CyberSMART and a Decision-Making Model

by Lynn K. McMullin

In education, as with many other fields, we tend to rely on catch phrases which are intended to resonate with an audience and make a complex concept more meaningful and memorable.  Sometimes, however, jargon does the opposite because the phrase is wide open to a variety of interpretations.  “Whole Child Education” is one of those terms. On the surface, it even seems a little silly – after all, who would teach half of a child?

Whole child education, however, refers to the idea that all children learn best when their academic, emotional, physical, and social needs are met.  Yes, we report to you on CMT, SAT, AP, and CAPT testing as evidence of our students’ academic achievements.  For a while now, educational thinking, practice, and policy has seemed singularly focused on improving academic achievement.  But, to be successful participating world citizens, our students must also be healthy, safe, confident, self-motivated, caring, and capable.  All of our schools focus on these important qualities; but today, an event at the Middle School illustrates the idea of whole child education perfectly.

CyberSMART at CMS
Today, parents and their students are participating in a day-long event aimed at equipping both groups with the knowledge and skills they need to navigate the world of the Internet and telecommunications.  The day is being hosted by Mr. Drew Bartkiewicz, a parent and the CEO of CyberRiskPartners; Joe Scheideler, Principal; the Middle School PTO and Quality Council; and its teachers and staff.  The event includes opportunities to learn new information and to discuss both concerns and possible plans for the Middle School’s next step in this contemporary student arena.


In conjunction with this day-long event -- during which students will receive USB flash drives and the parents coffee mugs bearing the school's CyberSMART logo -- the teachers have added a CyberSMART experiential course.  This is a 30-day course covering the basics of SMART use of electronic information and communication: Safe, Mannerly, Authentic, Research-wise, and Twenty-first century ready.  A major theme of the curriculum is that your "online self" should mirror your “real self.”  If you wouldn’t walk up to a perfect stranger on the street and say, “Here’s my name, age, phone, and address,” then don’t do that online either.  If you wouldn’t pass a questionable photo aound the cafeteria or walk up to a classmate and bully them to their face, then don’t do it online, either. The internet is neither distant from you nor anonymous.  Be real.  Be who you are.  Put your best self forward.

A Important Decision-Making Model
Over the past two years, the Middle School has begun to adopt a focused decision-making model to help students consider wise choices, rather than simply “follow directions.” Often we think that decision-making only has two opposing sides.  In error, we think that decision making is black and white, our kids either do the ‘right thing’… or, the ‘wrong thing.’  But, in reality, decision-making is more complicated than that, as shown by the four quadrants in the model below.  The model applies to all decisions, from choosing the right food to choosing the right social action.

Consider this example: Student A tells her best friend, Student B, that she has done something really stupid.  She sent a photograph of herself in her underwear to a boy in their class because he asked for it.  Student A begs Student B not to tell a soul.
Using the decision-making model above, a class can discuss what Student B should do.  In the green quadrant, the right decision might be to get the help of a parent; the right reason might be so that Student A is saved from embarrassment and future repercussions. In the red quadrant, the wrong decision might be for Student B to keep the secret and tell no one. The wrong reason would be because she never liked Student A anyway and hopes the picture gets around.

But, most students find themselves living in the middle of those two choices – If I tell my mother or an adult, my friend will get in trouble and she will hate me.  I care about her, so I better not say a word to anyone -- the wrong decision, but for the right reason. 

If I tell my mother or an adult, my parents may see how responsible I am and think I’m old enough to have my own cellphone -- the right decision, but for the wrong reason. This latter quadrant can be confusing sometimes, because the student DOES make the right decision.  But whenever kids make the right decision solely out of fear of the consequences… or, due to our level of policing… or, because we have told them what to do… their ability to make the right decision for the right reason is affected.  When they get older, and the fear or the policing or the parental direction lessens, they will need to rely on their own reasoning and decision-making ability.  That's why instruction in decision-making needs to explore all four quadrants.

In educating the whole child, the Middle School is focusing on doing the right thing for the right reason by talking about real-life decision-making as being more complex than simply right or wrong.  Right or wrong, “WHY?” is the question.