Tag: Council for Digital Good

In July 2018, we concluded our inaugural Council for Digital Good, an initiative involving 15 teens from 12 U.S. states, selected to help advance our work in digital civility: promoting safer and healthier online interactions among all people. Six months later and just weeks away from international Safer Internet Day 2019, we wanted to share what these impressive young people have done since their council term ended, as well as what they have planned for next month.

Since leaving our second council event in Washington, D.C., last July, our teens have recounted their council experiences on social media and in other online venues. Christina from Georgia penned two different blog posts for separate online safety-focused non-profits (blog #1, blog #2), and several teens conducted educational and after-school sessions for parents, students and younger kids. Jazmine, a particularly enterprising 14-year-old from Kentucky, and one of our youngest council members, started her own website. And, three council members – Bronte, Christina and Judah – were offered a once-in-lifetime opportunity for the second time and spoke with first lady Melania Trump, this time in November at the Family Online Safety Institute annual conference. (All council members spent time one-on-one with the first lady in D.C. in July.)

Council members turned counselors

Nearly all of the teens told us they’ve used their newfound knowledge to counsel friends and classmates who had encountered online risks. “I applied to the council because I wanted to make an impact on cyberbullying on social media,” said Erin from Michigan. ”Through the council, though, I’ve learned that there are so many more dangers that impact young people across a multitude of platforms and, now that I’m educated on these subjects, I can share them with the students and parents in my community.”

In a few cases, risk exposure among peers was quite serious, involving sextortion or harassment. After engaging on several occasions through the council with the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Thorn, one teen was able to share relevant resources with a friend of a friend. “I knew they (Thorn) had a text hotline and I was able to direct her to that,” this council member said. “She never contacted me afterward, which I take as a good sign.”

Council members have also been striking up deep conversations with friends and family members about weighty online issues like violent extremism. “Something I find myself talking about a lot (with friends) is the process of radicalization of youth online for hate groups,” said one teen who is now in college. “It’s a topic that is as unfortunate as it is fascinating to discuss. We talk about the geopolitics involved, the technical sophistication of (extremist groups), and what can be done online to stop them. I speak from my knowledge of our call with Public Safety Canada.”

Over the course of the 18-month council program, we held monthly conference calls with the teens and their parents. We’d often invite guest speakers so the teens could hear and learn firsthand from experts – like Thorn – about an array of online safety topics. In late 2017, officials from Public Safety Canada spoke to the teens about online hate and violent extremism and sought council members’ input on how best to reach young people with impactful counter-messages.

“To me, there was no greater opportunity than to converse and debate over the various issues that the internet has created over time,” said William from the state of Washington. “My favorite part was discussing the various issues and learning from my peers. I do miss being able to give input to various organizations … I felt like I was contributing to something much bigger than myself.”

Many of the teens have since told us that in addition to missing each other, they also miss the monthly calls and engaging with outside groups and NGOs. Some also said they miss working together on projects like their written cohort manifesto and their open letter to law and policymakers. One of my favorite responses: “I miss having a platform where I knew I was being listened to.”

Looking to Safer Internet Day 2019 and beyond

International Safer Internet Day will take place on Feb. 5, and many of our teens plan to spread the message of “Together for a safer internet” in their schools and communities. More than half of our council members are planning presentations to their PTAs, schools, clubs or other organizations, and they’re reaching out to educators, school administrators, peers and local elementary schools to arrange activities. Erin from Michigan even requested that Safer Internet Day and other important web links about online safety topics be included on her school and district calendars.

The teens each crafted their own presentations and chose discussion topics for their Safer Internet Day events. Fighting back against online bullying and harassment are popular topics, but several are equally focused on online reputation management and digital footprints. “I’m very passionate about internet safety and social activism,” says Indigo from California. “It’s important to me to make sure that every person is safe, comfortable and respected. Especially as technology and social media continue to advance, we need to continue fighting for these rights. The council and all of the things that we discussed remain with me, especially the aspect of how your online persona and reputation will no doubt affect you in real life.”

After Feb 5., a handful of council members said they’re planning information sessions for parents and other adults, given the impact these people play in teens’ lives. According to new research from our latest digital civility study, now more than ever, young people around the world are turning to their parents and other trusted adults for advice and guidance about online issues. “It’s equally important to educate the adults,” notes William.

Christina has an opportunity for an internship with an international nonprofit, and some of the teens may be tapped to discuss their council experiences with other technology companies that are considering setting up councils or other youth-focused initiatives.

At Microsoft, we’re so grateful to these teens and their parents for what they have given to us over the past two years. As a global, connected community, we can’t help but improve online safety and interactions with young people like these driving us forward.

“All I can do is improve how I act online, and how I leave my digital footprint,” said Bronte from Ohio. “I can also encourage my fellow classmates, friends, and family to act better online, and to really think before posting something that they might regret. Step by step, change can be made … it all has to start somewhere!”

Bronte, we couldn’t agree more.

Learn more

You can read the council’s cohort manifesto here, as well as their open letter to U.S. law and policymakers about working together to improve life online. To learn more about digital civility, visit: www.microsoft.com/digitalcivility, and for more about online safety generally, see our website and resources page; “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Tags: Council for Digital Good

It’s been a month since our inaugural Council for Digital Good met in Washington, D.C., to unveil an open letter to law- and policymakers about improving life online which was a culmination of the teen council’s work over the past 18 months. While I summarized the event and the open letter in a blog post last month, I wanted to share more details about the council’s time in D.C., as well as a few thoughts on the pilot program overall.

