings on Web sites like Myspace. Neither organization has disclosed how it would penalize students for online misbehavior. [source]
I commend the schools for taking action, but I think that it has to be more than prohibitive - these students need to learn the right ways to use the Internet and parents need help in supervising their children's web behavior. This means learning what sites are popular with children, being able to read their children's blog, and being in a position to shut down that blog if their child posts something inappropriate.
For example:
A 16-year-old Pompano Beach girl who says she attends Cardinal Gibbons in Fort Lauderdale lists 100 Myspace friends on her Web page. Among several photos of her and friends is a prominent picture of one holding up a poster board that reads "I realy [sic] love Older Men!"
Because of these dangers, Catholic schools in Florida is seeking to take action.
As a step toward encouraging morality, combating school bullying and promoting Internet safety, South Florida Catholic schools are crafting policies to make culprits pay for their actions at home.
"There are borderline pornographic references about kids and statements that would not make someone feel comfortable coming to school," said Archdiocese of Miami Superintendent of Elementary Schools Kristen Hughes. "What's part of what used to be parent work has become principal work."
The Archdiocese of Miami, which includes Broward County, has fielded so many calls from Catholic schools during the past month, they're considering creating a penalty for degrading classmates online.
And the Diocese of Palm Beach County is working with attorneys to draft a policy against abusive postings on Web sites like Myspace. Neither organization has disclosed how it would penalize students for online misbehavior. [source]
I commend the schools for taking action, but I think that it has to be more than prohibitive - these students need to learn the right ways to use the Internet and parents need help in supervising their children's web behavior. This means learning what sites are popular with children, being able to read their children's blog, and being in a position to shut down that blog if their child posts something inappropriate.
posted by Fr. Seraphim Beshoner, TOR | 9:34 PM
2 Comments:
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There was a studen at Assumption Catholic grade school who was suspended because of her comments about the school and teachers she made on her myspace.
Dr. Phil had an interesting show on this the other week and he emphasized that when parents monitor their children's myspace sites and other similar sites that they should be sure not to blam the children for the comments people were leaving them as the children have no control over others.
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