Two weeks ago, September 23rd, internet safety expert Ms. Jesse Weinberger came to University School to discuss the importance of social media safety and the internet in this era. Ms. Weinberger began her presentation with a vague metaphor, telling to us “not be a sheep.” In other words, do not be foolish on the internet. That was the most informative statement in her presentation.
The next 55 minutes or so, through crude humor and irrelevant witticism, Ms. Weinberger attempted to connect with the audience. She continually referred to the Kardashian and Abercrombie Family, both of which had very little to do with the theme of her presentation. Last week, staff writer RJ McIntyre told the readers that these quips were meant to be “relatable humor” with a “light-hearted nature.” Be that as it may, these remarks nonetheless came at the expense of any valuable guidance.
The crowd was then offered a vivid description of “Ralph,” a stereotypical white, middle-aged, overweight, unemployed child predator who preyed off students our age with his “hands in his pants.” Once again, sacrificing time to review and expound upon meaningful topics concerning internet privacy, Ms. Weinberger indulged the audience in describing what “Ralph” is like, and giving one or two examples of his capabilities. Meanwhile, the students, instead of being attentive, made their own remarks, laughed, and refused to listen to the content of the talk.
Due to her obsession with the crowd’s laughter, Ms. Weinberger was not able to present us with any worthwhile information that could’ve truly been helpful to the senior class. When she did get to her slides about stories and examples she deemed appropriate, Dr. Daugherty informed her that there was only 5 minutes left for her to get her final remarks across, in which she skipped passed 10 or so slide which looked like they might have contained some applicable material.
This presentation, albeit humorous, lacked useful information and was redundant. Ms. Weinberger did not introduce any original advice that the seniors have not heard many times in the past. Telling a few stories and then filling the rest of the session with overdone one-liners does not constitute the information session that we expected. In general, talking to teenagers about the importance of the internet is useless. Adolescents not only spend more time on social media than anyone else, but also have been lectured time and again about being cautious before they hit send. To be frank, we know it matters. There is a very clear line between engaging the audience with primitive humor and putting forward practical information. Ms. Weinberger, however, failed to reconcile the two.
Eric Schoelm • Feb 28, 2018 at 11:01 pm
It was a bit cringe-inducing at times, but it kept me entertained enough to pay attention.