It started with a few students apparently cursing out and threatening MCPS Superintendent Joshua Starr on Twitter about a snow day.
A few days later, Starr wrote an open letter to all MCPS parents encouraging them to be aware of what their children were doing on internet social networks.
Now, MCPS is diving in on the issue of “cybercivility,” especially as it concerns school-aged kids and what their parents allow or don’t allow them to do on the internet.
On Thursday, April 24 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., MCPS will host a Cybercivility Community Forum at Richard Montgomery High School (250 Richard Montgomery Dr., Rockville). At the forum will be Andrea Weckerle, author of a book on the subject and founder and president of a nonprofit called CiviliNation, which cites its mission as “taking a stand for civil digital discourse.”
The school system has also started a Cybercivility Task Force it hopes will raise awareness and create ways for schools and parents to curb mean-spirited tweets, Facebook posts and other internet activity.
We ask you: Is cybercivility something that MCPS can achieve? Or, in the anonymous commenter-filled corners of the internet, is it a goal too far out of reach?
As always, feel free to expound on any opinions in the comments section below.
Video via myMCMedia
