Olympia Time

History, politics, people of Oly WA

Category: education

Why don’t they just start blogs? (student free speech)

October 13, 2008 / / 0 Comments

This story is about the harrowing tale of student journalists in Pierce County bumping heads with school administrators over what to publish in the school paper.

I sort of had the same experience at my high school, but with a literary magazine, and not a newspaper. Instead of working in the system, I got together with my friends and with $20 and 90s home computer put together a 8 page literary magazine that we distributed around school for the better part of a year.

Today, I would have put up a Ning social network to allow any student to put up stories. I would email out links to everyone I know with an email address, and republish on facebook and myspace. I’d also pass out photocopies of articles for anyone who wants one.

By continuing to work through a school district funded publication, we’re teaching student journalists the exact wrong lesson for the media environment today. You don’t need someone else to let you or to pay you to be a reporter. You should just be one.

Seattle no longer most literate. I blame Jeff Shaw

December 28, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Seattle fell to second place behind that city that was in about the middle of Fargo. You know, I think it was the one with the bar where the creepy guy tried to hit on Francis what’s her name.

Blame can be spread widely, but I blame this fall from grace, and the rocket accent of that yet unnamed upper Midwest city on Jeff Shaw, who moved from the “Seattle area” (Bellingham) to there earlier this year.

His reading power is so… uhmm… powerful that the Twin of this city moved from 11th to third, when I have good information that Jeff’s never stepped out of his car in St. Paul (there I’ve said it). Crap, we’re surrounded!

Not that Jeff would let something like this go to his head:

Verily, I think I speak for all us learned and sagacious denizens of these dual metropolises when I say: Suck it, Seattle. I hereby challenge Seattle Weekly‘s talented and debonair web editor, Chris Kornelis, to a read-off. Alternative weeklies at 10 paces.

Jeff is either smart in challenging his corporate sister paper, or smart to not challenge the Stranger’s Amy Kate Horn, who everyone knows is a much better reader than Chris Kornelis.

Youth protest in Seattle (this is not called “The Kids are Alright,” although that would be accurate)

April 19, 2007 / / 0 Comments

I’ve not really been a big fan of protest lately, walking in the streets to prove a point. But, the coverage of the high school walkout in Seattle yesterday made me think differently. Protest can be good, and for some reason, really good if you’re in high school.

High school students have no other choice than to be in school, so walking out of class is the supreme level of civil disobedience. Its a world of difference from middle aged protesters taking on the Iraq War on the weekend or college aged kids doing May Day.

For the rest of us, protest should be weighed more heavily against other types of engagement, like voting, participating in public life and running for office. Have I mentioned that if you protested either the Port of Olympia or Tacoma recently, you should run for port commission? Lots of openings!

I especially liked the response to unnamed critics in the PI’s article:

Students also fired back at cynics who suggest they’re just lazy kids looking for a day off from school. Those who skipped school Wednesday could have opted to go shopping downtown or simply could have gone home instead of attending the rally, Salas said.

The fact they showed up “is very demonstrative that these kids care,” she said. “Adults need to see we’re willing to get detention for the day and get yelled at by our parents to do this.”

This is the same world that hundreds of thousands of high school aged and younger keep American Idol afloat, and we’re worried about high school students actually paying attention and reacting to the world around them.

Its also nice to see a little bit of online organization (here and myspace), even if it did get only 300 protesters from a district with tens of thousands of students. I would like to know more about how online or non-traditional organizing tools were used, just because I’m curious.

Seattle ruining it for the rest of us

December 29, 2006 / / 0 Comments

Oly School Board member Rich Nafziger makes a great point about how perception and reality are different, and can cause real harm to the rest of us (I’m about two months late on this post, by the way):

Between a horribly managed school board meeting where the Seattle School Board President allowed activists to hurl racist ephitats as the Superintendent and a gutless decision to back down on a well thought out strategy to down size schools to meet enrollments declines, came a major blow to efforts to increase public funding for education in Washington State.

The next day, the board’s incompetence led to the resignation of Seattle’s highly regarded superintendent, Raj Manhas. The board made no effort to encourage him to stay.

Seattle School may only make up 5% of the state’s 1,000,000 school children, but it’s influence on public perception goes way beyond its numbers. Every board meeting gets covered by Seattle TV, Radio and newspapers which reach nearly every television set, radio and porch step in the entire state. While news of local school board meetings in Belleveue, Lake Washington or Federal Way may carry by word of mouth or from student to parent, Seattle Schools get the big and regular coverage on the dinner time TV. And we are all paying the price.

It is true, whatever happens in Seattle is covered with more intensity than any other place. Had the Mardi Gras fiasco of a few years ago happened in Yakima or Bremerton, it would have been forgotten in a few weeks. But, with live tape from downtown Seattle, it kept us going for the better part of a year.

Most school boards operate professionally, without fuss and take the education of students seriously. But, since they don’t meet within blocks of Fischer Plaza, they don’t merit the same attention. Granted, Seattle is one of the largest school districts, but not larger than all the districts in Pierce County I’d bet.

Anyway, its still great to have a local elected official blogging.

The Myspace War on Better Donkey

December 9, 2006 / / 0 Comments

I’ve recently become a front pager at Washblog, so my other front paging duties at the other local political blog I was attached to, Better Donkey, is pretty much over.

In looking back at that site, which is pretty much empty of recent of posts from anyone anyway, I noticed some action at my MySpace for Civics Education idea. That post comes up when folks search “Ban MySpace,” so it has been getting some comments about people engaged in the “Oh, MySpace is causing the demise of civilization… Oh, No its not” debate.

One feels MySpace, above other social networking sites like Friendster, Facebook, or Facebox.

I am with you on Banning My space. I have a 17 year old daughter whom has been on that site for over two years. Everytime she gets on it she gets moody and crabby. People leave horrible messages, when she puts comments on it she gets attacked for her own opinion. Also I believe you are asking for trouble when you belong to that site. Ever watch Dateline???

Crabby teenagers, huh??? Attacked for your opinion online??? Anyway, this comment sort of relates to my original idea, that a MySpace like application could work to teach not only civics, but the practice of civics. If you can’t take people disagreeing with you, then, probably your best bet is to stay out of the conversation.

But, then again, people should be nice, over all.

One teenager and another unnamed commenter seem to get it:

And just because kids talk on the compuer doesn’t mean they talk in person as well. Myspace and the internet just opens up a person and allows them to be more comfortable with their friends. Being in person might make a kid feel awkward, ever think about that?
So basically if you’re going to ban myspace… opt to ban the internet itself as a whole as well because they’re wuite similar… if you’ve ever visited myspace you’d see it’s a smaller version simply better for comunication.

Pointing out the irony of arguing against MySpace on a website:

ok fair enough myspace isn’t the greatest but it’s very hypocritical if you put point on this site, because you are using the web to sate your point just like people on myspace. Myspace is a great way to show yourself to anyone in the world plus many bands that are now headliners at masiive gigs like artic monkeys used myspace to get where they are! so give it a break

See you later BetterDonkey!

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