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Safe & Responsible Computing |
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Ethical Challenges
in the Internet Age As parents we all strive to teach our children good ethical
behavior. We know it’s wrong to lie,
cheat or steal and we don’t hesitate to teach that to our children. And of course, we still teach our children
the Golden Rule “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Through the Internet we have instant access to just about
anything we could ever want or imagine.
Consider some of the possibilities.
Online, your child can: Ÿ
Research information for a school project or paper. Ÿ
Learn about everything from current events to past
history. Ÿ
Study other cultures around the world. Ÿ
Meet other kids who share their interests. Ÿ
Find new hobbies. Ÿ
Go shopping with your credit card. Ÿ
Start his own little business by hacking into the
school’s computer to copy exams for sale to his friends. Ÿ
Break into a neighbor’s unsecured wireless network and
copy personal files from their computer. Ÿ
Too busy or too tired to do your homework? Why not download an entire term paper or
find answer keys for textbook homework assignments? Ÿ
Chat with an online predator who is posing as a 14 year
old and arrange to meet him in person. Wait a minute! It was
sounding good for a while - what happened?
The Internet truly has brought the world into our homes. As adults, we know that some things in the
world are good and some things are bad. Many students, pressured by demands of school work, extra
curricular activities and part-time jobs will sometimes resort to purchasing
these things online. Now, instead of
buying a paper from another classmate or copying someone else’s homework,
with a mouse click and a credit card an easy solution is available 24x7
online. Some educators are using an online service to detect bought or
plagiarized term papers. Instructors
can submit student papers and receive a report that describes how much of the
paper is directly copied, paraphrased or original work. Some instructors will tell students up
front – some students find out the hard way. Something to Think
About: Remember the part about “…hacking into the school’s computer
to copy exams for sale to his friends?”
This actually happened. The
school discovered the situation, the teacher changed the exams. The student was a hero to his classmates
(even though he was given a failing grade on those exams.) The parent’s response? They hired a lawyer, claiming it was really
no big deal; just a harmless prank. The parent’s response in this taught the student that: §
Stealing is a harmless prank. §
Cheating is a harmless prank. §
Not bothering to study, learn, earn your own grade is a
harmless prank. §
When you make bad choices, Mom and Dad will hire a
lawyer so you don’t have to face the consequences of your actions. This is not the example most parents want to set for their
children. How do we teach ethical
values to our children? By how we
live. Do we correct the cashier when
she gives us too much change? When an
item rings up less than it should? In
our daily conversations and actions are we modeling respect for others? How about our cable bills? Are we stealing cable? Bottom Line: §
Buying a paper on line is no different than copying off
an exam from the student at the next desk or copying a friend’s
homework. Cheating is cheating. §
Downloading software or music on line is the same as
shoplifting from the local store.
Stealing is stealing. Children will hear what we tell them, but they will learn what
they see. They are watching us,
whether we realize it or not. And it’s
the daily seemingly insignificant ethical tests that add up. |
