There have been lots of exciting things happening in my life these days, which means I have backlog of the things I would most like to write about. Expect January to be busier with my blog than December was.
But, to tide you over until then, I think these Kids Help Phone reports are invaluable to any public librarian. In particular, I was interested in the one on cyberbullying. I don’t know about other librarians out there, but I always find it hard to find the balance the messages out there about Internet Safety. Some want to block/filter everything, others want to abdicate all responsibility to the parents. This report was an interesting reality check on what the real risks are and how teens/young people feel about them. I think it has alot of insight on how parents, teachers and librarians can ensure that the Internet remain a positive short and long-term experience for kids.
I also felt that their discussion group is excellent for gathering perspective on what concerns teens and how they experience the world around them (also what they think of adults).
A few weeks ago there was an interesting discussion on cyber bullying, including some teen interviews, on the CBC podcast “Search Engine” – also worth a listen for public librarians (http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/searchengine.xml).
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