Our July event consisted of two panel discussions led by the teens and focused on the state of online civility today and what we hope for in the future. During the first panel, four teens shared what they discussed with peers, parents and their broader communities at various workshops and discussion groups that they led on and around international Safer Internet Day in February. We then asked three adult panelists to react to and question the teens about what they’d presented. Representatives from Google, Columbia University and Born This Way Foundation responded with praise, feedback and a few thought-provoking questions. Here are a few highlights:

Teens stress awareness-raising, education and communications  

• Jazmine, a 14-year-old from Kentucky, stressed the need for awareness-raising of online risks and formal, in-school education about online safety and digital civility. “There’s no silver-bullet solution to protecting kids online,” she said. “I want to offer my feelings of empowerment to other students.” That’s why going forward, Jazmine is committed to leading activities in her school and school district on Safer Internet Day every year. We look forward to Jazmine’s progress, as well as the responses from her peers, teachers and others.
• Judah, a 14-year-old from Tennessee always brought a unique perspective to our discussions because Judah does not have technology or social media. We selected Judah for the council for his somewhat atypical teen experiences and he shared some of those in D.C. As we at Microsoft also often note, Judah said age limits exist on social media for a reason. “If you’re not abiding by them, you’re not helping yourself.”

Judah also spoke of the need for parents to model good digital behavior in front of their children and teens. “When a kid sees a parent on the phone, it’s a competition for (the parent’s) attention: the kid versus the cellphone.” Judah said young people immediately start asking questions of the parent, seeking permission for one thing or another. “Kids actually want the parent to say no” because that would mean the parent was truly listening and paying attention to them. In addition to addressing a fourth-grade class on Safer Internet Day 2018, Judah joined his parents‘ online safety program and organization, Parents Who Fight, at four other informational events they’ve held this year.

• Asked what more might be done to connect positively with young people about online safety and the need for digital civility, Christina, a 17-year-old from Georgia, said high-schoolers are “set in their (digital) ways,” and will likely be more difficult to reach with proactive messages. “Until something happens to them, kids think they’re immune” from online ills. Christina also noted that young people fear judgment and punishment from their parents for risky online behaviors, so she suggested “no condescension” when coaching kids through online life. Following the event, Christina was approached by a D.C.-based nonprofit to write a guest blog about her council experience and she’s been offered an internship opportunity with another nongovernmental organization. (More on this discussion and the entire D.C. event when we post some new videos to our YouTube channel.)

Council members share their unvarnished views

Our second panel featured six teens, three discussing the cohort’s written manifesto for life online released in January, and three others presenting the open letter. Introducing the written manifesto, Sierra, an 18-year-old college student from North Carolina, highlighted the need for resilience-building in young people, mindfulness and digital civility – all key ingredients for helping to reduce exposure to online risks and abuse.

Highlighting the importance of reporting concerns to technology companies about content and conduct on their services, the young people said they’d like to receive acknowledgement emails from companies that the teens’ reports were received and are being addressed. They also noted the need for tech firms to promote awareness within their individual products and services that reporting illegal and abusive material and activity is warranted, necessary and useful. We first discussed reporting terms-of-use violations with the teens at our Redmond, Wash., summit last August. Initially, we didn’t seem to be connecting with the teens on the topic, but over the course of the next several months, the youth clearly gave some thought to the issue. In fact, during the D.C. forum, William, a soon-to-be high-school junior from Washington state, admitted, “I didn’t even realize I had these opinions until someone asked to hear them.”

Indeed, we wanted others to hear firsthand what these impressive teens have been learning and clearly internalizing for at least the last 18 months. The opinions and perspectives that they shared in D.C. and throughout the council program were their own and those of others in the cohort. Even when drafting the open letter, we at Microsoft provided only directional guidance and feedback. We wanted clarity of thought and authenticity to shine through with our group, so we made it a point of requiring only two things: active participation and timely completion of assignments. How members went about accomplishing their work – individually or as a full council – was up to them. And, we emphasized open dialogues, the sharing of experiences and focus group-style interactions.

Most importantly, and being mindful of a comment from one applicant, we treated our council members like the informed and interesting young adults that they are. In her application, one council member said that she had opinions and she wanted adults to hear and listen to them. Again, the impact of the event in D.C. and that of the entire program underscores the importance of the youth voice and the need for young people to have a say in policy matters that affect them.

Dr. Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and professor of criminology at Florida Atlantic University, followed the council’s progress online and was energized to learn of its next steps.

“It is so encouraging to see that the students – while aware of the breadth and scope of online risks and vulnerabilities out there – are motivated to find and implement solutions among their peer groups and communities,” Hinduja said. “Interestingly, the best strategies to positively change attitudes and actions of youth online aren’t rooted in technology, but in the development of character traits such as grit, gratitude, empathy, integrity and emotional self-regulation. These youth clearly know this and will now move to translate their ideas into actionable efforts that have the potential to change their generation’s ‘default’ approach to social media use into one marked by thoughtfulness, inclusivity and kindness.”

Although this inaugural pilot program formally concluded following our D.C. event, many of the individual council members are joining other organizations to continue to learn, grow and advocate for these critical societal issues. We’ll be sure to follow up with a ‘Where they are now’ post in a few months.

Learn more

In the meantime, you can read the council’s full open letter here and learn more about digital civility at www.microsoft.com/digitalcivility. For more about online safety generally, visit our website and resources page; “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Tags: Council for Digital Good