At least that's what the New Canaan News Review seems to believe in their cyber safety article titled "School Officials: Communication Key Component to Internet Safety." Normally I wouldn't bother responding to an article like this, which outlines the risks that youth face online (cyber bullying, predators, identity crisis), but the Connecticut-based newspaper does cite TIG:

""There are a lot of social sites directed more and more toward objectives like social justice," he said. Such sites, like TakingItGlobal.org, and even Facebook, allow users to raise interest and money in support of various social and political causes. "We need to work with technology and learn from it together," he said."

The person being quoted is working on his thesis on "integrating responsible Internet use in the classroom" - which is exactly what TIGed seeks to do. It's up to educators and parents to realize that there is great potential in technology, in its ability to connect young people to their peers around the world. According to David Weinberger - who I saw speak when I was in Sweden last year - social networking operates on a principle of trust, openness and sharing - these are characteristics of Web 2.0. Without these tenets, we wouldn't have a vibrant online encyclopedia that catalogues human knowledge like Wikipedia, or a site like TakingITGlobal which relies on the collective desire of youth leaders around the world.

So obviously we'd be biased towards the use of technology in the classroom - fundamentally, we're trying to forward the idea that technology and social networking enhances the learning experience of students. It's really heartening to know that more and more people are recognizing that a site like TIG does a lot of positive things for students - our hope now is that we see more articles that report on the positive actions and benefits of technology, and less articles on the dangers and fears.