Feeling Overwhelmed? Try an Electronic Fast

Around my school, not to mention in my home, I am notorious for being constantly and unceasingly plugged in. My iPhone is never more than an arm's reach away and usually it is cemented securely in the palm of my hand. If I'm not sending or receiving email on one of my three email accounts synced to my phone or sending and receiving text messages, I'm compulsively playing Words with Friends or browsing the latest headlines on one of my fifteen or so favorite news apps. OK, I admit it. I have a problem. My connectivity is getting the best of me.

The first step toward fixing the problem is admitting I have a problem, right? Check that off the list, so now what?

Last weekend, my family accompanied my wife on a business trip out of town and I did the unthinkable. For four consecutive days (count them - 96 hours), I didn't read or send an email, I didn't browse news, I didn't play Words (gasp!), and I didn't text anyone! I admit that I used my phones GPS to help me navigate The City, but that's it! The result? Well, there's a two part answer.

Initially, I had a hard time dealing with being out of the loop at school. Thankfully I completely trust my leadership team to handle anything that might come up while I'm out. After half a day or so, I was able to let go. I turned my phone off and dropped it into my backpack. At the end of the four days, I felt like a new man. I had been able to focus on me and my family without the constant distraction of my connectedness. I knew I would have a ton of email waiting for me when I signed back in but I made a commitment to pace myself as I sorted and answered the email. Believe me when I say I felt the stress melt away.

The Greeks knew that "In all things, moderation," was the secret formula so why has it taken me so long to figure this out regarding my connectedness? While this electronic fast proved challenging for me to follow through with initially, I will do this again... and again.

The Most Frightening Part of Increased Plugged-In Time

So, why should we as educators be frightened that our kids are now spending more and more hours online or plugged-in to social media? Obviously the more our kids stay plugged in then the less they're reading, sleeping, working on schoolwork or spending time with family. However, there is a much more frightening aspect of digital natives increasing their already astonishing number of hours plugged in to social media. I'll explain.

I met last week with two Department of Justice agents who specialize in cybercrimes. We spent about almost two hours discussing potential online threats and dangers our kids face every day. I sat stunned as they gave me statistic after statistic about how many children and teens have had conversations online with complete strangers, how many of those strangers have lied about how old they actually are, how many of those strangers have told the truth about how old they are but the kids don't care, and (the most frightening of all) how many children and teens have received the invitation LMIRL (let's meet in real life). As an educator whose entire career has been in the digital age, I have seen and dealt with all sorts of things. I am neither naive nor easily shocked. However, after our conversation I felt overwhelmed.

The good news for educators and parents is that there are measures we can take to protect our kids. The greatest weapon against the evils that lurk in the chat rooms and social networking sites is education. We will be doing an educational series soon not only about the threats I've mentioned here but also about other digital dangers including sexting, cyberstalking and more. We're going to host the Department of Justice agents for an assembly one morning in school to educate the students and then for an assembly of a much more graphic nature at night to show the stark reality to our parents. This assembly will be sandwiched between Advisory sessions about sexting, compulsive texting, cyberbullying, cyberstalking and more. There are a number of great resources available but the newest one I've come across is A Thin Line. We'll probably use much of their information in our Advisory sessions while the DOJ will use its own material.

I encourage you to contact the FBI or Department of Justice, speak to someone who works with cybercrimes, and invite them to your office to get you caught up on how predators are hunting our kids. You will be shocked. I guarantee it.

Sexting Article from Baton Rouge Parents Magazine

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Christine Belaire, Ph.D., while she was working on an article about sexting for Baton Rouge Parents Magazine. The article, Can we talk? from texting to sexting , is reproduced in its entirety below. I'm thankful for the opportunity to contribute to her article on a topic that parents and educational leaders alike cannot ignore.

Can we talk? from texting to sexting
by Christine Belaire, Ph.D.

