Safe Ways to Teach about Transgression

Safe Ways to Talk

about Digital

Transgression

Renee Hobbs

Harrington School of Communication and Media

University of Rhode Island USA

• 11% received experienced online harrassment in the

past year

• 23% of youth reported unwanted exposure to sexual

material in the past 12 months in 2010

• 13% saw violent sexual porn in the past year

• 16% of youth report at least one stress symptom as a

result of exposure

N = 1560 children and youth ages 10 – 17

Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire

American children

experience risk online

European children

experience risk online

EU Kids Online, 2013

N = 25,142 children ages 9 – 16 in 25 countries

European children

experience risk online

European children

experience risk online

EU Kids Online, 2013

N = 25,142 children ages 9 – 16 in 25 countries

In the past 12 months

have you seen or

experienced something

on the Internet that has

bothered you in some

ways? For example,

made you feel

uncomfortable, upset, or

feel that you shouldn’t

have seen it?

17%of European children

have been bothered,

uncomfortable or

upset by something

online in the last year

EU Kids Online, 2013

N = 25142 children ages 9 – 16 in 25 countries

European children

experience risk online

In the past 12 months have you

seen or experienced potentially

harmful user-generated

content?

31%of European children

aged 13 - 14 have

seen or experienced

potentially harmful

user-generated

contentEU Kids Online, 2013

N = 25142 children ages 9 – 16 in 25 countries

European children

experience risk online

Internet Safety Curriculum

Humor is Transgressive

Humor in general consists of a play with

meaning, openness to the possibility of a

meaningless world, and introduction of

disorder. It implies surprise, loss of control,

openness to novelty and ambiguity, and

disengagement with regard to truth,

morality, and affection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_y8RdJ0HzY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyOr9RAMzmM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQff6yj6vWA

The „Maze Game“ on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2R9YTXJeWE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-MAR7n3qrQ

Scary Maze Prank the Original

27,113,068 views as of January 27, 2014

This made me feel ___________________

because __________________________.

Representational Ethics

Representational Ethics

Consent

Free Will

Intentionality

Consequences

Social Good

Spectatorship

Consider the Subject

Subject

• Consent. Did the subject consent in the making of the

video?

• Free Will. Did the subject exercise free will in choosing

to participate in the game? Or was there coercion, where

the subject was not truly free to refuse to participate?

Consider the Author

Author

• Consequences. Did the author consider the

consequences of their actions on the subject? On the

audience?

• Social Good. Does the effect of their actions contribute

to furthering healthy social relationships and a good

society?

• Intentionality. Did the author act with good will towards

the subject? Towards the audience?

Consider the Audience

Audience

• Intentionality. Did the viewer/reader/audience have

good will towards the author? Towards the subject?

• Spectatorship in a Relational World. Does the

viewer/reader/audience consider the consequences of

their actions as a spectator? On self? On others? On

society?

Representational Ethics

Child Victim Experiences Distress

Child Victim Experiences Distress

Scary Maze Game Pranks Take Many Forms

Teen Victim with Family Pranksters

Peers Pranking Each Other

Scary Maze Game Pranks Take Many Forms

Learning Outcomes: Students will

• recognize different ways to categorize online videos by personal pleasure, genre, purpose, author, and audience response.

A Lesson for Grades 6 – 7 - 8Exploring Online Videos

• gain knowledge about the research method of content analysis.

• strengthen discussion, listening, speaking and analytic skills.

• use comparison-contrast to identify patterns in media messages.

• reflect on the ethical relationship between the author, subject and audience.

Engage

Online Videos: What we like and dislike

How to Categorize Internet Video?

• Videos I Like – Videos I Dislike

• Music Video – Movies – Sports – Reality, etc.

• Amateur – Professional

• Information – Entertainment – Persuasion

• Socially Acceptable – Controversial

Analyze

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT THESE WAYS

OF CATEGORIZING INTERNET VIDEOS?

Transition: The Scary Maze Game Videos

Basic facts and student familiarity

Sharing our reactions

Analyze: Create a Chart

Content Analysis

A systematic approach to examining patterns in the

content of media messages

WHAT PATTERNS IN SCARY MAZE VIDEOS CAN YOU FIND?

URL WHO IS THE

VICTIM?

HOW DOES THE

VICTIM REACT?

WHO IS THE

PRANKSTER?

HOW DOES THE

PRANKSTER REACT?

Learn and Discuss

A Social Taboo Becomes Normalized

Audiences are Implicated in

Media Ethics

Reflect

Reflecting on ethical issues and on our social responsibilities as

authors, subjects and audience members

Subject

(Victim)

Author

(Prankster)Audience

Write about it:

Imagine your best friend asks you to upload a scare prank

video of his little sister to YouTube. What would you do?

LULZ

LULZ without Consequences

• Middle-school children are

creating images to represent their

play and learning

• Images stand in for experience

• Images embody complex social

power relationships

• Children are not born with the

ability to understand the cultural

meanings of images

Media Literacy is Essential

Safe Ways to Talk

about Digital

Transgression

www.mediaeducationlab.com

Professor Renee Hobbs

EMAIL [email protected]

Twitter: @reneehobbs