By Leslie Matula, MindOH! Co-Founder and Character
Education Subject Matter Expert
As Nancy Willard writes, "Our children have moved to the
wired environment with little hesitation." And therein lies
the problem. The rush to get online and to explore all the
wonders of the Internet didn't allow time to develop a "Rule
Book for Cyberspace" so to speak. Well, here it is.
Our kids are using "their computers as a magic carpet to
discover far-off lands, find new friends, enhance their
knowledge, and, yes, get into trouble." It's the "get into
trouble" part that has so many of us concerned and that's what
Nancy Willard addresses head on.
As a leader in teaching appropriate online behavior,
Willard offers a user-friendly guide for kids, parents, and
educators. She provides information, advice, and tools for
helping young people avoid the dangers and temptations of the
Internet while learning how to become ethical and responsible
cybercitizens.
Willard provides "Eight Ethical Decision-Making Strategies"
that help youngsters determine what is the right thing to do
and then she brilliantly follows with a concise list of all
the many rationalizations we human beings use to deny that
what we are doing is wrong. Love it!
The book contains 14 short units that are written for the
classroom, but could be easily converted for family meetings.
I wholeheartedly agree with the publisher who wrote, "It's a
whole new (wired) world, and this text offers simple
guidelines for empowering students to embrace its challenges
and opportunities with honor and respect."
