When Trolls Come Calling for Kids: Is This The Path Forward?

Silent Sunday Climate Rally

… the rise of a new climate movement means there’s now a much more visible — and especially vulnerable — target: kids. — Zahra Hirji, Buzzfeed

In my classroom, one of the things I hope I am encouraging is not just dialogue among young students with different views but also support if their passions are moving them towards action, small or large. At age 11, they’re just starting to view the world from beyond their fairly supportive, and mostly protective, sphere of the small suburban town where they live.

Look to the global stage, and you will see that it is mostly the kids, and mostly led by girls — Greta Thunberg and others — who are leading the efforts around Climate Change. At a Climate Change gathering in our small city last week, the crowd listening and protesting and rallying was decidedly young, and some middle school students were featured speakers on the stage set up on the steps of City Hall.

And yet, news of the president, and his Fox friends, tweeting out disparaging, sarcastic remarks about Thunberg following her speech at the UN was soon followed by articles like this one in Buzzfeed with the headline Teenage Girls are Leading the Climate Movement — And Getting Attacked for it that have me concerned about any future activists in my classroom.

Whether following passions from the Right (and we do have students and families who are strong supporters of this president) or the Left (many students are passionate about the environment and Climate Change), what I hope for is a safe place for this to unfold for them. None of my students are remotely on the same level as Thunberg, but who knows? Maybe someday they may be.

… it’s not just Greta. Other young girls in the movement are facing a flood of online abuse. It’s less clear where those attacks are coming from, but they involve a mix of regular accounts, trolls, and bots. While the youngest activists are often shielded from this, due to constant monitoring of their social media by their parents, there’s no filter for many of the teens. — Zahra Hirji, Buzzfeed

Does my teaching to advocate for yourself and for your positions in the world make them vulnerable to the terrible side of the online world? Does helping them have a voice in the world expose them to the terrible tactics of trolls?

These are the questions that give me pause.

It also reminds me that the explicit teaching of the other side of this equation — here is how you protect yourself in online spaces — is as important as the support to find and follow your passions. We can give them places to work out their ideas — like collaborations with other schools and online spaces like Youth Voices and Young Writers Project in Vermont, for example. It just makes me sad and frustrated to think that an entire generation has to keep an eye on the shadows, to triple-think every online move, to worry over the nuance of parsed words or past posts, to fear the attack by trolls.

And, just as important, whose voice will never be heard because that possibility of what might happen if they do so has already silenced them before they even began to talk, to lead, to engage? (This could be said for all of us, I suppose)

We don’t live in a perfect world. Of course, I know that. Maybe technology has made it both better and worse. It sure seems that way at times. Still, things sure could be better. And when kids are in the crosshairs, it’s something we all need to be concerned about, and vigilant against.

But you knew that already, didn’t you?

Peace (across platforms),
Kevin

7 Comments
  1. For what it’s worth, I think we need to encourage everybody to speak up. Trolls are vile, but the more of us who are speaking, the smaller the trolls become.

    At least, that’s what me and several of my feminist friends are trying to do.

    • Yes. Go loud, not quiet. Of course, as adults, that’s an easier decision for us to make as opposed to being a child who wants to be heard in order to make the world a better place, only to come under attack from the unknown. Thanks for commenting, and I know this issue has been on your mind for quite some time, Sarah.
      Kevin

  2. Kevin,
    Your post brings me pause. One of the things I love most about the teaching of writing now is the way kids have a voice today. No longer are they writing papers with powerful messages to be stored in folders. No longer is the teacher the only audience. Yet, as we teach students to use their words in powerful ways, it seems we do have an obligation to teach them to protect themselves as well. You have me wondering what this might look like.

  3. Great points, Kevin.

    I think we need to learn to be supportive of each other, especially those who are stepping forward to lead. Especially the kids.

    Silencing the voice that is never raised denies the world of needed leaders.

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