A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the indictment of the woman who harassed teenager Megan Meier and in that post I talked about the importance of adults taking responsibility for activities teens take part in on the web. I was reminded of that post as I read about new legislation in Congress, The Megan Meier Cyberbullying Protection Act - H.R. 6123. This act states:
Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
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YALSA-L, YALSA’s oldest electronic discussion list, sunsetted today, after keeping subscribers posted on the lastest news and activities from YALSA and ALA since 1996. YALSA announced the decision to subscribers in May, giving them time to plan for the change.
YALSA will now distribute news on its events and activities through its Twitter account, on this blog (there’s even an RSS feed that’s just for YALSA News), on its homepage and, of course, through its six remaining electronic discussion lists, all of which provide a lively and informative forum for discussing teen services in libraries. YALSA-L’s archives will remain public and searchable at the YALSA-L homepage.
We planned to point YALSA-L’s 1500 subscribers to these resources via email this morning, but unfortunately, we inadvertently sent the wrong unsubscribe message. We apologize for the confusion this has caused. If you have any questions, you can leave them in the comments section of this blog post or you can contact me directly at skuenn@ala.org.
Today when I read of the indictment of the woman whose harassment of a teen girl on MySpace led to the girl’s suicide, I wanted to cheer. The indictment was not however brought by the state in which the crime took place, the state couldn’t find enough evidence to indict locally, it was brought by the federal government. As the article in The New York Times states:
…Because MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, is based in Beverly Hills, Calif., and its server is here, federal prosecutors decided to wield a federal statute that is generally used to prosecute fraud that occurs across state lines.
The statute applies in the case, the indictment says, because by violating the user agreement of MySpace, which prohibits phony accounts, Ms. Drew was seeking information “to further a tortuous act, namely, intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
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Teen librarians that want to keep up on what’s going on with legislation related to social networking in schools and libraries, what the digital TV transition really means, and copyright in a world full of downloading might want to check out the following podcasts:
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of The Real Deal podcast covered the digital TV transition in a way that makes the whole thing understandable. I know lots of teens, teachers, and parents have questions about what the transition means for them and their TV viewing. This Real Deal episode could be just the thing to give them the info. they need.- One week later, in
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, The Real Deal covered the topic of copyright. Again, in clear straightforward language the hosts of the show, along with copyright lawyer Colette Vogele, covered what’s legal, what’s not legal, and what’s up for grabs in the download age. Listen to know how to answer questions from teens. Have teens listen so they can gain a clear sense of what’s really up when it comes to copying, downloading, and licensing.
- Not quite as recent as the discussions on The Real Deal, but earlier this month Buzz Out Loud reported that Virginia is the first state to pass an Internet Safey law. The law requires schools in the state to teach Internet Safety in the classroom.
Video and audio podcasts continue to be a really useful way of keeping up on the latest news on laws, trends, and technology that have an impact on teen services in libraries. Check out these three and maybe start subscribing as a way to keep up and be in the know.
On Saturday, March 29 the Wrestlemania Reading Challenge championships were held in Orlando, FL at the Orlando Public Library. I was thrilled to attend this event as YALSA Vice-President. I got to share the stage with Jimmy “the Mouth of the South” Hart, former manager to Hulk Hogan and also the Hart Foundation. This event is the culmination of a program that began back in Teen Read Week 2007. At that time teens were challenged to read a book or magazine a week for 10 weeks. They could then submit an essay. Ten regional finalists had their essays chosen as the best, and it was those ten teens who were competing in Orlando. Five teens in grades 7-8 read Terry Trueman’s novel Stuck in Neutral, while five teens in grades 9-12 read Matt de la Pena’s novel Ball Don’t Lie. Both authors were there to serve as judges during the championship, which was set up like a quiz show. I’m happy to say that while the teens were incredibly excited and thrilled to meet the professional wrestlers at the event, they were also excited and thrilled to meet these authors. In fact, one teen told me that to meet Matt de la Pena and actually get to talk to him about his novel and find out if things she thought about the novel were what he intended was an amazing experience for her. How’s that for a great testimonial to what a great program this is?
The wrestlers at the event were the Miz, Matt Striker, and CM Punk, and they asked the questions about the books. You didn’t have to be a wrestling fan to appreciate the showmanship and stage presence they had. They really made the event a lot of fun and definitely brought a lot of noise to the library. Backstage I appreciated how genuinely nice they were to all the kids. It was definitely clear that although just two teens would ultimately win the ringside seats to Wrestlemania XXIV, every one of the ten teens who had made it that far was a winner.
It was a close win in the grades 9-12 category, but ultimately Ajoura Gwinn was the winner; in the grades 7-8 category David Silva won.
Thanks to everyone at the Orlando Public Library who helped prepare for this event. It was a great morning and a great YALSA collaboration!
Sarah Debraski
YALSA Vice-President
ALA Annual Conference 2008