With the advent of internet, cell phones, social networking and texting, can we as parents really keep up with monitoring our children? The challenges of parenting have increased ten fold in a few short years due to the amount of sexualized material children are exposed to in the form of media, advertisements and merchandise. The latest fad our teens face is “sexting”–sending sexually explicit images or messages by cell phone or other electronic media. The term sexting is derived from combining the words sex and texting. Parents and teens all over the country are dealing with this new issue, some with devastating consequences.

In 2008, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy conducted a survey of 653 teens ages 13-19 about their use of sexting. The study found that the occurrence of sexting increases with age, and that 39 percent of teens have sent sexual messages while 22 percent report that they have sent explicit pictures of themselves. Despite knowing that sexting carries significant negative consequences, most teens do it anyway.

Some parents are asking why this is happening now. Drs. Diane Levin and Jean Kilbourne, authors of So Sexy So Soon, explain that children are inundated with sexual content and messages from early preschool years and become accustomed to sexual images and behavior. The availability of internet and instant communication is a contributing factor as well. Many parents have not yet caught up with the idea that phones can be dangerous to teens. Stacy Gaskin, a mother of two teenagers, makes this point well, “Parents may work hard to put parental controls on the computer and keep computers in common areas but then hand a teen a cell phone with unlimited internet and texting.”

Teenagers are impulsive and do not think ahead to the possible consequences of their actions. Further, when you get a group of teens together, their ability to think ahead to future consequences diminish drastically. Teens may think sending a nude or partially nude photo to someone is funny or cool–and never think of the potential for harm to themselves–or others.
Take for example, the much-publicized case of Jessica Logan, who killed herself after a sexting incident this year. Jessica sent a nude photo of herself to her boyfriend who sent it to many others after they broke up. The harassment she endured following the incident contributed to her suicide.

Across the nation, teens are finding themselves in legal trouble over this disturbing behavior. Sending sexual images of children and teens through the internet is a crime regardless of who is sending the image. Many teens are now facing felony charges and being added to sex offender registries for sending sexual images of other teens. Legislators are struggling to determine if charging teens with sex crimes is appropriate; but based on many state laws there is no other alternative.

In the United States, it is against the law to possess sexual photographs of minors. In Louisiana, sexting could result in charges of felony sexual exploitation and the creation, possession and distribution of child pornography. Teens who have been caught sexting, particularly those forwarding images, can be charged with a crime.

Debate rages about whether or not teens who commit a stupid act without intent to commit a crime should be held to the same standards as adults who are trafficking in child porn, but the current laws do not distinguish between the two. Some officials are working on potential legislation that would make this form of communication a misdemeanor offense for minors, eliminating the felony charges and the sex offender registry issues.

Why do teens engage in this dangerous behavior?
Blaine Tucker, a Baton Rouge youth minister, reported that in his work with teens he has dealt with sexting more in the form of messages rather than pictures. In his experience, boys tend to send pictures as a joke and messages to solicit contact with a girl. Girls, on the other hand, tend to send sexting messages or images to get a boy’s attention or from pressure.

A recent survey by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reported that teens are sending pictures and messages for various reasons. Many of these cited included to ‘hook up’, feeling pressure from a boyfriend, girlfriend or friends, to send a sexy present for their boyfriend, to feel sexy or to respond to an inappropriate message sent to them. The highest reported reason was girls just wanting to be fun or flirtatious.

In Baton Rouge, the story is no different and local school officials are dealing with the issue of sexting the best way they can. Nathan Barber, principal of a local high school, stated, “All schools are dealing with it (sexting). If they say they are not, they are either lying to you or not paying attention. To deal with this issue, we have updated our handbook to address inappropriate use of all electronic devices and technology. We have made the rules broad enough to cover the sexting issue.”

