by Nancy Willard
When the Internet exploded into public use in the late 1990s, the initial concerns of youth Internet use were generally focused on three issues: privacy, pornography, and predators. Strategies were developed in good faith to address these concerns. Today’s virtual world is increasingly interactive and we know more about youth risk online. Based on my work with schools and review of research literature, I have suggestions for adults to update our approach to Internet safety at home and at school.
What is Web 2.0?
Web 1.0 was largely one-directional Internet use-Web as an information source. In the Web 2.0 environment, the emphasis is on publication and participation. All users can easily post information online and interact with others. Web 2.0 is also highly mobile, shifting from desktop computers to personal digital devices, wireless phones, and even hand-held games.
Web 2.0 it brings with it incredible opportunities for interactive learning and educational activities-along with some new risk management concerns. Web 2.0 safety strategies should empower young people, giving them knowledge of the risks together with effective ways to prevent unsafe situations, and to detect and respond to them if they arise.
Responding to a Complex and Interactive World
For younger children, it is important to provide protected online environments, but teens need practical messages that reflect their realities. Here are some strategies to help teens become Web 2.0 savvy.
Avoiding Fear-Based Tactics
Some common messages delivered to teens are: “Online strangers are dangerous and will try to deceive you.” “If you meet in person with an online stranger, this person will try to harm you.” “If you provide personal information online, a stranger who wants to harm you will use this information to track you down.”
The reality is that “stranger-danger” warnings and fear-based prevention approaches are not likely to be effective with teens. Sexual solicitation can occur without posting personal contact information. Furthermore, teens know many adults do not understand the Internet-which makes teens likely to dismiss “online stranger danger” messages as evidence that adults fear what they do not understand.
Teens’ widening social web. Teens will have increasing engagement with online strangers, just as they are always meeting new people in the real world. The reality is that sometimes teens will want to meet in-person with someone they have first met online-for example, a friend of a friend. Teens must learn how to assess the safety of someone met online by closely reviewing their profile, postings, and friends. They must know how to arrange for a safe meeting in a public place with a trustworthy friend or parent nearby.
Teens with a history of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and who take other risks on- and off-line are particularly at risk for entering into inappropriate sexual relationships with people they meet online. Boys who are gay or questioning are also at increased risk. Teens who post sexy pictures online or talk with online strangers about sex are clearly at risk.
All teens should know to watch out for anyone – adult or teen, stranger or not – who appears to be trying to manipulate them by offering excessive complements, gifts, or opportunities, or wanting to establish a “special” relationship.
Understanding Personal Disclosure
A common safety message is: “Don’t post personal information online.”
While this is an important message for younger children, teens may legitimately ask: “How do I register on a site? How do I purchase something on iTunes or eBay without providing my name and address? How can I have fun on MySpace without sharing information about who I am? I have a private login, so is it okay to post pictures of myself on the beach?”
Many teens appear to have limited understanding of potential harm or damage from inappropriate information disclosure. Given that a major part of social networking is sharing information about who you are online, teens need greater guidance on how to manage various kinds of personal information. This includes certain personal contact, financial, intimate or reputation-damaging material, and information about others.
It’s important to convey the message that anything put into electronic form and sent or posted can easily become very public and very permanent. Teens should understand that while they should use privacy protection features of social networking sites, the material they post is still not entirely private because their “friends” have access to it. Further, they should learn to read and interpret privacy policies and recognize when market profilers are seeking personal information.
Encouraging Communication
Another standard Internet safety message is: “If you feel uncomfortable about something that happens online, tell an adult.”
While this is important advice, teens are much less likely to tell adults about online concerns if they think adults may not know what to do or are likely to overreact, blame them or restrict their online access. It is essential that we do a better job of educating adults-especially parents and teachers-to effectively respond to online concerns. We can also equip and engage teens themselves as effective peer mentors (see below).
