The Power of Technology to Change Young Lives

The Power Of Technology to Change Young Lives

So as most of you know I do work in the IT field and do deal with both adults and indirectly with students in that field. However what I still see today is rather shocking in a way and that is the shear ignorance of the capability and degree in which today's technology and social media can actually be used for the good not just the mundane or evil. Its still shocks me when I have an educator responsible for a large group of teenagers come up to me and ask "What's this twitter thing?" or "What does it mean to put something on someones wall". Yes those are two questions I have been asked. Now I do know that there could be and in some cases are a large generational gap between adults and students and that technology does change at an exponential rate but I really don't believe this is an excuse to be ignorant and oblivious to what is going in the world around you. I hope for any parents, educators or any person that is responsible for the supervision of children now will take the time and learn about today's tech like smart phones,social media, even just the internet and its capabilities. I have now completed a very good training course in Violence Threat Risk Assessment and I could almost guarantee that half of the people reading this blog that have teenagers do one of the major (I don't want to say mistakes) but lets call them guidelines when it comes to tech in the home.

#1. Don't let your kids have computers in there rooms. Standalone computers and laptops both have things like webcams built in which can be a very bad gateway to problems. And you really should have the computers in a central location where you know what is going on if at all possible.

and #2 for bloody well sake learn the tech. You need to know what lol or lmao or POS etc etc mean. It is a new language and if you don't speak it you will be lost in the technology jungle.

I guess what I am trying to say is that we as adults need to educate ourselves  on what the youth of today are doing and using to communicate so that we can keep up know what is going on.

This clip is a very real example of how todays tech can be used for good not evil in helping possibly save young peoples lives.

Thanks for reading!

The Peterborough Exagerrator Strikes Again!!!!

Well once again the Peterborough Exagerrator everyone's favorite local newspaper (not) has put there oh so wonderful slant on another local story. Seems that Mr.Mayor Darryl Bennett had a run in with one of our local umm.... whats the word I am looking for ....... 99% citizens. First read the article from the Examiner http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3549380 and then watch the video http://www.mykawartha.com/news/article/1346572--angry-man-confronts-peterborough-mayor-daryl-bennett-outside-city-hall You will see that Mayor Bennett did nothing to "calm" this man down in fact his arrogant 1% attitude just added fuel to the fire. I am sure if the camera was not there he may have had some other words to say. You can certainly tell by Mayor Bennett's body language and attitude in his speech that he doesn't want anything to do with talking to this citizen (who wasn't really doing thing the proper way either). Unfortunately we now have a Mayor that the city must live with that is very much a 1% 'r and the city will suffer. Lets just hope he brings some industry and jobs to this town not just a bunch of garbage retail and call centres like Mayor before him...I think perhaps Darryl should take some Anti-bullying classes to help his term along a bit and bring him down to the common folk.

For Defintion of 1%'er see  see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Wall_Street .