They were almost ready to pitchfork their humble roast from the body pot of blood and salts, and raise it into whatever it’d naturally be when it slithered out. Its petite feet already drew nearer, closer afloat in their flowing boat. It had sailed for months in mother’s giant fish bowl. The little things first breaths were under way, felt as trapped gas, hard as rocks, carried in a monstrous belly that grumbled and roared of nothingness. She was being stoned to death by her own growing thing and the navel was a tightly knotted balloon that no needle could pop, darn it. What many entrails will need long unwinding with the stretched flapping flesh hung up to dry. A deflated blimp, when there’s nothing there. When the seal is finally popped and its spirit poots out in a whistling whew, they wouldn’t dare dream of eating it in a whole gulp, not as one with a belly starved might lowly stoop and do. That’d be grisly. They had something else in mind. Something all too grim…

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So um this is sort of an about me post with a focus on my identity instead of my fandom interests and such! Also, my mental health. Because I know I’m sort of vague about stuff sometimes and I figured having this up and public might help? Keep in mind I’m sort of constantly redefining myself um

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Some time ago, I attended a course on Internet safety at CEOP.  While I was quite shocked at acts of online sex offenders, I found that the educational resources they provided depicted teen use of the Internet to be quite naive and one dimensional.

After the training session, I was given a lesson pack including a video called Tom’s story which I dutifully played to my classes of year 9 students and discussed issues around the video.  The video tells the tale of a boy who befriends another player of an online football game who turns out to be a sex offender.  While reminding children of the method of making a CEOP report and of the need to be accompanied by an adult when you meet an online friend in real life, the video does not give credit to the nuanced and empowered ways that young people protect themselves online.

Furthermore, the video does not empower children with the actual statistical risk of being approached by a sex offender online.  The video out of context further propagates the myth of stranger danger and may in itself be psychologically quite harmful.

While studying my masters in ICT in Education,  I wrote a paper on the manner in which young people construct identity in a networked public.  In the process of researching this I encountered the work of a Microsoft Researcher and Online Ethnographer called Danah Boyd.  She has a qualitative approach based upon interviews with teens and observation of their online profiles.  Her work alongside that of the MacArthur Foundation presents a much more well rounded understanding of the techniques used by teens to construct and protect identity in a networked public.  The video below highlights some of her findings.

Currently many schools ban pupils from accessing social networking in schools and schools also recommend that teachers do not accept friend requests pupils online.  This effectively gives pupils room to construct their own set of social-norms online.  With increasing crowded extra-curricular timetables, cyberspace is one of a few places where pupils can construct their identity among their peers.  While the peer group is the reference point identified by Erikson where teens resolve issues with role confusion, constructing identity in a network public has certain idiosyncratic problems.

Boyd considers a networked public as having the following traits:

• Persistence
• Search-ability
• Replicability
• Invisible audiences

If you were to commit a faux pas at a party it would probably be forgotten about in five years. An online faux pas is much harder to shake off due to the aspects of the environment listed above.  During the process of developing identity youths will undoubtedly behave in ways that maybe in conflict with later roles in society.  I believe that this is the real online threat to teens.  And although generation Y interviewers may be more forgiving of online indiscretions, teens should be empowered with avoidance techniques and strategies to mitigate the effects.

In conclusion, an online safety curriculum needs to be evidenced based and place the danger in context.  It needs to address the wider issues of how teens construct there identity online and teach teens about the essential differences between their life in public and in the networked public.  It should also give teenagers time to share the strategies they use to protect their identity online.  Educating teens is not enough however. There should be more adult presence within teen social networks.  This will to some degree force teens to keep their private life private.  Whether this education is provided by parents or educators, learning about online privacy is really an inalienable right of young adults being prepared for life in the networked public.