So what can parents do?
The first step is to be aware of your child’s activities and educate yourself about the issue. Be aware and educate yourself about the dangers teens face today. As difficult as it is, you have to stay ahead of the game and keep yourself informed especially with the speed of new technologies. “Even seniors in high school are still children”, states Barber. “Adults are still the parents and have to protect their children.” Utilizing resources will help you know what to look for and what is new. Talk with other parents and share information, use online sites, look at ratings and reviews on games and television shows and know what is age–appropriate.
Keep open lines of communication and discuss these topics with your children. The earlier you talk to them and the more frequently and in–depth you discuss issues, the more likely your children will be to come to you and talk. Listen before you correct or teach. Give your teens a place to talk where they are not immediately reprimanded and they will open up more often–then you can teach. Stay in tune with them even when they are not directly with you by spending time in their room and car and hanging out with your teen and her friends. Pay attention to what they are talking about and learn their lingo.

Keep a reign on technology
Parents should be monitoring teens activities on all fronts including email, social networking and texting. According to Tucker, “Parents are often hesitant to read their kids’ texts because they think they are invading their private conversations.” Parents need to know what their teens are doing, not only to teach them, but also to protect them.” Parents of three teenagers, Cliff and Cindy Cole, stated, “the rule at our house is that we always have the ability to check up on their activity and will do so at random times. We trust our children to do the right thing, but we check to make sure they are following the rules and they know that.”

Parents should have access to, and know the passwords of the technology and sites their children are using. The internet is a public forum and the potential harm for inappropriate content sexual or otherwise is tremendous. Make yourself aware of who your children are communicating with online. Are they discrete in who they allow to see their profiles and information? Set clear expectations for their behavior online and on hands–free devices and discuss these expectations regularly. Barber states, “I tell parents to make sure their children understand that they have the right as parents to explore electronic devices at any time. This is not to spy on them, but to protect them from the dangers out there.”

Keeping Your Handbook and Policies Current and Relevant

This is the time of year when we, the leaders on our campuses, start looking ahead to the next school year. As educational leaders we're thinking about budgets, contracts, hiring, enrollment and more. We also should be looking ahead to next year with regard to the school handbook and the policies contained within. Ideally, over the course of any given school year, the school leadership constantly makes notes in the handbook as issues arise which are not directly addressed in the handbook. Such issues arise more frequently than ever before as the technology used by our students changes monthly and weekly.

Here are a few things you might want to consider when reviewing your handbook for possible changes, additions or clarification for the 2009-10 school year:

• sexting and emailing pornographic images - What happens when your students are involved? when your students send or receive or view? when your student is in the photo(s)?
• cyberbullying - What will your response be to students who are cyberbullied? to those who are cyberbullying? How will you differentiate between cyberbullying and "just joking?"
• cheating with cell phones and other devices - Do you know how kids use cell phones and other devices to cheat on exams and projects? Will cheating with an electronic device be treated the same as a pen and paper cheat sheet?
• searching cell phones and other devices - Do you know when it is appropriate to search a student's cell phone or device? Is it clearly explained in writing?
• cell phones vs. iTouch and other 3G devices that are not phones - If cell phones are banned, what do you do with internet-ready devices that aren't phones?
• Facebook, MySpace, social networking sites, chats and blogs - What do you do with students speaking out against the school? against faculty and administration? What do you with images of your students on social networking sites in which your students are drinking, doing drugs or are engaged in other prohibited behaviors? Does it make a difference if the students are somehow connected to your school in the images (uniforms, t-shirts, etc.)? What if images of faculty or staff appear on social networking sites portraying them in the same situations described above?
• YouTube - What happens when your students shoot video in your school or classrooms and post to sites such as YouTube? Does it make a difference if the video is objectionable or not? What if your student appears in an objectionable video online?
• recording digital images at school - If digital cameras (still and/or video) are prohibited at school, what about cell phones and other devices with cameras? How will you handle a parent whose child records a teacher's poor performance without anyone's knowledge then posts the video or turns it over to the school? Who's in more trouble - student or teacher?

