Why not ban the Internet at schools?

Stan Beer
Thursday, 01 March 2007 16:14

Opinion and Analysis

The State Government of Victoria Australia has taken what I would consider to be a most stupid and ill-informed step by banning video sharing site YouTube from schools. The reason given - to prevent cyber bullying - is equally stupid and ill-informed.

Last year, some schoolboy thugs made headlines in Australia and shocked the nation when they tortured a teenage girl in front of a camera. They made DVDs of the terrible incident, which they later distributed, and then posted the video to YouTube.

In the US, social networking site MySpace has legislators up in arms because young teenagers pretending to be older than they are have been lured by predators pretending to be something other than they are into dangerous situations with tragic results.

There's no question about it, the Internet can be a dangerous place for the unwary. Chatrooms, instant messaging networks, emails and even merely web browsing can all be dangerous activities if misused. Should we ban them from schools and public libraries? Absolutely not! Should we teach children how to use the Internet safely and in the process reap its benefits and rewards? Absolutely!

YouTube has become something of a phenomenon on the net. In fact, it's in the class of killer app. This extraordinary tool has actually put the power of video production and global distribution into the hands of ordinary people. What was once the exclusive franchise of the elite is now within reach of the common folk.

However, like everything else on the net, YouTube can be used for good and for evil. A teacher can make a video of an experiment demonstrating an important scientific principle or deliver a lecture on an economics theory and teachers on the other side of the world can replay the video in class or point students to it for after class viewing.

A student can make a video production for a school project and later post it to YouTube for his or her friends and family all over the world to see. A school could post a video of their annual school play to YouTube. In fact, YouTube can be used as an inexpensive platform to teach students the art of film making

Alternatively, a bunch of ratbag boys can video their abuse of a helpless young girl and post it to YouTube. Did they post it to YouTube at school or at home? Does it matter? Did thuggish classmates view it at school or at home? Does it matter? It was a criminal act well before it made it to YouTube.

Cyber-bullying is a problem no doubt about it. But why single out YouTube? Email, SMS, instant messaging, social networking sites where jilted boyfriends and girlfriends slander their ex are all far more culpable mediums for cyber-bullying. Mobile phones have hit the news recently in the US as being an especially abused medium by teenagers bullying and intimidating other teenagers.

However, YouTube is not like a mobile phone. You can't send an intimidating instant message or email to a classmate on YouTube. In fact, it was YouTube that exposed the schoolboy thugs to world and brought them down. In an act of hubris and immature bravado, they uploaded their crime for the world to see and thankfully were collared for their efforts.

So please explain to the world Education Services Minister for the State of Victoria Jacinta Allan, exactly how will banning the use of one of the most innovative applications for the global distribution of video information at schools decrease cyber bullying? Why not just simply ban the use of the Internet?