… Goverment schools, that is. “Why?” you might ask? Is it because its related to the watching of inappropriate content? The distraction of young minds while they ought to be focused on more scholarly pursuits? None of the above. Its related to bullying. Which is something that I’ve blogged about on more than one occasion — students using YouTube as a tool to terrorize others.
Is it the right solution, though?
Turns out that the policy of banning YouTube in classrooms is an extension of a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying that extends to the online realm. The issue I have with this, however, is that banning students from watching YouTube at school won’t really prevent YouTube-related bullying that would have happened anyway. And this is because, of course, students can just as easily watch YouTube at home. The policy’s intention is good, but in a day and age where anyone can video tape anyone using cellphone video, and then threaten to upload potentially humiliating material for the world to see — at any time, and at any place — well, it makes that policy seem quaint. I’m not sure what the answer is, but I’m hoping that in places like Australia, efforts like this are on l the first step in a process towards curbing bullying.
