Keeping it real
PSCS Staff Meeting | 05/07/2008 | 4:00 – 6:00 pm | Attendees: Director,
Administrative Director, 3 Teaching Staff members, myself
Did you ever think we lived in legally complex times? Yes you did but did you think that making tricky decisions about following the law were ingrained in your daily existence and that of your children? Probably not. Well think again. Even if you pride yourself as a great law follower, you may be breaking the law everyday inadvertently (or consciously because you think it is “okay to do so”). What am I talking about?
Welcome to the complex topic of Copyright laws. Is it legal to rip a music CD on to your laptop? Yes/No/Maybe? Is it legal to photocopy a chapter out of a textbook? Depends. Is it legal to make a mixed CD for your friend or play one at your kid’s birthday party? Is it legal to show a movie to a group of 20 kids at the party? When was the last time you borrowed a piece of software to install on your machine? How about a game? How about just borrowing a computer game to play? You could be breaking the law doing seemingly innocuous activities and you may not even know it.
Most of us are unaware of the exact laws surrounding Copyrights. Even when we do know the law, we sometimes break it (like when making a mixed CD for a friend) because, well, because, because we just do. Its hard to follow the law in this case and nobody really comes after you when you break it. And, its hard to tell when you are breaking the law. And, and, and, you know what I mean …
Yes I do and so do the mindful staff at the Puget Sound Community School. They recently noticed a spate of student activity around borrowing software games and mixed CD burning. PSCS is a place where staff, students and all involved community members are mindful of following the law. They make active choices to how to recover yahoo password follow the law and when it isn’t followed, there is dialog and discussion on why not. That is exactly what happened when the staff learnt that students had been knowingly or unknowingly breaking Copyright laws.
The discussion started within the staff. One of them led the others through an exercise of noticing where they themselves break the law. Staff members candidly shared how and why they break Copyright laws. This then led to the obvious question of what they should do as the model adults at the school not only in terms of their own behavior but also in terms of setting school policies. Most school policies in these matters are cut and dry. They mandate that the law should not be broken. However, it is impossible to police such a policy once it is in place. As a consequence, when it is not followed, most institutions choose to turn a blind eye. At PSCS, rules are not made if they cannot be bought into and enforced by those involved. Enforcement does not involve shaming and punishing community members. Instead it involves understanding, dialog and keeping the perpetrator’s honor intact so they can continue to feel like a community member. This has led to many positive learning and growing experiences for all involved.
The staff discussion on breaking Copyright laws led to the decision of having an open dialog with students in which all the complex aspects of the issue would be exposed including the fact that not all staff members follow the law at all times. Students were to be invited to share their perspective so that together, students and staff could determine what they should do as a community.
The discussion happened and the staff shared their own stories, along with information about Copyright laws. Students shared their perspective. They came to no clear conclusion as to what they should do as a community. But, that’s not the point.
The point is that something so simple yet complex is not treated with the oversimplified response of asking students to just follow the law. The issue is dealt with in its entirety, inviting pespectives from all those impacted. The goal is not to reach a conclusion but to engage in the process, to learn from it and let the process dictate the conclusion. The goal is also to keep it all very real because life is not black and white, it is all gray and at PSCS the the gray is embraced and learnt from. Afterall education is about living life not preparing for it.