Curbing Addictive Access
Addictive access is an excessive amount of time spent using the Internet resulting in a lack of healthy engagement in other areas of life. Social networking sites can be very addictive for some teens. For others, social networking is simply an extension of their active social lives. Online gaming sites and multiplayer role-playing games can be highly addictive, in part because leaving the game can result in letting your online “team” down. Addictive access is likely a significant new cause of poor school performance. Adults must help teens learn to keep their lives in balance.
Boosting Information Literacy
Anyone can post anything online. Some sites may try to influence the attitudes and behavior of others. People tend to judge the accuracy of information based on the appearance of the Web site, which can be deceiving. Assessing the accuracy of material online is an essential information-age skill.
Problem-Solving and Peer Leadership
Because teens are participating in online environments where there are frequently no adults present, it is our job to equip teens to engage in effective and responsible problem-solving to address cyberbullying and sexual harassment, accidental access to pornographic materials, and unsafe or dangerous online communities. Teens also need to learn about responsible online publishing, including attribution of source, respect for copyright, and respect for others when posting information online.
We can develop effective peer leadership by encouraging these savvy teens to provide assistance to their peers and report online concerns to adults.
Teens often learn best by role-playing. In discussions about online risks, provide scenarios about students who have gotten into risky or difficult situations or are engaging in risky, irresponsible, or illegal behavior. Inspire students to problem-solve about how they would respond if a friend, peer, or even a stranger were at risk online-what would they advise? What would they do if this person appeared to be unwilling or unable to respond effectively to the risk?
Social Web Safety Tips for Teens
Be your own person. Don’t let friends or strangers pressure you to be someone you aren’t. And know your limits. You may be Net-savvy, but people and relationships change, and unexpected stuff can happen on the Internet.
Be nice online. Or at least treat people the way you’d want to be treated. People who are nasty and aggressive online are at greater risk of being bullied or harassed themselves. It’s a vicious cycle you really don’t want to get into.
Think about what you post. Sharing provocative photos or intimate details online, even in private emails, can cause you problems later on. Even people you consider friends can use this info against you, especially if they become ex-friends. And don’t post photos or videos of others without their permission.
Read between the “lines.” It may be fun to check out new people for friendship or romance, but be aware that, while some people are nice, others act nice because they’re trying to get something. Flattering or supportive messages may be more about manipulation than friendship or romance.
Don’t talk about sex with strangers. Be cautious when communicating with people you don’t know in person, especially if the conversation starts to be about sex or physical details. Don’t lead them on — you don’t want to be the target of a predator’s grooming. If they persist, call your local police or contact CyberTipline.com.
Avoid in-person meetings. The only way someone can physically harm you is if you’re both in the same location, so to be 100 percent safe, don’t meet them in person. If you really have to get together with someone you “met” online, don’t go alone. Have the meeting in a public place, tell a parent or some other solid backup, and bring some friends along.
Be smart when using a wireless phone. All the same tips apply with phones as with computers-except that phones are with you wherever you are, often away from home and your usual support systems. Be careful whom you give your number to and how you use GPS and other technologies that can pinpoint your physical location.
Source: www.ConnectSafely.org
—–
Nancy E. Willard is a former special education teacher and a lawyer who focuses on youth risk online and advises schools about the safety, legal, and ethical issues related to Internet use. She is the author of two books on Internet safety and cyberbullying prevention. She directs the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use: http://csriu.org.
by Scott Knight
As parents of a nine-year-old daughter, the computer and Internet are quickly becoming the place to “hang out.” With our high-speed Internet connection at home, the Internet is readily available. We are finding that certain homework from school requires the use of the computer and the Internet in order to complete assignments.
Our daughter also comes home asking about how to get on certain Websites like Barbie.com, and Webkinz because her friends were talking about it and how “awesome and cool” they are.
Most recently, it’s YouTube and checking out the latest songs and videos from High School Musical, watching the cute boys and discovering who they like and so on.
