"Mean World Syndrome" and Technophobia
Pamela Rutledge counters over-hyped (and under informed) fears about the dangers of technology use in this great blog post for the Media Psychology Research Center with a dose of reality and links to solid new research.
Key points: Yes, students need guidance and limits online as in the physical world. However, the online world is comprised of more than YouTube videos of singing dogs and serial killers stalking your children. (Don’t think we don’t like the singing dog videos, though. We do, in moderation. It’s the dancing cat videos that are really dangerous.) There is such a thing as “too much of a good thing,” but that truth doesn’t make that good thing a bad thing.