Digital Education is one of the new roles of the school in the Information Society. Its role is to teach about citizenship, ethics, intellectual property, privacy and online safety, preparing adaptable and creative individuals who deal with ease with the speed in the flow of information but, mainly, ethical digital citizens for a new job market whose demands tend to be greater than the current.
Problems with Orkut, online predators, crackers, digital harassment, inappropriate content for minors, misinformation about the legal consequences of evil Internet use, crimes committed under the false impression of anonymity, inability to think critically about false and true information available on the network, plagiarism, piracy, and even misuse of the institution's brand are just some of the issues the school is still not addressing. due attention.
The Internet, however, is not a villain; is an ally. Educators must be prepared to make the most of the resources provided by technology, within legal limits. Work must be done to ensure that students have a positive experience online.
Digital harassment is an example of old behavior in a new medium, but with even more serious consequences than before. Known as cyberbullying, digital harassment occurs when a student harasses and humiliates another in the digital environment (blogs, Orkut, text messages by cell phone, etc.), which can cause much more damage than harassment in real life, as people are more cruel and cold in the media digital. It is the school's duty to maintain a policy against digital harassment, as well as to properly instruct students on the consequences for the harassed and the harasser.
In Costa Mesa, Calif., a student was expelled for creating a community called “Eu Odeio...” on the MySpace.com website, followed by the name of a classmate, and encouraging hatred. One of her messages included: "Who here wants to take a gun and hit her over the head a million times?" Another 20 students were suspended for posting threatening and racist messages to their classmate.
Back in Denver, Colorado, a student was arrested for posting photos on his profile on the social network MySpace, in which he posed with nine rifles. The student showed the photos to classmates who, in turn, showed them to their parents, who, frightened, told the school. On the same day the teenager was suspended not for threat but for disturbance. The school thought it important to take disciplinary action, which is why it suspended the student from classes.
We questioned the presence of the institution in Orkut communities, whose prohibition for minors under 18 (eighteen) years of age is explicit from the moment the user registers for the service. Has your school already dedicated itself to checking the content to which it exposes students? In the United States, even computer labs and libraries have simply blocked student access to the site MySpace.com, very similar to Orkut in terms of popularity (since Orkut is not as popular there as in Brazil). Let's think: is it correct for the school to encourage its students to participate in Orkut when with this incentive they are exposing children to inappropriate content?
On social networking sites like Orkut, there are thousands of messages inviting sex groups, which, depending on the case, may characterize a crime of child pornography or sexual exploitation, as provided for in the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent:
"Art. 241. Present, produce, sell, supply, publicize or publish, by any means of communication, including the worldwide network of computers or internet, photographs or images with pornography or explicit sex scenes involving children or adolescent:
Penalty - imprisonment from 2 (two) to 6 (six) years, and fine.
§ 1 The same penalty applies to those who:
I - agency, authorizes, facilitates or, in any way, mediates the participation of a child or adolescent in the production referred to in this article;
II - ensures the means or services for the storage of photographs, scenes or images produced in the form of the caput of this article;
III - ensures, by any means, access, on the world wide web or internet, to photographs, scenes or images produced in the form of the caput of this article.
§ 2 The penalty is imprisonment from 3 (three) to 8 (eight) years:
I - if the agent commits the crime taking advantage of the exercise of position or function;
II - if the agent commits the crime with the purpose of obtaining for himself or for others a patrimonial advantage.”
It is time to reflect on the dangers that students are subject to on the net. It is the role of the educator to consciously instruct, seeking information from IT and Law professionals about the problems that the Internet can cause not only the student, but also in terms of legal responsibility on the part of the school, as well as the best solution to be applied.
[1] The Orkut Terms of Service – although in English – are clear in stating that the social networking site is prohibited to those under 18 (eighteen): “eligibility and registration: You must be 18 years or older to use the orkut.com service. By registering for the orkut.com service, you represent and warrant that you are 18 or older and that you have the capacity to understand, agree to and comply with these Terms of Service.”
[2] Law No. 8069/90.
By Carolina de Aguiar Teixeira Mendes,
lawyer and consultant in Law and Digital Education
[email protected]
29/06/2006
education - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/educacao/papel-das-escolas-na-sociedade-da-informacao.htm
