Harvard GSE Finds New Ethical Pitfalls Facing Digital Generation

Education Week has a nice article that looks at the ethical dilemmas facing students in the digital age. The article profiles Howard Gardner and a team of researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education who are looking at how social media is creating new challenges for teenagers. Quoting from the page:

It’s a familiar scenario: A teenager snaps a picture of underage classmates drinking alcohol at a party. The photos go up on a social-networking Web site and land on the desk of an athletic coach or a school administrator. The students pictured are suspended from school or booted off their teams.

Researchers here at the Harvard Graduate School of Education say stories like that one illustrate one of the ways new digital media are raising distinct ethical challenges and temptations for young people today.

“Even though many young people may not be ready to participate in the wider communities that digital media open up to them, there is no controlling information about yourself or others that gets posted,” said Howard Gardner, the project’s co-director.

Alert readers will see a familiar pattern here. This scenario sounds like the Teacher who was fired for her MySpace photo or the bloggers who were fired for posting about their jobs online. The fact that Harvard minds are researching this new phenomenon means that it is a new ethical reality for students in the internet era. ReputationDefender is the leader for protecting your online reputation.