Meet the 2011 Winners
The challenge? Create a video educating people about staying safe and secure online and using the Internet responsibly. The prize? $10,000 for the best overall video, and cash prizes to each best-in-category video for individual and school entries. Meet our winners (as selected by viewers and our panel of judges) and watch their stories from three categories:
- Being a good online citizen
- Using a mobile phone wisely
- Maintaining your privacy online
Grand Prize Winner
“Where Are You?”
Created by Mark C. Eshleman featuring Tyler Joseph
The internet has such a big impact on young people and if we were going to make a powerful video, we wanted to tackle what seemed to be the biggest issue: being a good online citizen. We wanted to reach out with a positive message and do it in a creative way. We can only hope that "Where Are You?" will make someone rethink their online life.
Category Winners – Individual Entries
Category: Being A Good Online Citizen
“On Lines in a Cave”
Created by Aaron Moorhead
We really liked the open-ended "tell a story with a moral" aspect of this contest. We hope that people will enjoy watching our video enough to take its message to heart. We tried not to be preachy or boring like PSAs can often be.
Category: Using a Mobile Phone Wisely
“Message Sent”
Created by Adam Brant, Torrey Halverson, and Caroline Stommes
We decided to pick "Using a Mobile Phone Wisely" because of our Ethics in the Information Age college class which explores the effects of the information age on youth. We spent a few days studying sexting and how it's becoming a HUGE problem. We wanted to make people aware of how quick and simple it is for a picture message to travel. We hope people will stop and remember what happened in our video before they press send.
Category: Maintaining Your Online Privacy
“The Wrong Hands”
Created by Emmett Fraser
I decided early on that I wanted to steer clear of the tendency to focus on predation and kidnapping. I think most kids are aware of blatant requests for information or real-life meetings from strangers. I wanted to highlight the more subtle ways that people can find and use our online information. I hope people took at least one lesson away from watching it and I hope they enjoyed themselves while doing it. I also find myself double-checking the sites I use for banking to see if they have the little green lock. So far, so good.
Category Winners – School Entries
Category: Being A Good Online Citizen
“Be Respectful Keep Your Comments to Yourself”
School: Isaac Clason PS100 - Bronx, NY
Teachers: Laura Brooks, Rosemarie Trippodo & Nancy DeSalvo
Students: Nancy DeSalvo’s 3rd grade class
The students explored different ways to be better online citizens and worked very hard on this video. The fact that their message has been heard and recognized in such an honorable way will have a great impact on our 3rd graders. We hope it will inspire them and others to continue to realize how important it is to be mindful of what you say, type, text. Technology is such a big part of our lives these days and the vastness of it all can seem so impersonal. It is an important job of educators to teach students early on that it is personal.
Category: Using a Mobile Phone Wisely
“In the Spotlight”
School: Ripley Union Lewis Huntington High School - Ripley, OH
Teacher: Patty McNeilan
Students: Maggie Davis, Justin Meyer, Jimmy Setty, Jarrod Meyer & Heather Anderson
We chose this category because it seems everyone has a mobile phone, even little kids! My students and I know of teens that have gotten themselves into trouble after sending inappropriate images. This was a sensitive and tricky topic to portray in a detailed but "classy" way. But we thought it was informative and hopefully thought-provoking. We hoped to make teens aware that once a picture is sent to even just one person, you no longer have control over what happens to it.
Category: Maintaining Your Online Privacy
“Information”
School: Union Academy – Monroe, NC
Teacher: Chris Michael
Students: The Film Production class of Union Academy
We hope people will comprehend the gravity of actions they make on the internet. People can be emotionally damaged or worse through the simple action of digital gossip. We also hope teachers and administrators will show this video to faculty and reiterate the importance of privacy settings in both their professional and personal lives.
