Comments on: The Internet Safety Technical Task Force

By: Kevin Jarrett

Kevin Jarrett — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:04:19 +0000

danah,

This is terrific news. I’d heard about the task force but not that you’d been named one of the co-directors. As a parent of a teen (17) and tween (12) as well a a K-4 educator (technology ed), I am thrilled by the recent research that is finally shining a bright light on the true facts involving social networking, its emerging role in our society, and, yes, the dangers (for what they really are).

To me, this groundswell seems best described as “momentum of truth” (hey I just made that up!) and it is empowering me as a parent and educator to take action in my community and my classroom.

Can’t wait to hear more about the task force. Do great things!

By: Josie Fraser

Josie Fraser — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:10:27 +0000

Delighted that you’ve accepted this role, and I think the key is exactly as you’ve stated: championing the needs and interests of children and young people from a realistic perspective. This was very much my approach to producing the UK’s cyberbullying guidance (http://www.digizen.org/cyberbullying/), and I’m extreemly proud that the resulting advice covers the positive use of technology and the importance of digital literacy as strategies for understanding and preventing cyberbullying.

The organization I worked for on this, Childnet International, has also played a key role in the UK equivalent of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force – The UK Home Office Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet. They’ve been meeting for a couple of years now and have produced work that this committee will no doubt find extreemly useful.

Finding consensus and driving forward meaningful and useful policy across all industry service providers and other key stakeholders isn’t an easy task – but it can be done and the results can be hugely positive and beneficial for young people. Good luck with your new focus!

By: Clarence Fisher

Clarence Fisher — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:16:21 +0000

John says it best. As an educator battling to keep many sites and services open to teachers and learners, work like this will be something that will help us to help students to become global learners and thinkers. Thanks so much for fighting this fight.

By: John Pederson

John Pederson — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:06:59 +0000

Big thanks from myself and hundreds of other teachers, technologists, librarians, and administrators that are living the transformative nature of networked learning, yet are constantly fighting an uphill battle against fear, resulting in the blocking of many of these services.

By: zephoria

zephoria — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:53:57 +0000

Nick – don’t you worry – I’m a huge fan of anonymity and pseudonymity. As a queer kid growing up in a conservative part of the U.S. who spent the bulk of my childhood making sense of my identity by talking with strangers online, I’m very well aware of the positive side of being anonymous and talking to strangers (including adults). From my perspective, the key to this Task Force is to find balance. I’m a strong believer that safety and freedom need to be balanced. Everything that I do in my daily life has risks – getting into a car, climbing on rocks on the beach, getting out of bed, eating raw cookie dough. The key is to provide the structures that minimize danger while maximizing freedom and opportunity. You can never fully eliminate risk, but things like seat belts go a long way in creating an infrastructure for increasing safety without totally destroying freedom. I’m more interested in finding solutions like seat belts than trying to outlaw the car.

By: Nick Geidner

Nick Geidner — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:26:38 +0000

In these talks, please remember that anonymity can be a good thing. One of the great attributes of the Internet is it allows people to explore their identity in a safe environment. I understand that terrible people exploit this benefit to do horrible things, like the exploitation of children, but we must remember that there is a positive, pro-social dimension to anonymity also.

Thanks.

By: Colin

Colin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:08:34 +0000

Thanks.

By: piers

piers — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:55:08 +0000

As a parent, I appreciate your putting youth interests first. Somebody needs to. Thank you! It will be fascinating to have an insider view of this process (if you’re not under any sort of disclosure agreement, of course).

Cheers!

By: Joan Vinall Cox

Joan Vinall Cox — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:10:05 +0000

I admire your courage, and think you’re the right person; (I’ve been following your writings for a couple of years now). I hope you don’t get too frustrated, and I thank you for taking on such an important task..