AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

Educators weigh merits of social network sites - The Los Angeles Times

Child advocates decry a report urging school boards to consider allowing access.

Educators and advocates for children are debating whether social-networking websites should join lunchboxes, clothing logos and soda machines as a route for advertisers to reach kids in school.

A group that lobbies against advertising aimed at children has blasted a report issued by the National School Boards Assn. urging its 95,000 school board members to consider the educational merits of websites such as Facebook and MySpace.

The Judge Baker Children’s Center in Boston on Friday called the report suspect because it was funded by News Corp., which owns MySpace, and Microsoft Corp., which in October bought a 1.6% stake in Facebook Inc. for $240 million.

The conflict highlights a persistent dilemma for schools over whether the benefits of new technology outweigh the drawbacks. With social-networking sites, the possible downsides include commercialization of classrooms and the diversion of resources to monitor students’ online activities and protect them from predators and cyber bullies