jezz is now known as jezzer.
[12:39pm] rohina: V!
[12:39pm] rohina: I have a parenting story for you.
[12:39pm] V: I am here!
[12:39pm] rohina: Okay, SO
[12:40pm] rohina: For context, at MiniB's school they often frame assignments as mysteries
[12:40pm] V: Interesting
[12:40pm] rohina: Like, the science stuff they have been doing is all about solving a murder
[12:40pm] rohina: So they learned about footprints, and clues and all kinds of stuff like that
[12:40pm] rohina: And it was very fun, I think.
[12:40pm] V: OH, that is neat.
[12:40pm] rohina: But, just so you know: mystery idea presented at school.
[12:40pm] rohina: Okay, second context
[12:41pm] rohina: MiniB and 2 of her friends are working on this animation series, and she decided to make a new youtube account for it.
[12:41pm] rohina: Which is fine.
[12:41pm] rohina: So they can all have access, and she didn't just want to give them her regular youtube password.
[12:41pm] V: Good thinking, actually
[12:41pm] rohina: Yes
[12:42pm] rohina: SO, then when she makes the new email, she uses a nickname, and emails one of the friends "Guess what! This is exciting! We can be friends!"
[12:42pm] rohina: And HERE'S HER MISTAKE
[12:42pm] rohina: She emails this email to the friend's school account.
[12:42pm] rohina: The friend, who is DIM
[12:43pm] rohina: Does not guess it is MiniB and reports to her teacher that she is getting email from a suspicious person
[12:43pm] rohina: And the teacher WIGS OUT
[12:43pm] V: oh no
[12:43pm] rohina: And has her marching to the Vice Principal when MiniB says
[12:43pm] rohina: "It's okay, it was me, it was for the project, etc"
[12:44pm] rohina: And the Vice Principal keeps her in over lunch recess and then says "IMPERSONATION IS A SERIOUS CRIME"
[12:44pm] rohina: Which, FFS.
[12:44pm] V: Geez
[12:44pm] rohina: And now MiniB has to be supervised using a laptop in case, I dunno she hacks porn or something
[12:44pm] V: OFFS
[12:44pm] rohina: So the teacher calls me and explains, and I am very tolerant, even when she goes on about how concerned they are about safety and internet use
[12:45pm] V: Oh My God
[12:45pm] rohina: And my head nearly explodes with the pain of not pointing out that the only kid exposed to inappropriate nudity that I know of is the one who saw it on the TEACHER'S CAMERA
[12:45pm] V: LOL
[12:45pm] rohina: And the teacher says "of course it is up to you how you punish her at home"
[12:45pm] rohina: Which, FUCK OFF
[12:45pm] V: WHAT?
[12:45pm] rohina: Of course it is.
[12:46pm] V: OMG
[12:46pm] V: Nice of her to give you PERMISSION
[12:46pm] rohina: I know, right?
[12:46pm] V: Holy Shit
[12:46pm] rohina: So I send the awesomely diplomatic email.
[12:46pm] rohina: I will forward it to you.

Here's the email

Dear Teacher and Vice Principal

I have had a talk to MiniB about the email incident. I am convinced that her motivation was entirely playful, and not malicious or naughty. She created the email because the girls are working on a creative project and wanted to use youtube, and while I suggested that she needed to make better judgements about the "mystery" aspect, there was no activity she was engaging in that would have been forbidden.

We have decided that the school punishment will be sufficient, particularly since she was also kept in over lunch recess today (which I don't think you mentioned). As someone who teaches online communication at a post-secondary level, I think I am generally more aware of the potential issues and also the hype around internet safety than most people. I think you have also commented that MiniB is more tech-savvy than some of her peers, and we do talk at home about safety and also using her judgement for online interactions, so this was an important lesson for her, particularly concerning appropriate use of her school laptop.

One thing that I am a little bit concerned about is that MiniB said VP accused her of "impersonation" and suggested that this might be considered criminal behaviour. I feel that this was perhaps overly alarmist. I have had conversations with MiniB about pseudonymity online and the revealing of personal information, and she understands these concepts quite well. Given that MiniB had no fraudulent or malicious motivation, labelling her activity "impersonation" and a crime was misleading. I think it is important for her to recognize the equivocal role that persistent identity has in internet communication, and certainly not to be fearful of the idea of an alias. Now, it's perfectly true that the school context requires persistent identity, and we have clarified that fact for her.

[12:46pm] V: GOOD
[12:47pm] rohina: Also, they did concede that she wasn't doing it to be bad.
[12:47pm] rohina: Which, HELLO
[12:47pm] rohina: You are the people who keep framing shit as mysteries.
[12:49pm] V: For God's Sake
[12:49pm] rohina: So ridonk, yes?
[12:50pm] rohina: Sporti was like "that thing about the lunch recess was a stinger"
[12:51pm] V: You kick ass.
[12:51pm] rohina: It was very hard to be that diplomatic.
[12:52pm] rohina: Especially not mentioning the nudie pix.
[12:52pm] V: That was insanely diplomatic.
[12:52pm] rohina: I think missing lunch and having no free laptop time at school for a week is a pretty big punishment for sending one funny email.
[12:53pm] rohina: Also, I talked to MiniB about not messing with her denso friend.
[12:53pm] kutto left the chat room. (Ping timeout: 180 seconds)
[12:53pm] V: That is a ridiculous amount of punishment for one email, yes.
[12:53pm] V: And make sure that she always tells stupid friends when she is sending emails.
[12:53pm] rohina: Yes
[12:53pm] V: In fact, she should tell her friends that if they get suspicious emails, they should talk to her FIRST before alarming the delicate grown-ups
[12:54pm] rohina: But it was good that she learned "don't cross the streams"
[12:54pm] rohina: Pescado will be pleased.
[12:54pm] kutto joined the chat room.
[12:55pm] V: Yes.
[12:55pm] V: The object lesson here is that non-internet people are a bit stupid and tend to overreact.
[12:56pm] rohina: Yes, indeeds
[12:56pm] rohina: Also, I bet that Vice Principal has fallen for a 419 scam
[12:56pm] V: lol
[12:56pm] V: I'll bet that's right
[12:56pm] rohina: People are so dumb about what constitutes a "crime"
[12:57pm] V: "OMG She used an alias!!"
[12:57pm] rohina: Like stupid Christian lady and her whole thing about how it must be illegal for MiniB to leave up a video
[12:57pm] rohina: I know!
[12:57pm] rohina: It's safer if they DO use aliases
[12:57pm] V: It is MUCH safer
[12:57pm] V: Mini-V knows that, too.
[12:58pm] V: She knows better than to use any part of her real name/information anywhere on the internet.
[12:58pm] V: It is basic internet safety.
[1:00pm] rohina: Yes, MiniB knows "do not give personal info"
[1:01pm] V: I love this line, SO MUCH: "As someone who teaches online communication at a post-secondary level, I think I am generally more aware of the potential issues and also the hype around internet safety than most people"
[1:03pm] rohina: I know
[1:04pm] rohina: IN YOUR FACE, BITCHES.
[1:04pm] rohina: The teacher was totes trying to wind me up about internets danger
[1:04pm] V: The teacher is totes an idiot.
[1:04pm] kutto: Oh, is there a blog post about this?
[1:04pm] rohina: After the phone call, Sporti was alike "miniB spoofed an email address? GOOD FOR HER"
[1:04pm] rohina: Kutto, no.
[1:05pm] rohina: I was just telling V
[1:05pm] rohina: let me pastebin for you.