The school where I work has clear guidelines around ensuring that staff are informed and are aware of which students do not have parental permission to have their images shared online. Sometimes we are very clear why this is an issue for a student, particularly if there are custody issues or a family is part of a police protection programme. Sometimes, we do not have a reason, however, we remain diligent in checking that photos on our school website, in newsletters, etc. are checked by one of the student's teachers and also by one of the Senior Leadership Team before being shared.
There are, however, a number of issues that sometimes arise and situations that we have much less control over.
If we run a school sports day, for example, we encourage and welcome our parents to join us and support their tamariki. Parents will eagerly snap photos of their child participating in one or more events, and often these are posted online immediately via Snapchat or Instagram, or might be shared on their facebook page. As a school, it is virtually impossible to control what parents will post online, and they will be unaware that another child, who might happen to be in their photo, did not have photo permission. For me, it would be unethical to prevent those tamariki from participating, just in case they got in someone's photo; but is it ethical to put the child or their family in this situation, and possibly even at risk?
One of our school goals is to provide authentic learning experiences for our students. We regularly do this through digital and online forums, where the authentic audience for their projects are the readers of the school or team blog or website. For students who are unable to share their work publicly, this creates an ethical dilemma. Do we isolate them somewhat from the collaborative groups who are sharing their learning with others, just in case they are accidentally identified online?
Later this term, our Year 7 & 8 students will travel to Wellington for a big day out where they will visit Parliament, Capital E Studios and Te Papa. They have been asked to incorporate their personal or group inquiry project into this day, where they will gather more information, ask more questions, and navigate ideas in preparation for launching their own creations of a solution or presentation related to their inquiry. We are encouraging them to take their digital devices, most likely their phones, so they can digitally record data to use in their presentation.
Although we will do our best to ensure all students are well informed and understand their rights and responsibilities as digital citizens, we do not have total control over what will happen to those images.
We have asked ourselves, is it ethical for us to expose students without photo permission to the potential of having their photos posted online by their peers? Should we try to shield them and block them from danger and have complete control over their online content and sharing, or do we teach them about ethics, about rights and responsibilities, and give them the opportunity to put that learning into practice?
When our Year 8 students attend secondary school next year, there will be little chance of preventing their peers from getting out their phones and digitally recording people, places and events as they wish. This is now a norm of our society, and we cannot shield and protect our students from this forever.
I believe, however, it is our responsibility as a school to educate our school community about the ethics of being a member of the online community, about their rights and responsibilities and the things they need to be alerted to and wary of.
Perhaps, as a school community, we need to develop our own Online Code of Ethics, which has community input, and community responsibility for the respect and care of ourselves and others.
References:
Educational Council, (n.d.). Code of ethics for certified teachers. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0
Hall, A. (2001). What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers. Paper presented at the IIPE Conference, Brisbane. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Developing-leaders/What-Ought-I-to-Do-All-Things-Considered-An-Approach-to-the-Exploration-of-Ethical-Problems-by-Teachers
Henderson, M., Auld, G., & Johnson, N. F. (2014). Ethics of teaching with social media. In Australian Computers in Education Conference 2014, Adelaide, SA. Retrieved from http://acec2014.acce.edu.au/session/ethics-teaching-social-media
Ministry of Education. (2015). Digital technology: Safe and responsible use in schools. A companion to the guidelines for the surrender and retention of property and searches. Retrieved from http://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/School/Managing-and-supporting-students/DigitalTechnologySafeAndResponsibleUseInSchs.pdf
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