Response to Article: YouTube Comes to the Classroom By Anna Adam and Helen Mowers

YouTube, like with anything on the Internet, must be monitored and used appropriately. I've been in both school systems where one didn’t allow YouTube in the classroom and like at my current school which does allow it in the classroom. In my personal experience, "safety and security risks" have not been a major issue and the benefits have outweighed the risks. It was very frustrating to know YouTube videos could have benefited my classroom educationally, but wasn’t an option because it was blocked on the server by the school system.

However, last year I did have a student ask me to watch a video she put on YouTube of herself dancing. Well, I knew right away it wasn’t something that needed to be published for the world to see, so I spoke with my team and we decided to speak with her about the content and the dangers of posting material like that on Internet (she was dancing very provocatively to say the least). We also spoke with her mother and of course she had no idea her daughter posted video of herself on YouTube. Needless to say, after we spoke with her mother later that day the video was removed.

It just goes to show that as teachers in an ever growing technology-rich world we don't need to assume our students know what is and isn't appropriate behavior on the Internet. Kids need to be taught and then need to be reminded often of what is and isn't appropriate Internet behavior.

And, interestingly enough when I was at the bank depositing a check I noticed on the counter a booklet entitled, "New Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online" put out by www.onguardonline.gov which is full of information to teach students how to be responsible and safe on the Internet.

If you'd like to order free copies of the brochure, visit bulkorder.ftc.gov

The booklet also has a glossary that defines online vocabulary such as cyberbullying, firewall, hacking, badware, P2P, sexting, and spyware.

I plan to go over them during the first week of school, and to quiz them before they are allowed to use computers “freely.”