Monday, April 30, 2012

Teens and Social Networking Sites


In 2011, Pew Research Center in partnership with Family Online Safety Institute, conducted a study about teens and social networking sites in the United States. They surveyed 799 teens ages 12 to 17 years old from middle school and high school. From the study it showed that 95 percent of teens from 12 to 17 years old are online and 80 percent of those teens are using social networking sites.

An enlightening finding was that most American teens, about 69 percent, who use social networking sites, stated in their experience, they found teens that were the same age were in the most part nice to one another.  However, about 20% of teens stated other teens were mostly unkind and 11 percent stated "it just depends."  Also, a majority of teens reported when they see mean behavior online, they just ignore it.

Here are some additional findings from the study about teens that use social networking sites:
  • 88% of teens have witnessed other people be nasty or cruel on social networking sites
  • 15% of teens have been the target of online unkindness
  • 78% of teens report they had at least one good outcome from interactions while 41% of teens report at least one negative outcome.
  • 19% of teens have been bullied in the past year in either in person, online, by text, or phone
  • Two-thirds of teens who have observed cyber-bullying also watched others joining in on the meanness while 21% of teens stated they admitted to joining in on the pestering.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Online Reputation Management


When your teen asks you for a Facebook account, the first thing that comes to mind is probably not how will my teen be perceived by colleges or potential employers. But this should be one of your first thoughts along with the safety aspect of a social networking site. A few things to consider before your teen has a social networking account is what type of information will be posted, how much information should be made public and who should be able to see this information.

As a parent, you may think my child is only 13 years old and I don’t need to worry about college applications or job interviews yet. And most likely these thoughts have probably never crossed the mind of your teen. But remember, once words or photos are posted on the Internet there is no turning back to try to take them off.  Teens may delete photos and negative posts from their account but the problem is that these deleted photos may have already been downloaded on the web.

According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 37 percent of companies admitted to using social networking sites to research potential job prospects.  The employers who don’t use social networking sites for candidates’ information is because 15 percent stated it is against company policy. While 11 percent of companies stated they don’t currently use social networking sites but are planning to use them in the near future for candidates’ screening.  

So what should be considered when posting information on a social networking site to help protect your teen's online reputation?   Here are a few tips:
  
  1. Remember everything you post on the Internet will be there Forever
  2. No risque photos or videos, these can come back and haunt you later on (remember everything you post on the Internet will be there Forever)
  3. No photos showing drinking or smoking, these could create unflattering behavior
  4. Don’t use rude or inappropriate language, whether you are joking or not (remember not everyone has the same sense of humor online)
  5. If someone tags you in an unbecoming post, go and remove the tag
  6. Make sure your privacy settings on the social networking sites are set to the highest level
  7. Post positive comments and volunteer work, but remember don’t give too much details for safety reasons
  8. Friends change over time, remember to do periodical checks on who you are still friends with online and remove the friends that you no longer talk to
Parents and teens need to think about the Internet in these terms, that over the years that you have a social networking account all the information posted and deleted is accumulated in a virtual vessel on the web. Having an open line of communication with your teen about online safety and managing online reputation is a must in the digital age.  A good habit for parents, as well as teens to get into to protect their online presence is creating Google Alerts with your name to see what shows up online.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Online Game Consoles


How many parents have used one of the online gaming consoles as a babysitter to stop the sibling fighting thinking there is no harm. Do you know that gaming consoles operate the same way as computers?  What I mean by this is the gaming system allows players to go online and have open conversations such as texting, voice and video.  Online predators can use the voice and chat functions to “groom” their victims. Online predators can be playing a game and then send an instant message to the other player and ask for an example, “what is your age,” or “where do you live.” There even have been cases where children give out their parents’ personal information for exchange of more points on the game.

Parents need to be aware that all the digital age technology such as the computers, iPads, smartphones, gaming consoles all have Internet access. Parents need to discuss with their children the potential dangers lurking on these. Online predators know children love the electronics and they are always on the lookout for unsuspecting children. Parents need to stay involved and one step ahead of the wrongdoers to protect their children. Remember to educate yourself about the latest advances in technology and talk to your children about the advances. In most cases, your children may already know about the latest advances before you do, so having a conversation about the latest technology advances will let you know how much your child is learning and will show your child you have an interest in their online activities.  

When is it the Right Time For Parental Monitoring?


The best time to install a parental monitoring application to your tweens cell phone is at the time of purchase. Before purchasing a cell phone, parents need to have a conversation with their tween to discuss the rules of the cell phone and the parental monitoring application. It is very important to have an open conversation with your tween and explain what the function of a parental monitoring application is and how it is to help with safety while using a cell phone.  Tweens need to understand that parents would not send their tweens down a dark alley alone so why would parents let tweens explore the digital age technology without protection. If your tween can understand the purpose of a parental monitoring application is for their protection from wrongdoers and not to hinder their independence, this will help make your parenting job a little easier.

