[Music] I teach at a school so small that it is impossible not to know everyone's business I know ahead of time which students are getting asked to prom who's getting dumped via text I even knew when a student who was planning to cheat on one of my tests decided not to cheat because he overheard a conversation that I was having when I said that Integrity is like virginity once you start to lose it it's really tricky to get it back so he didn't cheat and I love working at a small school because it gives me
the opportunity to cultivate genuine relationships with my students a concern that I have is because our students grow up in this environment of trust and security it makes them more vulnerable to some of the dangers involved with social media now as far as my students are concerned when I was their age I communicated via stone tablets and carrier pigeons like they just don't think I get it they don't think I have any advice to give them on the responsible use of the internet but my students love to perform spoken word poetry and they always want
to hear one of my pieces this provides the perfect opportunity for me to insert a life lesson I like to call it advice in Disguise today I'm going to share their least favorite spoken word piece for me to perform and it's not because of the arrangement or the delivery it's because of the content often times when we're faced with a truth that contradicts our current path it's difficult to accept because it's hard to make certain behavioral changes but it is possible the piece is called digital Footprints just as our carbon Footprints impact our physical environment
our digital Footprints can impact our personal livelihood it's interesting that they call it the worldwide web because like full hearty flies we all ultimately get trapped but it's imperative that when we surf we start using our head to proactively protect and navigate our own social map sign in username password clicko now I'm safe not necessarily because our every interface on a digital device is recorded somewhere and you better believe there's a price it is not enumerated in dollars and cents it's a more constant currency in the form of a digital footprint when we make our
lives public it's hard to keep a secret billions of people access the internet and not everything gets deleted don't quite believe me well let's take a walk down that path and let's see what you learn from your social graph it's the global mapping of everyone and how they're related your friends your family the questionable people you've dated in cyberspace a visible history of our lives and interests has accumulated and there are serious consequences for leaving our thoughts and actions ungated still not convinced well I've seen it with my own eyes a young intelligent high school
student ahead of him his whole life accepted to an Ivy League school but had his admission rescinded let's just say what was on his profile page could not be commended and it's not just universities it can be utilized by inquiring employers you think they don't do their research they're quality control voyers something we view as harmless freedom of self-expression from a professional perspective you'll be fired no question whether it's YouTube Instagram Facebook or Twitter before we upload download type on those keys press enter we need to slow down take time think consider how will this
instant information impact our hopes and our dreams how could this careless communication be interpreted or released what's the solution you ask how can we really be safe well if there are aspects of our Liv we want private then we should keep it that way we do not need to post every part of our pedestrian progressions and we don't have to constantly coexist solely via internet connection there is a whole world out there we can hear see smell touch and taste it the chain tying you to that screen Antiquated written in pencil erase it and when
we do sign in again we'll be thoughtful we'll use tact because we understand our digital decisions can have a lasting impact life has no apple or control Z you can't take everything back the internet is a remarkable resource and if we make intelligent choices now there'll be no need for recourse especially if we Empower ourselves to censor what we enter on our keyboards thank you [Music]