The learning curve for this stuff is challenging to keep up with. I believe it is important for kids to be familiar with technology and how to use it in a positive way. However, I also feel very strongly about minimizing the potential for clicking around on inappropriate Websites. The vulgar language and suggestive sexual videos are like a magnet for kids if they do not have structure or guidelines when using the Internet. The explicit sex sites are extremely easy to find and get onto.
Understanding the Rules
Our first rule is to not have the computer with Internet access in a secluded room. We monitor our daughter’s activity when she is using the Internet. No passing the buck here. Kids need to understand what is appropriate and what is not and why-which is sometimes the hardest part for a parent to explain.
What is acceptable to Mom and Dad is likely to be what trickles down to the kids. Our daughter has learned that videos with swear words are inappropriate. We have discussed her watching videos on YouTube, and if we catch her listening to songs with swear words, the computer is immediately off limits for a period of time (usually days).
We block certain addresses; we tell our daughter that we’ve blocked them and discuss why she should not go there. I believe this will help her to make better decisions when she is not supervised.
We also set a time limit for fun or play on the computer, typically 30 minutes per day. Schoolwork is the exception, and one of us is there watching and helping as needed.
Blogs and chat rooms are off limits. I am just discovering them myself and have found that there are the unscrupulous characters who will type just about anything. At this point, I’m not convinced that our daughter has the skills to handle some of this stuff. She is just beginning to grasp that not everyone is good or has good intentions. So we choose to expose her as slowly as we can to help and guide her on who and what is good, bad, etc. This is where we get cautious with the Internet. When it comes to conversing online-adults go at your own risk, but not your kids.
Positive Reinforcement
There are plenty of places you do not want your child to go on the Internet, so when we find fun, intriguing, safe Websites that are kid-friendly, we encourage those by rewarding our daughter with extra time on those sites.
Our daughter is at the age where she is testing her limits every day in some fashion. So we try to reward appropriate behavior-online and in the real world-with positive responses, including extra time on the computer. This seems to work quite well most of the time, since the new computer is in high demand in our family.
Praise for doing creative things and staying off unacceptable Websites goes a long way.
Offline “Practice”
We feel fortunate that our daughter enjoys creating things on the computer during her fun time. She uses programs like Apple’s GarageBand to create your own music with rhythms and melodies. It’s amazingly cool, and simple to use. With Keynote, another Apple program, you can create slide shows by adding pictures, text and fun colorful graphics, all on preset formats that are simple to work with.
These are great because they are educational, recreational and non Internet-based.
Our daughter learned about them at school and she can apply what she learns at home. This is really nice because Mom and Dad do not have to spend time learning and then teaching the program. I have no problem letting my daughter spend her time with these and we try hard to reward this kind of activity.
—-
Scott Knight lives in Bloomington, Minnesota with his wife and 9-year-old daughter.
Nancy Willard, this issue’s From the Experts columnist, has some ideas for schools as they develop and adapt safety strategies to address “Web 2.0.” At minimum, she says, school strategies should include:
- Clear parameters for use of computers in schools for schoolwork and education activities, including independent educational study.
- Well-prepared teachers who can lead high-quality exciting Internet-based learning activities, keeping students on-task while on the computer. This will minimize problems.
- Effective supervision and monitoring-staff should periodically and randomly request to see student history files as they are walking throughout the lab. There should be expanded use of technical monitoring tools, such as real-time remote-access monitoring tools.
- Meaningful consequences for misuse of the Internet.
- In case of accidental access to inappropriate content, all students and staff must know that if inappropriate material appears, they should quickly turn off the monitor and report the problem. Following any incident, there must be a responsible assessment of culpability, with the assumption that it could have been an accident.
- Filter overrides: The district must establish a process to quickly override Internet filter software to provide staff or students with access to sites that have been inappropriately blocked for instructional purposes-this is required by the Children’s Internet Protection Act (http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/cipa.html). Safe school personnel should be able to immediately gain access to material on any site to assess student and school safety!
