In the 19th century, Lord Acton said that “Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Shea, 2012). I’ve heard that saying for years. I see it play out all the time. The internet seems to give people even more power and more opportunities for corruption. It’s seen in companies like Facebook gathering up data on people who are not even users (Bloomberg, 2018). Add that to government agencies wanting that information at will (Sottek & Kopfstein, 2013). All of this is enough to make people scream running for the door. It brings back flashbacks of 1984 and Minority Report.
Shea’s report sheds more light on things. Studies have found that power isn’t the corrupting agent. Power has a tendency to heighten the ethical tendencies of the person. Shea gave a great quote from Lincoln, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” This is the thing that I see missing. Throughout history, there are groups of people who feel they are above the law. When they get into power, they immediately abuse it. Not all in power abuse it though. The same goes for the internet. Many people let the ability to do things from a distance abuse the power they now have. Many others do not. It’s not the power that is the problem. It’s the ethical upbringing. If we want to quell these cyber-bullying and data over-reaches, then we need to collectively focus on ethics and relationships. My wife has a shirt that says “Human-Kind. Be both.” We need to hold each other accountable for being human and kind to each other. References Bloomberg. (2018, April 11). Mark Zuckerberg says facebook collects internet data on non-users. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/2018/04/11/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-data-testimony/ Shea, C. (2012, October). Why power corrupts. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-power-corrupts-37165345/ Sottek, T., Kopfstein, J. (2013, July 17). Everything you need to know about prism. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2013/7/17/4517480/nsa-spying-prism-surveillance-cheat-sheet Prompt 2: Video - To This Day Project – Shane Koyczan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa1iS1MqUy4)
If I could, I would want everyone to come to our school. I was glad when our new principal was announced last year. She was the AP when I started at the campus and then became the principal at my wife’s school. She is all about relationships. She stands at the same place every morning and most passing periods and just hugs the kids as they walk by. No matter how bad her day is going, she will greet you with a smile. I learned from her a long time ago to not let a day go by with giving a hug to people. You never know who needs it. We have two, related, concepts going on this year as we focus on building relationships. The first is the “Fish philosophy” (Palaczyk, 2017). It was built on the way the workers at the Pike Fish Market treat their job. 1) Choose your attitude. 2) Be there, 3) Make their day, and 4) Play. The second thing we have is “Cowboy GRIT”. GRIT stands for Gratitude, Respect, Integrity, and Trust. These two philosophies are everywhere. No one on campus can get away from it. At the same time, we are holding the standards even higher. Breaking rules is not tolerated. She instituted some new policies to raise the level of accountability. The coolest thing is that resistance is almost non-existent. If we could do this in every community, what an impact we could make. References Palaczyk, J. (2017, February 24). What is fish! Philosophy and how it can change the way you see your job. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.livechatinc.com/blog/fish-philosophy/
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