Digital Eyes

I know. It's the trendy thing to do, but I can't help thinking about Martin Luther King on his birthday (or at least when we choose to celebrate his birthday) without thinking about all he was up against. He fought the powers of fear, status quo, and inertia to bring about one of the greatest changes in our society. That leads to my thinking about my own (admittedly on a much smaller scale) pursuit of change. Actually, it gets me thinking about all of our need to change. I think about what would have happened if MLK and all his followers decided it was too hard, too dangerous, too overwhelming to change. What if he said, "I can't do this." Our society relies on the courage and resolve of its citizens to bring about change. Are we ready to take on our own small transformation? To look at the changes ahead in education and say, "We can do this. We must do this. We will do this." Photo credit: http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n38/No_7/Annabelle%20Dickson/...

     I will be speaking at the Parenting Forum here in Wayzata next month about Internet Safety. I have spoken on this topic before, and I always try to frame it in this way. Would you drop your child off on a dark street in Minneapolis and say, "Have fun! I'll pick you up in two hours!"? Of course not, but we stick children on the Internet unmonitored for two hours without thinking about it. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a doom and gloom guy. We as parents do bring our children to a variety of places, show them the way, teach them how to cross streets, introduce them to people, etc... Over time, we entrust them with more responsibility to walk on their own or meet friends there. So why is it so hard for us to understand what is appropriate when it comes to the Internet? I always take students to websites. We explore them together, discussing possible dangers, responsible use, and appropriate behavior. Over time, they are given more responsibility to visit those si...