Drugs education: science vs. orthodoxy

galileo

When Galileo challenged religious orthodoxy with science, he was shown the rack. When Prof. David Nutt did it, he was merely shown the door. So that’s progress then.

I don’t normally use this blog to promote Chalkface products, but I think I might be permitted a small boast on this occasion. We have by policy always produced drug-education materials that educate in a balanced way that respects your students’ intelligence and does not fall for the government’s Daily Mail-inspired hysteria. See for yourself.

50 new courses in Yacapaca

As you can see, many authors have been busy over the summer. I have taken a risk this time, and allowed myself to be a little critical where I feel the authors could have stretched themselves further. There is lots of good material in Yacapaca, but only a small amount that is truly great. I hope that if you are one of the authors, you will read this in the supportive spirit in which it was intended.

Quite often, all it takes to raise your game is to make Continue reading →

Cyber Bullying

Danah Boyd is always a worthwhile read, but today’s post is directly relevant to anyone who is involved in anti-bullying.

Bullies can be enthusiastic adopters of new technology and will experiment avidly to find the most effective ways of making life unbearable for others. Techniques such as poison email campaigns and character-assassinating MySpace/Bebo profiles can easily induce media hysteria and disempower those very adults who need to be most active confronting bullies and bullying. Danah’s measured approach brings welcome sanity to the debate.

My key takeaways

There is no reason to suppose that the internet (or any new technology) increases bullying in aggregate. Rather, the bullying moves from one medium to another.
Cyber bullying can happen anywhere at any time, unlike physical bullying that requires physical presence. This is bad news.
Cyber bullying is more visible to adults, not less. You just have to learn where to look. This is good news.
Online bullying requires offline intervention. Your own tools and strategies do not need to change.