I saw an article in the Wall Street Journal (Nude Webcams and Diet Drugs: the Facebook Ads Teens Aren’t Supposed to See) about a 14 year old girl whose picture ended up on display for adult men to view and rate based on attractiveness. With a simple click of a mouse, young teenagers can “like” any app or page they see on Facebook which may lead to certain inappropriate ads showing up on their screen. Yikes!
This got me thinking about the Online Learning Center. In case you don’t already know, the Online Learning Center is a platform on the Behrman House website where schools can create virtual classrooms and share content with their students over the internet. It’s permission based, and requires a couple of steps to get students signed up and enrolled. I talk to educators daily, and some do get frustrated by the extra permission required. We made a number of changes this year to our platform to make this process simpler. However, the one item that remained the same was that parents would still need to authorize their schools with their permission to create a secure account for each child.
I have had some educators tell me they’d prefer to use Facebook to create groups and interact with their class that way. They tell me that their students already have an account there, so it’ll be “easier.” Yet after this article, I wonder if easy is in the best interest of students and families. Is this the cost of convenience?
This past year, our website was certified by the kidSAFE® Seal Program. We have a demonstrated commitment to safety, and we refuse to sell our member lists to anyone. Even setting aside all the Jewish content and resources we offer, the commitment to online safety that I see on a daily basis gives me confidence as I work with educators across the country who adopt our platform in their schools.
Our kids are going to surf the web, they’re going to create Facebook accounts, and they may even click on a bad advertisement at some point. But I feel better knowing that Jewish educators have a robust alternative with our platform that puts kids’ privacy and online safety first. All we have to do is be willing to take a few extra steps to get them there.
