Christopher D. Sessums :: Blog :: The Three R's Revisted: A response to Quentin D'Souza's Three B's

Following the great Internet Safety debate, I ran across Quentin D'Souza's post regarding the The Three B's. D'Souza responds to school board and administrative reactions to social networking, weblogs, and other areas where students publish online: Ban, Block, and Bury.

What I find helpful is D'Souza's response to this reaction: EDUCATE. He suggests that we need to educate students and teachers how to use social software appropriately, that there is a time and place for everything.

D'Souza suggests that educators who introduce the World Wide Web into classrooms need to be sure they understand the "brave new world" they are engaging, the good, the bad, and the ugly, before taking the proverbial leap. When educators step blindly, we see administrators "banning, blocking or burying, rather than educating."

I agree that Internet safety is an important topic and needs to be embedded into the curriculum. Indeed, forsight is needed to make this a reality.

I am reminded of the classic maxim that underscored much of western education rhetoric, that we, as students, needed to learn our Three R's: Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic. (I can't tell you how confusing that was to me as a child--that's not how you spell writing or arithmetic!) Perhaps the Three R's could be changed to Reading, wRiting, and Responsibility. This places the onus squarely in both camps--teachers and students.

I firmly believe that schools need to set the proper tone regarding education: students are not the only one's who should be learning and responsible for their actions. Granted most teachers I have known accept a large amount of responsibility for what goes on in their classrooms. This philosophy of learning as a community is clearly a part of the School as a Learning Community organizational model which is not as pervasive as one might hope.

In my own research regarding teacher education and professional development, I keep finding that administrators serve a critical role in setting the tone for how a school functions, i.e., whether an instructor works in a healthy school or an ill one. D'Souza's call for education needs to extend not only to teachers and students, but to parents, administrators, and politicians as well.

So, ATTENTION all K-16 educational technologists: time to put on your teaching hats and polish up your presentation skills. I recommend a proactive stance in this situation--don't wait to be invited to talk about Internet safety--request an opportunity to show (not tell) what you know. The future of our children is in your hands! (How's that for incentive.)