I invited our high school students to bring laptops to youth group. It was a day-of decision, and I tried to cultivate some mystery around why I was making the request. Come nightfall, we had three laptops for a group of about 12 students.
“Your task,” I told them, “Is to explain Facebook’s privacy settings to me. I don’t understand them, and I keep hearing people say they’re misleading and confusing. Use the laptops to make some kind of presentation that explains them to me.”
I was being totally honest. I don’t understand the settings very well. Also, I was trusting the claim that youth know how to use social media tools well and responsibly. I wasn’t disappointed.
The things they produced showed a depth of understanding. When I asked follow-up questions, like, “Wait–you mean I have to specify that only my friends can see every one of my photo albums?”, they could answer clearly. I’m certain they learned something new about the issue as well.
What’s missing from this little experiment? What’s a better way to do it?
YoRocko! 