IPA’s grade 6-12 students attended a presentation, “Digital Tattoos: Real Ethics in a Virtual World”, by Dr. Arnold Laanui, a FBI Special Agent and advocate of digital ethics and safety. Dr. Laanui shared a very powerful message to the students about digital life and the consequences of using social media. Much like a tattoo on your body, the texts and images, or what Dr. Laanui referred to as “digital tattoos” that one posts on the internet, are “public, permanent and potent.” The photos we share, the comments we write, the videos we ‘like’; even if we delete them, they may still be out there – saved and shared by others, or even kept by the site or app itself.
What a person posts, likes and shares on social media is a representation of who they are. This is a reality that can be problematic for students applying for college. The competitive colleges and universities use an applicant’s online reputation to de-select potential students. If a school has 40,000 applicants competing for 3,000 spaces and all of the applicants have the same outstanding GPA, high test scores and other qualities the school is looking for, the school will go to social media to see what they can find about the applicants. If they see negative or inappropriate content posted by an applicant, that applicant will not be selected.
The news wasn’t all doom and gloom regarding students and their social media activity, however. “Just make sure your online reputation is positive,” advised Dr. Laanui. He suggested posting about athletic or community service activities you participated in. “Post things that show your competence and character.”
Dr. Arnold Laanui is a FBI Special Agent and digital provocateur, who, for over twenty years, has investigated, researched, lectured and published on topics relevant to the digital frontier. Dr. Laanui was both the first candidate from Hawaii and first Pacific Islander to participate in the FBI’s Honors Program. As a FBI Special Agent, he has served as a member of the FBI SWAT Team and has lead numerous multi-jurisdictional investigations in such areas as serial homicide, juvenile prostitution, drug trafficking, racketeering, computer hacking and child pornography. In addition to being a vocal advocate of digital ethics, Dr. Laanui has authored some of Hawaii’s most successful crime reduction and outreach programs to include “the Internet Safety Awards,” the FBI Adopt-a-School Program, the “Smoke Only Oxygen” campaign, Waipahu High School’s Academy of Law and Justice, and the “FBI PROVE Project.”
Dr. Arnold Laanui is a graduate of Pepperdine University and earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Hawaii, Richardson School of Law and a second doctorate as a Doctor of Education from the University of Southern California.
