Raising Good Citizens for a Virtual World: How Do We Help Our Children be Safe and Ethical When Using the Internet? A Families Connect Course for AASL, 2000
Introduction
Lesson One
Lesson Two
Lesson Three
Lesson Four
Lesson Five
Two worlds
Even very young children can quickly identify whether the behaviors in these examples are right or wrong:
When children and young adults start using technology, especially information technologies that consist of computers and computer networks, they start operating in a new world: a virtual world. Suddenly behaviors may not be as easily judged to be right or wrong. What would your son or daughter’s response be when given these situations?
What’s different about “computer ethics?”
Computer ethics, better labeled “information technology ethics,” deal with the proper use of a wide range of telecommunication and data storage devices. Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with moral judgments, issues of right and wrong, and determining what behaviors are humane and inhumane. Most codes of ethical behavior describe actions as “ethical” that do one or more of the following:
A simple way of saying this is that an “ethical action” then, is one that does not have a damaging impact on oneself, on other individuals, or on society.
In both direct and indirect ways, children begin to learn ethical values from birth. Families and the church are assigned the primary responsibility for a child’s ethical education. Schools have traditionally had the societal charge to teach and reinforce some moral values, especially those directly related to citizenship and school behaviors. Most of the ethical issues that surround technology deal with societal and school behaviors, and it is both appropriate and necessary that both parents and teachers help instill good online behavior in our future citizens. Church, youth group and business leaders all can also play an important role in instructing their communities’ youth in the appropriate use of technology.
Why do technology ethics then deserve special attention?
There are a variety of reasons. Using technology to communicate and operate in a “virtual world,” one that only exists within computers and computer networks, is a new phenomenon that is not always well understood by many adults who received their formal education prior to its existence. Both fear and romance usually accompany new technologies. Our mass media has produced movies like War Games, The Net, and Mission Impossible that capitalize on the unfamiliarity many adults have of communications technologies. Movies, bestsellers and television programs often make questionably ethical actions such as breaking into secure computer systems seem heroic or sympathetic.
Our new technological capabilities also may require new ethical considerations.
One of the most significant reasons that computer ethics deserve special attention is because of our rather human ability to view one’s actions in the intangible, virtual online world as being less serious than one’s actions in the real world. Most of us, adults or children, would never contemplate walking into a computer store and shoplifting a computer program. Yet software piracy (the illegal duplication of computer programs) costs the computer business billions of dollars each year. Most of us would never pick a lock, but guessing passwords to gain access to unauthorized information is a fairly common activity. Few of us would leave the doors of our homes unlocked, but we do little to secure the property we store in our computers.
Information technology misuse by many people, especially the young, is viewed as a low-risk, game-like challenge. Electronic fingerprints, footsteps, and other evidence of digital impropriety have historically been less detectable than physical evidence. There is a physical risk when breaking into a real office that does not exist when hacking into a computer database from one’s living room or den. Illegally copying a book is costly and time consuming; illegally copying a computer program can be done in seconds at very small expense. The viewed pornography on a website seems to disappear as soon as the browser window is closed.
Not long ago, ethical technology questions were only of interest to a very few specialists. But as the use of information technologies spreads throughout society and into our homes, as its importance to both the national economy and to individual careers grows, everyone, including our children, will need to make good ethical decisions when using computers. Studies show that persons involved in computer crimes acquire both their interest and skills at an early age.
Ethical codes
Many organizations and individuals have written lists of ethical standards for technology use. One of the mostly widely used and easily understood sets of computer use principals comes from the Computer Ethics Institute <http://www.brook.edu/its/cei/cei_hp.htm>, reprinted here with permission.
The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics by the Computer Ethics Institute
The Association for Computing Machinery’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (1993) <http://www.acm.org/constitution/code.html> stresses many of the same ideas as The 10 Commandments of Computer Ethics. Their “moral imperatives” include:
Arlene Rinaldi has written a well-respected set of Internet guidelines called The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette <http://www.fau.edu/netiquette/net/>. This more informal set of expected behaviors helps new users learn the manners and etiquette of an often-impatient online community. In her guide, newbies (inexperienced telecommunications users) learn that:
Rindaldi isolates proper conduct for a variety of areas of telecommunication use including telnet, FTP, e-mail, discussion groups, and the World Wide Web.
Most schools and libraries now have adopted an Acceptable Use Policy that governs their use of the Internet and other information technologies and networks. The rules in these policies often apply to both staff and students. Parents, as well as school staff and students, need to know and understand these policies. The Mankato School’s Acceptable Use Policy (adopted from the Minnesota School Board Association’s recommended policy) <http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/guidelines.html> is an example. Included in the policy are some explicit rules of use:
Parents should examine a variety of guides to increase their understanding of ethical computer use. They should also obtain a copy of the rules of their public library and children’s school. Parents must understand, teach, and model the guidelines.
For the home, simple, easily remembered principles are probably the best. In our home, we use these criteria:
Johnson’s 3 P’s of Technology Ethics <http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/nov98/johnson.htm>:
Parents need to be aware and understand that another, counter set of “ethical” behavior also exists - that espoused by hackers. Being described as a “hacker” once indicated only a strong interest and ability in computer use. Popular use of the word has changed, so that now “hacking” describes gaining unauthorized access to computerized systems and data. The term “cracker” is also used, but is often used to describe a hacker who has a malicious intent. Some common hacker beliefs, stated by Deborah Johnson in Computer Ethics, 2nd Edition (Prentice-Hall, 1994) include:
As adults, we need to know and understand these counter-culture beliefs and be able to offer reasons why they need to be questioned for both their logic and their ethics.
Major areas of concern
The scope of information technology ethics is very broad. For the purposes of this short guide, we will be looking only at some common cases when children and young adults will need to make ethical choices or have the unethical actions of other effect them. I have categorized the issues under the major headings of privacy, property, and appropriate use. In the next three lessons, each of these areas will be examined by looking at cases. These cases and others like them should be used to foster home and classroom discussion. Additional questions for reflection are listed at the end of each lesson.
Discussion Questions