[LM_NET] HIT: Consequences of social networking sites

[Lisa Weinstein <lisa.t.weinstein@GMAIL.COM>]

I received many requests to post a hit.  My lesson also included using an
embarrassing photo from my childhood.  They judged the photo to describe my
"image/reputation."  They were shocked when they found out it was me, since
they just told me I looked evil and deranged!  :o)


ORIGINAL REQUEST:

I'm doing a lesson with 8th graders next week about social networking
sites.  I'm focusing on how anything you post is permanent and how a profile
presents an image, and you want to keep that image positive.



Another focus of the lesson is about the consequences of posting
information.  I'm looking for newspaper articles or news videos that tell
about a person, preferably a teenager, who had to face consequences after
posting information.  I'm hoping for one news article about how posting
information online could affect each of the following:

-school

-college

-scholarships

-police

-employers

-parents

-internet predators



--------------------------------------------------------------



VIDEOS USED:

Bulletin Board:  http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/adcouncil/26474/

Offline Consequences:  http://www.nsteens.org/videos/offline-consequences/



 -------------------------------------------------------------



ARTICLES USED:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/04/29/nacac

Includes percentage of colleges that search applicants and scholarship
winners on google and social networking sites



http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/No-Friends-Cops-Use-Facebook-to-Bust-Prom-Party.html

            Cops pretend to be teens in order to friend high schoolers



http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/44716332.html

            Cops arrest middle school students after posting video of fight
to youtube



http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0426072pirate1.html

University doesn’t give teaching degree to student after she posted a
picture of her drinking from a plastic cup while student teaching (she was
21 at time of photo)



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20202935//<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20202935/>

Girl not hired for internship after boss finds pictures of her taking shirt
off; includes statistics of the number of hiring managers that search using
google and social networking sites



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,501025,00.html

            Teen in UK fired after posting status “my job is boring”



http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-266559.html

            Percentage of business managers in UK who search online



http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/05/myspace.teens/index.html

            Mentions how many teens who don’t participate still talk about
it online



http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/11/06/texas-c-buck-burnette-learns-why-racist-obama-facebook-updates-a/

            University football player got kicked off team for racist
comment about our president

RESPONSES:



There was news a couple of months ago about parents who were arrested
because they hosted a teen party where the kids were all allowed to get
drunk.  All the kids who attended posted pictures on their Facebook profiles
and the parents got busted.  I believe it happened in February or March.
Try researching that topic.



The best example going is Michael Phelps and the picture posted of him
smoking pot.  Lots of consequences followed from that....



Here is one article I saw recently:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0426072pirate1.html



I look forward to a hit and can offer a real story, if you think appropriate
for 8th grade. I good friend of mine received a call that her presence was
requested at her daughter's high school. Immediately.  She arrived and found
the police, the principal, and counselors waiting for her.  Her daughter (a
junior in high school at the time), had, on a dare, emailed a nude photo of
herself to a boy at a neighboring school.  Of course, he forwarded it as did
his friends, etc.  It came to the attention of school authorities who called
the police and my mortified, widowed friend and her daughter were required
to attend family counseling for a year.



This past football season a football player at the University of Texas in
Austin, Texas was kicked off the football team because of racial comments he
made when Obama was elected president.  I copied the article out of the
paper to use with my kids, but the point was really made.  My students are
big fans of UT football because we live so close.  They were on their way to
try for another national championship, but that athlete would not be
there!!!

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3454/u-of-texas-kicks-football-player-off-team-for-anti-obama-comment-on-facebook



Someone may well have shared this with you but WGBH/PBS did an excellent
series on this last year. I used it with my high school kids. You'll have to
preview it because some of it is intense, but it's well worth a look.



http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/



Above is a link to a program by Frontline on PBS about Growing Up On-Line.
 There are several videos and watching them all might take a while, but you
can look through the categories and see if any would fit your lesson.



You might try mining NetFamilyNews http://www.netfamilynews.org for
appropriate news articles.

Two quick statements I will suggest from my materials. Please feel free to
use.

It used to be on the Internet no one knew you were a dog. Now not only does
everyone know that you are a dog, they know what kind of a dog you are, who
you run with, where you hide your bones, the accidental piddle behind the
couch, the fight you got into with the boxer, and your thoughts on the hot
poodle down the street.

The Internet Law of Predictable Consequences: The more embarrassing or
damaging the material you post, the more likely it will become very public
and be seen by people who will judge you badly.



---
Lisa Weinstein
Century Junior High

Orland Park, IL 60467

lweinstein@orland135.org


"Books are like blankets, the mere sight of them around the house provides
warmth and comfort.  They are like mirrors, too, reflecting places I've
been, phases I've been through, people I've loved or thought I did."  ~Mary
Schmich, "Virtual or Not, Libraries are Sweet Labor"

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