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![“[the] first Minecraft server dedicated
to providing a safe, fun and learning
environment for children on the
autism spectrum and their families”
AUTCRAFT](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/c7hcdugbsleztcqja4s4-signature-83a72b5cda11f2818e4f215f79a7205f41482336834dd21e9d0ac1c74f57f320-poli-150321182526-conversion-gate01/85/CSCW-2015-Presentation-Making-Safe-Community-Centered-Practices-in-a-Virtual-World-for-Children-with-Autism-5-320.jpg)
![All of these people were telling the same stories, about how their
children were bullied on every server they tried. Even on XBox,
where you can only play with people you add as a "friend"... it was
[nonstop] bullying. Either killing them all the time, stealing their
things, destroying everything [they] build.
ONLINE RISKS FOR CHILDREN](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/c7hcdugbsleztcqja4s4-signature-83a72b5cda11f2818e4f215f79a7205f41482336834dd21e9d0ac1c74f57f320-poli-150321182526-conversion-gate01/85/CSCW-2015-Presentation-Making-Safe-Community-Centered-Practices-in-a-Virtual-World-for-Children-with-Autism-9-320.jpg)
![We want [this server] to be a safe, happy, comfortable place for all
our players to enjoy no matter what they're afraid of or who
they're talking to.
BEYOND AVOIDING RISK](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/c7hcdugbsleztcqja4s4-signature-83a72b5cda11f2818e4f215f79a7205f41482336834dd21e9d0ac1c74f57f320-poli-150321182526-conversion-gate01/85/CSCW-2015-Presentation-Making-Safe-Community-Centered-Practices-in-a-Virtual-World-for-Children-with-Autism-11-320.jpg)
![“Jr. Helpers – Always helpful.
Helpers are picked because they help
others and they help the community.
They also follow the rules. The
[administrators] are always watching.
Don’t ask to become a helper. We
will ask you when we think you are
ready.” – message to all players
RULE ENFORCERS –
JUNIOR HELPERS](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/c7hcdugbsleztcqja4s4-signature-83a72b5cda11f2818e4f215f79a7205f41482336834dd21e9d0ac1c74f57f320-poli-150321182526-conversion-gate01/85/CSCW-2015-Presentation-Making-Safe-Community-Centered-Practices-in-a-Virtual-World-for-Children-with-Autism-14-320.jpg)
![Another child gave [my son] gifts today and he was shocked. A
little while later he said to me, ‘I didn’t really want to, but I gave
some gifts away to others. It makes me want to give things to
people.’ It is a new thing for him to want to share.
GIFT GIVING](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/c7hcdugbsleztcqja4s4-signature-83a72b5cda11f2818e4f215f79a7205f41482336834dd21e9d0ac1c74f57f320-poli-150321182526-conversion-gate01/85/CSCW-2015-Presentation-Making-Safe-Community-Centered-Practices-in-a-Virtual-World-for-Children-with-Autism-19-320.jpg)
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Similar to CSCW 2015 Presentation: Making "Safe": Community-Centered Practices in a Virtual World for Children with Autism
CSCW 2015 Presentation: Making "Safe": Community-Centered Practices in a Virtual World for Children with Autism
- 1. Kathryn E. Ringland,Christine T. Wolf, Lynn Dombrowski, Gillian R. Hayes Department of Informatics University of California, Irvine MAKING “SAFE”: COMMUNITY-CENTERED PRACTICES IN A VIRTUAL WORLD DEDICATED TO CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
- 2. • Customizable • Open-endedvirtual world • Unique world every time world is created MINECRAFT
- 4. MINECRAFT • Accessible foryoung players – does not require programming skills • Allows for socializing • Diverse range of activities
