A few weeks ago our state legislature passed a ban on the use of cell phones while driving for teenage drivers with restricted licenses, and forbids adults from texting while driving. It may sound kind of dumb, but as the media covered this issue as it was debated, it struck me that so much of the conversation was on the younger drivers. Obviously they do not have the experience behind the wheel that we older folks do, but when it comes to texting . . . kids rule! If anyone can multi-task with one of the tasks texting, it’s a teenager! My texting skills have improved a little bit, but I am a Rookie Leaguer compared to the average 15-year old! And, once I started using a Blackberry I have successfully texted while driving. Yes, I have done it and frankly, it may have been one of the dumbest things I have done. I cannot do it and maintain necessary control of the vehicle. So, while I have texted while driving three or four times, I have stopped and am no longer texting behind the wheel. The law is a good law, but you know how it goes. People still speed in spite of the posted limits. I hope people internalize how dangerous it is, and I know our students are getting a good dose of information through driver education about the potential perils. I hope that parents are serving as positive role models for their kids because they are the strongest teachers they have!
Not many people have asked me one of the standard questions that are commonly asked teachers: what has changed since you started as a teacher? This year I cannot believe how many problems we have had with Facebook. I’m not blaming Facebook! I have an account and earlier today I found that I have 18 fellow Oakland High School alums seeking to be my Facebook friend. I am not passionate about Facebook, nor do I spend a lot of time on it. But it is a way to stay connected to friends that I do not see very often, or have not seen in a long time. (My wife still says that the telephone works just fine!) They call it “social networking” which is a term I don’t really understand, and frankly, I have never liked the term “networking” applied to human interaction, but that’s for another article! I think Facebook is pretty nifty, but like a lot of things, it can be misused.
The problems we have had at school are no different from the pencil and paper note passing that has gone on in schools for a hundred years. It is just a lot quicker and it can reach a lot more people in seconds. Problems happen when an adolescent’s bad judgment collides with technology and they fire something hurtful toward someone through Facebook. And then their target quickly fires back. And, all of this is happening while others online are being entertained and reading along and then some of them join in and away we go! I cannot believe that kids fail to recognize that if they send it out in cyberspace, they cannot take it back and it is there for everyone to read. There have been some very serious harassment cases in parts of the country that have involved cyber-bullying, but up to this point what we have are basically two kids that are mad at each other fighting their fight through a Facebook account. By the end of the year I bet we have nearly a ream of paper of Facebook copies that have been brought into us by students who are upset about what was written to them or about them on Facebook. One thing I haven’t understood it why they continue to include the person posting hurtful things on their account as a friend! Makes sense to me that if someone is running you down that you get rid of them from your list of friends!
Brain research has shown through studies of CT scans and other studies of the brain, that the adolescent brain is not fully developed, particularly that part that is involved in choices and judgment. Many kids are very responsible and make good choices on what they put out on the Internet. But there have always been those kids that do not handle things well and make bad choices; those that lack responsibility and tend to act before they think. Now, when they do something stupid on Facebook, it’s out there for everyone to see. Maybe like the cell phone ban while driving, there could be some regulation on cyber-communication. However, that is not really practical or necessary when all that really needs to happen is that parents require their child to include them as a friend on Facebook and monitor what they are putting out there for others to read. Not a bad idea!
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