In class last Tuesday night, I heard classmates discuss the benefits of using Social Networking sites. I have a Facebook page myself and I enjoy using is during leisure time. I however think that social networking sites for middle and high school students can be an area of concern. In my school district, our administration has determined that it is in the best interest of our students to have these sites blocked by the internet content filter. Given that I am the technology person that has to set this up, I have found this to be challenging to say the least. Kids are continually finding ways to sneak around the filters such as using proxy sites or secured Facebook sites. Once I get one "hole" plugged to access these sites, they find another way around it. Students want to be able to access these sites during the school day for legitimate reasons such as accessing documents or pictures there that they need to use for a school related project that they are working on. They also want to access it to socialize with friends. I am asked on a regular basis if I can open up Facebook for just a few minutes so the student can access some needed material. My standard answer to them is, "You know that we block Facebook at school, so why do you put materials there that you will need?" There are many other ways to store information online and make it accessible at home and school. We provide an online "locker" for such a purpose and students can always email attachments to their school email accounts as well. Many of our students also use Moodle which is an online classroom area that they can post material.
The flip side to this is the cyber bullying that I have seen take place on social networking sites that can be cruel, hurtful, and dangerous to kids. Posting inappropriate pictures of classmates, writing slanderous comments, as well as connecting with sexual predators are all risks that can be found in sites like Facebook and MySpace. In a very informal survey I have asked many students at our high school if they think Facebook should be open at school. Many of them say that although they think it would be good if it was, they also admit to me that they would waste a lot of time there as well.
In a related topic, the amount of time kids are online has grown damatically over the past few years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/education/20wired.html?scp=1&sq=kids%20and%20technology&st=cse
Here is a link that you may find interesting related to this topic:
http://blog.absolute.com/cyberbullying-more-prevalent-on-social-networking-sites/
I had mixed feelings over whether these sites should be allowed in school or not but as I have seen the trouble it can cause for some students and the overwhelming amount of time wasted that would occur if they were open, I have decided (just my personal opinion) that I think it is best that we do not allow social networking sites to be available in our middle and high school levels. I also think that many businesses today do not allow access to social networking sites because it can be deemed such a "time waster" so we may as well let our students be familiar with that policy in the workforce today.
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