- 5. “[the] first Minecraftserver dedicated to providing a safe, fun and learning environment for children on the autism spectrum and their families” AUTCRAFT
- 6. • Participant observationsin virtual world • Analysis of in-world chat, forum posts, Facebook page & website METHODS
- 7. • Inappropriate content •Fear of strangers • Bullying in virtual spaces – negative aggressive behavior ONLINE RISKS FOR CHILDREN
- 8. No one likesto be called a name, no one likes it when someone is mean to them, and no one likes to be bullied ONLINE RISKS FOR CHILDREN
- 9. All of thesepeople were telling the same stories, about how their children were bullied on every server they tried. Even on XBox, where you can only play with people you add as a "friend"... it was [nonstop] bullying. Either killing them all the time, stealing their things, destroying everything [they] build. ONLINE RISKS FOR CHILDREN
- 10. Most players cometo us with tales of bullying and hate from other servers. Many of those same players experience the same thing from school and in other aspects of their life. They feel they have no friends, no one to talk to and they are angry. ONLINE RISKS FOR CHILDREN
- 11. We want [thisserver] to be a safe, happy, comfortable place for all our players to enjoy no matter what they're afraid of or who they're talking to. BEYOND AVOIDING RISK
- 12. • Adults whoco-own the virtual world • Full access to all virtual world software • Ability to mute & jail users • Ability to kick players off the server • Ability to view all private messages sent by users RULE ENFORCERS – ADMINISTRATORS
- 13. • Adult volunteers •Ability to mute & jail users • Ability to view all private messages sent between users RULE ENFORCERS – SENIOR HELPERS
- 14. “Jr. Helpers –Always helpful. Helpers are picked because they help others and they help the community. They also follow the rules. The [administrators] are always watching. Don’t ask to become a helper. We will ask you when we think you are ready.” – message to all players RULE ENFORCERS – JUNIOR HELPERS
- 15. <(JrHelper) bb1135> matt_awesomeplease stop <matt_awesome> Ok sorry <matt_awesome> I just told about the rules <cryptic1200> we wouldn't want autistic people to breed, obviously... <cryptic1200> that was sarcasm <matt_awesome> Listen to bb1 <(SrHelper) GlovedPlayer> Hey, Cryptic, that's not the point and it's a mean thing to say, even if you're joking :/ RULE ENFORCEMENT *All user names are pseudonyms.
- 16. • Software modificationsto the virtual world • Technology-assisted rule enforcement VIRTUAL WORLD MODIFICATIONS
- 17. • Online risks– inappropriate content, bullying • Risks in rule enforcement – not allowing children to learn and grow through risk taking BALANCING RISKS
- 18. …we encourage everyoneto be generous, to be nice and to help as much as you can. You don't have to give your stuff away but to just give someone a little help if they need it. And always do your best to remember to say "please" and "thank you". GIFT GIVING
- 19. Another child gave[my son] gifts today and he was shocked. A little while later he said to me, ‘I didn’t really want to, but I gave some gifts away to others. It makes me want to give things to people.’ It is a new thing for him to want to share. GIFT GIVING
- 20. Safety is aprocess that is dynamic, contextual & emergent • Minecraft is an example of an open-ended virtual world platform that allows users to customize the play to their needs • Parents work collaboratively to create safe online environments for their children with autism to play in • Parents work not only to avoid risks, but also make children feel cared for TAKE-AWAYS
- 21.
