Blog Blocker : The Blog

Austin Dunlap and Zach Adair from Maitland Florida were arrested yesterday for threatening two students via MySpace.

The two kids, who attended Orangewood Christian School, threatened beatings, murder, and the rape of one of the victims’ sisters.

Hopefully they’ll be given more than a Juvenile detention center slap on the wrist, but I doubt it…

(source article)

The Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) wants YouTube to close up shop and shut down.

The PAT claims that YouTube is encouraging cyber-bullying by not immediately removing videos that the PAT claims to be inappropriate.

YouTube counters that it is but a tiny minority that break the site rules, and videos flagged by the community as inappropriate are reviewed and then removed when a violation is found.

I think that the PAT has their hearts in the right place, but they’re going about it the wrong way. Calling for the shutdown of YouTube and other similar video sites is an extreme position and they won’t get far with that attitude. They should instead encourage an active dialog with kids, parents and teachers.

For the first time in history, kids have been given a voice that can potentially travel around the globe with a few clicks. For parents, this can be a frightening thought especially for those that are unfamiliar with technology. Encouraging a public, open dialog is the best way to encourage positive use of this new technology.

Now, what to do about the food fight videos…

Back in my day, a good schoolyard fight could have as many as 25-30 viewers. There was hooting and hollering and those who didn’t get to see it were told about it the next day at break time.

Today, that same fight is being posted on YouTube, and most are getting thousands of viewers. When your schoolyard brawl video is viewed by an audience the size of your average NBA game (bad example? ), there’s a greater incentive to go for that extra face punch when you know the cameras are rolling.

How many of these schoolyard fights are taking place SOLELY for the online fame and glory that comes with it?

A quick YouTube search for school yard fight shows just a small sample of what’s available for viewing online.

Here’s the source article - A schoolyard fight involving 20 kids at Cumberland High School in Syndey, Australia. Here’s news coverage of the video.