A parental monitoring application can help tweens from cyber-bullying, online predators and pornography. Make sure your parental monitoring application has these functions: control the websites visited, control the applications downloaded, approved contacts and parent alerts, as well as, time restrictions. For an example, if the parent does not want the tween to view certain websites because the materials are not appropriate, these sites are blocked from the tween. 

The combination of open communication and the right parental monitoring application is a good balance for both the parents and the tweens to assist with the safety of technology and gaining independence as tweens.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Staying in Touch in the Digital Age


In today’s digital age, we can draw a comparison between texting and letter writing. The purpose of writing letters is to share updates on what you are doing, where you are planning to visit and how much pleasure everyone had while away on vacation. Before cell phones and computers, tweens and teens stayed in touch with their friends from summer camp or long distance family by writing letters. Everyone would ask for each others' addresses and they would correspond back forth with each other. It was exciting to send and especially receive a letter in the mail from your friend.  

Today, we have texting, cell phones and social networking sites to help us stay in touch with friends and family who live far away, as well as those who live around the corner or the next town. Now when tweens and teens meet new friends they ask for their cell phone number and the texting begins. On the positive side, it is great how technology has made it so much easier to stay in touch with people. We don’t have to wait to receive “snail mail” but instantaneously receive updates on what friends are doing, where they are going and what they did on their latest adventure.

I do have to wonder though with the digital age, are children forgetting the “old fashion” way of how to communicate with one another? Social networking sites and texting are great for long distance friends and family but remind your children and yourself that it is always enjoyable and more memorable just hanging out with friends who live close by.

Canada Cyber-bullying Research


In a recent publication of Ipsos Canadian Interactive Reid Report, more than half of Canadian teens with online profiles have had some sort of a negative experience from social networking sites.  These types of experiences include others posting an embarrassing photo, hacking into their social networking account and pretending to be them and using their personal information to bullying them at school, home or work.  
In addition, about one in five teens from the ages of 12 to 17 years old have observed a friend or acquaintance being cyber-bullied through a social networking site. The report broke the statistics down even further and found, that younger teens and girls were higher to witness cyber-bullying.  It revealed that 25 percent of teens age 12 to 15 years old compared to 14 percent of teens age 16-17 years old witnessed cyber-bullying.  Also, about 25 percent of teen girls witnessed cyber-bullying compared to 17 percent of teen boys.

The first take away from this report is cyber-bullying is happening. The second is younger teens are seeing cyber-bullying more than older teens on social networking sites. Parents are not going to stop their teens from being cyber-bullying but what parents can do is educate and talk with their teens constantly about what personal information is posted and to let them know if someone starts chatting or posting negative or rude words.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Teenage Internet Trolling Arrest


A California 14 year old was recently arrested for Internet trolling. He was posting anonymous bomb threats and shootings about a high school on the popular Internet message board 4chan.org. Law enforcement found out later that the 14 year old had no intention or the ability to carry these threats out, so there was no criminal charge against the 14 year old.

When the parents find out about the arrest, the mom stated he was trolling and all the kids are doing it even though it is terrible. The 4chan.org is a popular place for Internet trolling especially among males. Most of the postings are anonymous since users are not required to register to post.

In this case, according to search warrant documents, the police made requests for IP addresses from 4chan.org.  The IP addresses are the numbers assigned to computers and other online devices that can be used to track Internet activity. The cable Internet provider Time Warner was contacted and gave police the subscriber’s name and address associated with the IP address.

A simple explanation for why trolls do what they do is given by Professor Mark Griffiths at England’s Nottingham Trent University. “Online people feel anonymous and dis-inhibited,” he says.They lower their emotional guard and in the heat of the moment may troll either reactively or proactively." He adds that trolling is mostly carried out by young adult males for enjoyment, boredom and revenge.

New Global Research on Cyber-bullying


A global research company, Ipsos Social Research Institute, conducted a study on cyber-bullying in 24 different countries. The findings found Australia as fifth in the world for cyber-bullying, although first on the list for cyber-bullying through social networking sites, for instance Facebook or Twitter.  The four countries ranking higher than Australia, in order were India, Indonesia, Sweden and Canada.

Additional statistics revealed that 87% of Australian parents shared that their children, or children within their area, have experienced some form of pestering on social networking sites.

Also, the study found globally, that one in ten parents, about 12%, stated their child had encountered cyber-bullying while one in four, about 26%, know of a child within their community who has experienced cyber-bullying.