I did it, I graduated from the school of CIPA/COPPA!
Thank you and no need for applause!
Everyone is busy worrying about the internet, big technology companies, and how the young generation will be protected from them. I thought I would research the laws that keep young people safe in school and at home from these multi-billion dollar companies, above is my proof of graduation (disregard the 80% and pretend it's 100%).
First, you should know, the meaning of CIPA/COPPA. CIPA and COPPA stand for, "the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) along with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) are federal laws that are put in place to protect children" (Dashboard). CIPA creates guidelines for schools and districts to proactively protect students from the harms of the online world and also: protect children from online bullying, cyber predation, obscene images, and child pornography. Source: Giphy.com The problem is, where there is a will there is a way. I first hand witnessed my nephew during remote learning blaze through firewalls provided by CPS to prevent gaming. Until his dad spent endless time rigging a personal computer to block his son from accessing games, the drama continued for months. Now, here is the question, why is a multi-million dollar district failing to protect kids and making parents work harder to ensure they cannot game? I imagine parents who are not as involved or work crazy hours cannot prevent their kids from falling down the rabbit hole.
Source: Giphy.com
I am falling down the rabbit hole just by looking at it. I can't imagine what happens to kids.
Youtuber, David Schouweiler discussed some alarming facts that make CIPA and COPPA regulations super relevant. He said, 54 % of kids admitted they talk to strangers online and 30% admit they want to meet with a stranger. Unfortunately, we do not live in a world filled with kumbayah peace and harmony.
Source: Giphy.com ( I should get another source)😅
It is savage, reactive, and often times dangerous; to expect anything less can be deadly. I am not encouraging anyone to lose their faith in themselves or parts of the world but naivety has a cost and the youth should not have to pay for adult's lack of planning.
Is COPPA enough to protect kids? Microsoft researcher Danah Boyd cautions people. She claims COPPA encourages many parents to lye for their kids and the law does not promote transparency. Danah writes, "as a result, many parents now knowingly allow or assist their children in circumventing age restrictions on general-purpose sites through lying. By creating this environment, COPPA inadvertently hampers the very population it seeks to assist and forces parents and children to forgo COPPA’s protection and take greater risks in order to get access to the educational and communication sites they want to be part of their online experiences." In other words, it creates more restriction, dishonesty, and prohibits key information to kids. This isn't to say, let social media companies have free reign over the youth. But she writes, "new solutions must be devised that help limit when, where, and how data are used." It sounds like a reach conference ( a CPS admin assessment tool, where are you asked what you are doing, why, and how are you managing student data?) The teacher replies...
I don't know how managing data can prevent a pervert from taking advantage of a kid online.
Government restrictions are not the most popular tren and 13 is an arbitrary number but at the same time, we need to start somewhere and the entrance to high school is not a bad start. Well, at least the conversations are being had. Illinois is recently written its own Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPA) which makes sure schools and any vendors know exactly what they are doing with the student's data. Danah should be happy with that law meanwhile as it creates accountable and transparent systems to handle student data. Meanwhile, I am still as lost confused by this whole cyber world and how to best protect ourselves and the youth. Ideas people?
The statistics are definitely alarming that 54 % of kids admitted they talk to strangers online and 30% admit they would meet up with a stranger. I have 3 children between the ages of 12 and 14. They are consistently on some type of technology. Therefore as a parent, I know I can not expect them not to use social networks, Internet sites, etc., but what I can do is provide them with knowledge of how to safely navigate the cyberworld. There are many benefits of cyber technology, we just need to provide cyber safety awareness across generations.
ReplyDeleteCyber safety awareness PD's!!! Agreed; super key. It feels like a field of science unraveling but we are the subjects.
DeleteTaylor,
ReplyDeleteI think kids will always be able to find a way past the firewalls and get into blocked sites. There are new proxy servers made every day. I don't even know if any school district could really keep up with blocking all of those. I was surprised by the statistics you referenced from David Schouweiler. 30% of kids want to meet with a stranger? That's insane!
Bloc them alll!!!!! haha, I don't know. It's a mess, thanks for your comment!
DeleteThe situation you shared about your nephew was one that I am sure it more common than not in students right now. Since many schools are remote learning, or hybrid, or something of that sort, many more students are gaining access to personal devices. While, I have seen students playing games on their computers by asking what they are doing when they are distracted (One time I even discovered a student was playing a game by seeing the reflection on their glasses during a video call!). While I am not happy when students are playing games while I am teaching, I am glad that the popular sites my students have visited are game websites that do not require a profile to be made, have no chat feature, and in all ways seem safe. But I know there are kids out there who are being preyed upon by dangerous or perverted people. The thought of this makes my stomach drop, but it is a reality. This year it has become clear to me that we need to spend time teaching about cyber safety and how students should keep themselves safe from things that are not blocked by our current federal laws.
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought up not having to create a profile and that's why games have some sort of advantage. I never thought of that. Great point. I hope this generation will be more peaceful as they seem so happy, sitting, and playing endless games ( once the police get their acts together). I can't wait till I am in the building and I try to get my students to pay attention rather than game and they look at me like I asked them to jump off a bridge.
DeleteTaylor,
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great post!
It is very unsettling, and scary, how high these statistics are for children who talk to strangers on the internet, then some if they are willing to meet one. I wonder if they know about the risks? Surely if they did, they wouldn't be so open about it. This is why I think it is so important to teach our students about the internet and how to be safe. Even with these protection laws in place, they can only do so much to actually protect our children.