Editor's Notes
- #2 Hello, Today I would like to talk to you about some ethnographic work of an online community for children with autism We look at how parents and children work towards making their community a safe space
- #3 VW are spaces where children spend a lot of time online – MC is an example of a VW Minecraft is customizable, and open-ended ----- Meeting Notes (3/17/15 23:48) ----- case change to example
- #4 Video footage of minecraft play. Explain play. The world is fully interactive – there are animals and plants you can interact with. You can cut down trees, turn the wood into contruction materials The materials can be used for creating structures, like houses and shops
- #5 Minecraft is very accessible for even the novice user It does not require programming to create things, unlike other virtual worlds like second life There is infrastructure in place for in-world socializing Because of this, children with autism were drawn to this virtual world, which led to the creation of Autcraft
- #6 Read quote. Run by parents, Autcraft- a server for children with autism, family, & friends Safety was an emergent theme that arose while conducting this work, it became clear that safety was a central goal of this community
- #7 This work was done as part of an ongoing digital ethnography in a Minecraft virtual world dedicated to children with autism and their families. This includes 30 hours of in-world observation, & coding of in-world chat & forum posts Users on this server include children with autism, their family, and friends – this also includes adults with autism & also children as young as 6 A rule of the server is that everyone speak in English – however, users come from all over the globe, with large groups from North Amer, the UK, and Australia So knowing that safety was a main goal, we wanted to know how the creators of AC went about creating a safe space
- #8 Children spend a lot of time online, including in virtual worlds Parents have concerns about
- #9 Online bullying is a problem that is especially difficult for children One parent wrote online:
- #10 In particular, children with special needs face additional challenges online The creator of AC stated in his blog:
- #11 On AC’s website, a parent states as part of the motivation for the server: Given all this they wanted to create a server that would safeguard against these things.
- #12 Parents desire not only to avoid risk for their children, but also to have an environment that makes them feel welcome and cared for Now I’d like to share some of the ways these parents have done this
- #13 Rule enforcers were created in a hierarchy to help manage the users both in-world and in the online forums Rules enforcement is spread out among different ranks of volunteers- both adults and children. The top level of rule enforcers are the administrators
- #15 Junior Helpers are children who have been selected by the administrators to help with rule enforcement They have the ability to mute and jail other players They are chosen because: read quote. Because of the selection process, all children on the server engage in rule enforcing behavior in order to appear worthy of the promotion to junior helper
- #16 Much of the rule enforcement is done through the in-world chat – here was a conversation about dating that escalated to the point where an adult, a Senior Helper, had to intervene to tell the user that their language was inappropriate You can also see here that a Junior helper and a regualr child also engaged in rule enforcing dialog
- #17 Special modifications protect user’s property from damage Also, players cannot die in many areas, other areas they do not lose their belongings when they die and are transported to a safe location Rule enforcers are able to mute and jail users – this is done through modifications of the virtual world that blocks certain users from talking and places their avatars in a jail cell
- #18 Parents must find ways to balance the risks of their children online and those found in the mitigation of those risks. In creating a large infrastructure of rules and protections, parents run the risk of not allowing their children to grow as individuals Taking risks and making mistakes is a big part of adolescents, but when a virtual world is catering to the many different needs of a range of children, this can become difficult
- #19 Gift giving and generosity is a part of the community rule. This quote is directly from the rules webpage You can also see here a screen shot I took of some of community chests
- #20 A mother talks about her son’s first experiences on the virtual world This fostered culture of generosity helps the users feel welcomed and cared for where in other virtual worlds they felt inherently unwelcome and in danger While they may not have been at risk for bodily harm, there was still a risk for emotional and social harm The image here is of a fireworks show that a pair of users decided to put on for whoever happened to be online at the time
- #21 Safety is a process that is dynamic, contextual, and emergent – Parents much balance the needs of their children to explore, learn, and grow with the potential risks such as exploration includes We have found that it is not enough to define safety based solely on what parents say is safe, but rather through their actions Spaces are not categorically safe or unsafe, safety is continually negotiated between the parents and children And parents must agree with each other on what is safe and unsafe, and also get buy in from the children as well
- #22 Thank co-authors, & luci Reviewers Audience
- #23 Spawn – where players first arrive when they first access the virtual world Minigames- enclosed areas where players play various games together, games include Paint Ball, Hide & Seek, Wither Battles, and Parkour Villages – large public community sites, created either by adult administrators or admins and children, players cannot alter or destroy these sites
- #24 We can see how chat is the server and then other users also chime in, The social and the technical work together to make safety in this virtual world