A11.3: Socio-economic Literacy
November 6, 2006
What is socio-economic literacy? Socio-economic literacy is a type of digital literacy that deals with the social interactions that occur within the digital realm. It deals with protecting yourself with in the digital world. This literacy teaches a person wrong from right and teaches a person how to discriminate good people from bad people in the online community. I think that this skill is very important especially for children because of all of the predators that are out there.
I definitely agree that there are skills out there needed to be an effective user of this literacy. You have to be a good judge of character in order to chat in a safe environment. I also like the rule of thumb to just add people who you know. I think you have to know what you should do or should not do in order to be safe on the web. These skills definitely need to be taught.
I do not remember ever being taught this type of literacy through school. I think that my parents tried to teach me this skill when we got a computer. I look back on when I was a teenager and I use to go to chat rooms and talk to people. Looking back on it I would not do what I did back then. Later on when I was in high school I would get on ICQ and chat with people from school. All of the people on that list were people that I knew. I would never let an individual that I did not know add me to their list. I also didn’t publish my address or phone number because my older brother told me not too. I think that this literacy is very important for children now. If you watch Dateline or even just pass by NBC when it is on you will see the “To Catch a Predator” specials. It is amazing how many individuals are out there that solicit underage children for sex. In my opinion I think that this should be taught in a class. After reviewing all of the different types of digital literacy I think that these literacies should be taught throughout an individual’s academic career. I think that a class should be offered in high school or even in college so that people can obtain these skills and use them in their life. These are my opinions on socio-economic literacy.
November 7, 2006 at 12:23 am
I wasn’t taught any socio-emotional skills in school either. However, my parents stressed how important it was not to talk with people I didn’t know and thank goodness I didn’t want to anyway!
November 7, 2006 at 7:46 pm
I definately agree that these skills should be emphasized. I am so glad that the Dateline show exists so that predators are being caught and so that kids can see how these people exist and hopefully will avoid talking to people they don’t know when they are online.
November 7, 2006 at 10:23 pm
I agree that you shouldn’t talk to people that you don’t actually know online. Its so scary to think how easy it is to let a predator into your house every day!!