"Meeting of Minds" report finds adult involvment in teens' online activities is key

Last year, Global Kids engaged in an experiment with Common Sense Media and Harvard's Goodplay Project in hopes that we could come to understand key questions of how youth and adults relate to life online through a series of cross-generational online dialogues. The Focus Dialogues, which had over 250 participants from around the world making over 2,500 posts, highlighted some important ways that the two groups are thinking about ethical dimensions of digitally mediated social participation.

This resulted in Meeting of Minds [pdf], a report on the dialogues that shares key findings that emerged.

The findings of the report offer some important perspectives for parents and educators about how youth are thinking about these issues. For instance, teens often relate to ethically challenging situations online from a place of concern about repercussions for themselves, rather than from concern about the implications of their actions for larger communities. Adults, on the other hand, spoke more about responsibility to others and to communities when discussing digital dilemmas. Whereas a teen who makes a fake profile page about her teacher might think it’s funny, adults are more likely to urge consideration of how such an act might hurt or damage the teacher's reputation.

We hope that you find this report helpful in your work as educators and parents.