They are Listening

One technique I use when I first meet with a group is to leave a card at each person's seat to be filled out. There are two types of cards:

The first is for parents and I ask for their Name, Address, Email, Phone, How many computers they own, Ages of their Children, Do they have rules about computing in their homes, etc.

The second is for students and I ask for their Name, Address, Email, Phone, Parents' Names, How many computers they have, Do their parents have rules about compuring in their homes, etc.

Note that these cards have NO identifying information on them, who is asking for the info, how will it be used, etc.

Inevitably an audience of adults will complete the form and willingly pass them up to me. Perhaps 1 or 2 people refuse, usually out of laziness or lack of writing implement.

But our kids, let me tell you - they are the skeptics. They grumble as I ask them to complete the forms, comments like the following are heard:

"Do we HAVE to fill this out?"
"This is too personal."
"I'm going to use a fake name, is that ok???"

Moms and Dads, the message is getting through to our kids that their private information should remain private...what happened to us? Why do we still willingly give over information as adults without any thought? Aren't we at a higher risk for identity theft?

Let's give this one to the kids, perhaps we can learn something from them. Print this post