You may think your handbook covers everything teens are up to these days. If it does, send me a copy so I can study it and learn from it. As you look ahead to next year and consider your handbook or policies, I urge you to think outside the box and to try to anticipate issues likely to arise next year that are not addressed in writing currently. Technology, the law, schools and limitations of things like privacy and expression are still basically uncharted waters. Educational leaders in the 21st century have no excuse for being caught off-guard by the things our students are doing with today's (and tomorrow's) technology. If your handbook still uses language like CD player or Walkman, you probably need to update.

How Digital Immigrants Weathered the Storm Called Gustav

Keeping Up with Digital Natives - Part III
How Digital Immigrants Weathered the Storm Called Gustav 

This is the third installment of my series on digital natives and how we can meet their needs in the classroom (although this impromptu post has less to do with the classroom and more to do with how educational leaders can learn a lesson from our digital native students).

When I began this series on digital natives, I had no plans for this post.  Gustav, however, changed that.  My school is in Baton Rouge and, unless you have been living in an information vacuum, you know that Hurricane Gustav pounded Baton Rouge on September 1.  Almost a week later, tens of thousands of households (in East Baton Rouge Parish alone) remain without electricity.  Gustav severely crippled Baton Rouge and much of South Louisiana. 

As Gustav roared through Baton Rouge, the power for virtually the entire city went down.  As if that weren't bad enough, voice communications via phones went down as many telephone lines went down with the power lines.  With no power and no phones, communications in Baton Rouge and the surrounding area almost ceased to exist.  To further complicate matters, cell phone service was spotty at best.  Those cell channels that remained in service were overloaded with both incoming and outgoing calls.  Baton Rouge also faced an email crisis because so many Baton Rouge residents use local email providers and the servers in town were without power.  Thus begins the case study about how Gustav forced a campus of digital immigrants to live as digital natives, at least for a little while.

As the division head for grades 9 through 12, my responsibility during a crisis such as Gustav is to gather and disseminate information as quickly and accurately as possible.  To do that, though, my headmaster and the other two division heads, along with several other key administrators, had to be on the same page regarding information sent to our stakeholders.  Additionally, nearly 50 faculty and staff, from my division alone, waited in the silent darkness for information regarding the restart of school. Without email or phone service (cell or land lines), we took a page from the digital native handbook: we used texts (SMS).

Text messages, or Short Message Service, worked when cell phone voice service and land line phone service often did not.  While cell phone calls travel over voice channels, texts travel in small data packets over control channels.  Because texts are so small, they usually do not overload the control channels and, therefore, texting often works when calls don't.

After the administration coordinated information and strategies via text messages, we transmitted information to our faculty and staff using texts.  Some of the texts we sent manually and some we sent via broadcasts created with software.  Once the faculty realized that texting worked even when calling did not, the texts began to fly through the airwaves over Baton Rouge like never before.  Faculty and staff not only received information from us but also relayed information and questions to us and to each other.  In the past week alone, I sent and received hundreds of texts (no exaggeration) all related to school business.  For the past week, I communicated with my entire division and essentially managed my faculty from my phone.  I should note, though, that communication of this kind would have been impossible had I not programmed my phone with the cell numbers of everyone in my division ahead of time.  Based on our success with SMS communication, I recommend that administrators be prepared to use SMS technology to communicate with faculty and other stakeholders in the event of a crisis such as Gustav.

Our digital native students would be proud of some members of our faculty who, quite honestly, may never have used texts despite owning cell phones for years.  Remember, while digital immigrants use cell phones primarily for talking, digital natives use cell phones primarily for texting.  If you don't believe me, ask a digital native.

BTW (that means "by the way" for all you digital immigrants out there), have you noticed that your texts are limited to 160 characters?  That number was decided on over twenty years ago and was based on 7-bit characters in the English language; 160 7-bit characters limits the messages to very small pieces of information.  If you were to text in Arabic, Russian, Chinese or several other languages whose characters are 16-bit characters, your texts would be limited to 70 characters.  I thought some of you would appreciate that bit of nearly-useless information.