{"id":41926,"date":"2018-08-20T13:04:59","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T13:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/?p=415845"},"modified":"2018-08-20T13:04:59","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T13:04:59","slug":"reflections-on-microsofts-inaugural-council-for-digital-good-event-in-d-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2018\/08\/20\/reflections-on-microsofts-inaugural-council-for-digital-good-event-in-d-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on Microsoft\u2019s inaugural Council for Digital Good event in D.C."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been a month since our inaugural <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.microsoft.com\/on-the-issues\/2017\/06\/22\/meet-microsofts-inaugural-council-for-digital-good\/\">Council for Digital Good<\/a> met in Washington, D.C., to unveil an <a href=\"https:\/\/aka.ms\/CDGLetter\">open letter<\/a> to law- and policymakers about improving life online which was a culmination of the teen council\u2019s work over the past 18 months. While I summarized the event and the open letter in a <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.microsoft.com\/on-the-issues\/2018\/07\/24\/microsofts-council-for-digital-good-calls-on-us-policymakers-to-promote-digital-civility\/\">blog post last month<\/a>, I wanted to share more details about the council\u2019s time in D.C., as well as a few thoughts on the pilot program overall.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019d 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:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Teens stress awareness-raising, education and communications \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>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. \u201cThere\u2019s no silver-bullet solution to protecting kids online,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to offer my feelings of empowerment to other students.\u201d That\u2019s 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\u2019s progress, as well as the responses from her peers, teachers and others.<\/li>\n<li>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. \u201cIf you\u2019re not abiding by them, you\u2019re not helping yourself.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Judah also spoke of the need for parents to model good digital behavior in front of their children and teens. \u201cWhen a kid sees a parent on the phone, it\u2019s a competition for (the parent\u2019s) attention: the kid versus the cellphone.\u201d Judah said young people immediately start asking questions of the parent, seeking permission for one thing or another. \u201cKids actually <em>want<\/em> the parent to say no\u201d 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\u2018 online safety program and organization, <a href=\"http:\/\/parentswhofight.com\/\">Parents Who Fight<\/a>, at four other informational events they\u2019ve held this year.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>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 \u201cset in their (digital) ways,\u201d and will likely be more difficult to reach with proactive messages. \u201cUntil something happens to them, kids think they\u2019re immune\u201d from online ills. Christina also noted that young people fear judgment and punishment from their parents for risky online behaviors, so she suggested \u201cno condescension\u201d 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\u2019s 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MSFTOnlineSafety\">YouTube channel<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Council members share their unvarnished views <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Our second panel featured six teens, three discussing the cohort\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/onedrive.live.com\/view.aspx?resid=D319DC967D6D5A46!111&amp;ithint=file%2cpptx&amp;app=PowerPoint&amp;authkey=!AGM2orjfoTpMj34\">written manifesto<\/a> 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 \u2013 all key ingredients for helping to reduce exposure to online risks and abuse.<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting the importance of reporting concerns to technology companies about content and conduct on their services, the young people said they\u2019d like to receive acknowledgement emails from companies that the teens\u2019 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.microsoft.com\/on-the-issues\/2017\/11\/06\/importance-reporting-concerns-online-content-conduct-tech-companies\/\">first discussed<\/a> reporting terms-of-use violations with the teens at our Redmond, Wash., <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.microsoft.com\/on-the-issues\/2017\/08\/08\/microsofts-council-for-digital-good-holds-inaugural-summit-on-improving-civility-online\/\">summit<\/a> last August. Initially, we didn\u2019t 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, \u201cI didn\u2019t even realize I had these opinions until someone asked to hear them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.microsoft.com\/uploads\/prod\/sites\/5\/2018\/08\/CDG-DC-signage.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-60678 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/reflections-on-microsofts-inaugural-council-for-digital-good-event-in-d-c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/aka.ms\/CDGLetter\">open letter<\/a>, 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 \u2013 individually or as a full council \u2013 was up to them. And, we emphasized open dialogues, the sharing of experiences and focus group-style interactions.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and professor of criminology at Florida Atlantic University, followed the council\u2019s progress online and was energized to learn of its next steps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is so encouraging to see that the students \u2013 while aware of the breadth and scope of online risks and vulnerabilities out there \u2013 are motivated to find and implement solutions among their peer groups and communities,\u201d Hinduja said. \u201cInterestingly, the best strategies to positively change attitudes and actions of youth online aren\u2019t 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\u2019s \u2018default\u2019 approach to social media use into one marked by thoughtfulness, inclusivity and kindness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019ll be sure to follow up with a \u2018Where they are now\u2019 post in a few months.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learn more<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, you can read the council\u2019s full open letter <a href=\"https:\/\/aka.ms\/CDGLetter\">here<\/a> and learn more about digital civility at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/digitalcivility\">www.microsoft.com\/digitalcivility<\/a>. For more about online safety generally, visit our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/about\/corporatecitizenship\/en-us\/youthspark\/youthsparkhub\/programs\/onlinesafety\/\">website<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/about\/corporatecitizenship\/en-us\/youthspark\/youthsparkhub\/programs\/onlinesafety\/resources\/\">resources<\/a> page; \u201clike\u201d us on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/saferonline\">Facebook<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/safer_online\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tag-list\">Tags: <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.microsoft.com\/on-the-issues\/tag\/council-for-digital-good\/\" rel=\"tag\">Council for Digital Good<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s 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\u2019s work over the past 18 months. While I summarized the event and the open letter in a blog post [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[264,50],"class_list":["post-41926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-council-for-digital-good","tag-recent-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}