• iSafe Video Links:

    Think Things Through: Video Challenges

    Watch the video clip of the Triple Dog Dare scene in “A Christmas Story” (Warner Bros.)

    • How do video challenges (on sites like YouTube) play in modern culture?

    What is a Video Challenge?

    Video challenges are an aspect of modern culture that has arisen from the adoption of social media services like YouTube. Some videos are equivalent to a dare or prank while other challenges have been linked to charitable causes such as the Ice Bucket Challenge which helped the ALS (Lou Gherig’s Disease) Foundation raise over $115 million in the U.S. alone. Although the media has presented viral video challenges as a new trend, the idea behind the video challenge is not new. For generations, people have been daring one another to do ridiculous and even harmful stunts similar to the prank pulled by Schwartz on Flick in “A Christmas Story” (Warner Bros, 1983).

    Think About It:

    • How is the example from the scene in “A Christmas Story” similar to the video challenges that you see on social media?
    • Have you or a friend ever participated in a video challenge? Which one(s)?
    • Why do you suppose people participate in potentially harmful social media challenges?
    • How might you discourage peers from participating in harmful or negative social media challenges?
    • What are the factors that led to the success of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge?
    • How might you use social media to start your own video challenge for a cause?

    CyberBullying: Bystanders and Upstanders

    Whether it’s called cyber bullying, cyber harassment or electronic harassment, bullying in Cyberspace is an unfortunate part of life online. Whole networks of kids can participate in a bullying situation by taking the roles of victim(s), bullies, bystanders, and upstanders. Cyber bullying behaviors take place through chat messages, online groups, personal SMS texts, social gaming Web sites, portable gaming devices, virtual worlds, and on social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, Formspring, and Chatroulette, which are more likely to bring anonymous users together. Social networking sites can be especially harmful environments because they frequently link to each other. Obviously, cyber bullies can be classmates, online acquaintances and even anonymous users, but most of the time bullies in Cyberspace know their victims.

    According to cyber bullying statistics from i-SAFE:

    • Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying.
    • Over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet.
    • Well over half of young people do not tell their parents when cyber bullying occurs.

    A study by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) found that an overwhelming majority of students believe that young people cyber bully because they think it’s a joke. They do not understand the negative impact it may have on the victim. Both boys and girls get involved in cyber bullying. Boys more commonly do so by sending messages threatening to fight or hurt someone. Girls tend to bully by spreading rumors, by sending messages that make fun of the victim or by publishing secrets for everyone to see. Statistics from the NCPC study showed:

    • Nearly 20 percent of those in the study had a cyber bully pretend to be someone else in order to trick them by getting them to reveal personal information online.
    • 17 percent of those targeted were victimized by someone lying about them online.
    • 13 percent of victims learned that a cyber bully was pretending to be them while communicating with someone else.

    Almost all states have laws against bullying and more than half mention forms of electronic harassment or cyber bullying. Most schools and school districts across the U.S. have policies against bullying and cyber bullying. It’s not enough to rely on laws or policies to prevent cyber bullying, though. The only way cyber bullying can be stopped is for students to take a stand against it and take positive steps to stop it when they see it.

    Think About It:

    • Why are there so many bystanders to cyber bullying? Can they make a difference in the outcome of incidents? Why or why not?
    • How would you respond if you witnessed cyber bullying? Why? How might upstanders have a positive impact on your school climate?

    Your Digital Footprints

    The average high school student uses social media. According to PEW Research Center, 71% of teens have more than one social media profile, and 92% of teens go online “almost constantly” (2015). These social networking profiles are a means of self-expression and communication, and they offer a vivid picture of an individual’s personality, interests, activities, and social connections.

    According to a Kaplan College Test Prep survey of college admissions officers, “a growing percentage of admissions officers are Googling applicants and visiting their Facebook pages to learn more about them” (2013). Back in 2008, only 10 percent of college admissions officers reported viewing an applicant’s social media sites: in 2014, over one third of college admissions officers have viewed the social networking pages of applicants. What do college admissions officers want? They want to get a clear picture of the applicant as a person, not just high school GPA, ACT and SAT scores.

    Christine Brown, executive director of programs for Kaplan Test Prep states that “{{T}}he bottom line for students is that what you post online… just might keep you out.” (Kaplan Test Prep, 2014).

    Findings show that:
         • 35% have visited applicants’ social networking pages
         • 29% have Googled an applicant
         • 30% have discovered something online that negatively impacted the college application

    A Kaplan survey of high school students sought to understand how students perceive the role of social media in the college admissions process.

    Findings show that:
         • 35% of students said that their social networking pages would help their chances of acceptance
         • 58% describe their social networking pages as “fair game” for admissions officers.
         • 62% said it would make no difference.
         • 3% said it would hurt their chances of being accepted into the college

    Think About It:

    • How might digital footprints hurt your chances of getting a job or attending the college of your choice?
    • List the types of content that could hurt your online reputation.
    • How might your digital footprints help your chances of getting a job or attending the college of your choice?