- Special access to sites on health and well-being-including sex education sites and quality medical and social information for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender teens-is often blocked by filters, districts should ensure access to these sites. Internet safety and responsible use education should be provided to students and parents, as well as all staff members.
Health educators or counselors should work with librarians and educational technology staff to create and provide an integrated curriculum.
Selected Questions for Teachers
Here are some questions that school staff can discuss to assess and improve the manner in which they are addressing these issues in their building:
- Are your safe school staff and those with expertise in educational technology working together to address youth risk online issues?
- Do students and staff at your school effectively focus on appropriate educational uses of the Internet?
- If students are using the Internet for entertainment activities, what are the circumstances that are contributing to this and how can this concern be addressed?
- How well prepared are your teachers to effectively provide high quality instruction using the Internet? (In appropriate subject areas.)
- What additional resources – professional development, technical – are necessary to improve Internet-related instruction?
- Have you installed technical monitoring systems in all computer labs?
- Are there concerns that need to be addressed related to student Internet use when substitutes are in the classroom?
- How effectively is your school providing Internet safety and responsible use instruction to (1) students, (2) parents, and (3) teachers?
- What specific Internet risk concerns are impacting your school community (e.g., cyberbullying, online gangs, risky sexual behavior, addiction, plagiarism) and what initiatives are necessary to address these concerns?
- Is the district Internet use policy up-to-date?
For More Information
There are a lot of great sites out there to help schools tackle Web 2.0 interactivity-with great ideas for curriculum and lesson planning as well as safety and use policies. Here are just a few:
Alex T., 14, is a ninth grader in Los Angeles. He began playing World of Warcraft online when he was in eighth grade. Concerned that it was becoming his main interest-outpacing physical activity, homework and time with friends-his parents first tried to limit his gaming to weekends, and then decided to take it away altogether. Here’s what he says about his experience.
So Alex, I understand you were playing World of Warcraft? Can you tell me about it and how it works?
World of Warcraft is this massive, multi-role playing game. You’re on servers with thousands of people and you interact and play. There are sides you choose, and races and classes within the races. You customize your character-like how it looks, whether you are a member of the Horde or Alliance, and you name it and give it a level.
Is there a lot of interaction with other players?
There are 70 levels, when you get to level 70 you do things called raids, which are like 10 to 25 people and you kill world bosses and stuff, or another thing called “player versus player,” where you go into different battle grounds and if you’re Horde you face against the Alliance and fight them.
There are different chat channels so can privately message another player. You can also invite people into a party. There are up to 40 people in a raid or your guild, and you can speak within your guild or with whomever you want.
Also, there’s this thing that most people use when there are 25 people in a group or a battle ground with other people you know. It’s called Ventrilo and it’s kind of like Skype-you can speak directly to people over the computer so you don’t have to type while you’re playing. I used it sometimes, I guess, when I did raids and stuff.
Did you know the players in real life?
My stepbrother played for a little while, and so did people I knew from school. But you don’t always end up with the people you know because there are 150 different realms. In my realm, I only knew one other person, one of my friends.
Were there every any uncomfortable interactions?
No, not for me. People who play the game are kind of nerdy. [Laughs] They usually don’t want to talk to you, they just want to focus on the game. Most people, unless you’re spoken to, you don’t usually talk.
Did you spend a lot of time playing it online?
It was crazy. I spent lots of time playing it. For a while, it was really addicting but then after a while I kind of lost interest. My parents made me stop playing, but I was basically done by then anyway.
Why did they make you stop playing?
It didn’t really make sense. I was getting really good grades and still doing everything-football and hanging out with my friends and stuff.
I played from eighth grade to the beginning of ninth grade. I had straight As until I got a B in the last semester. When I go to this new school, which is like crazy hard, my grades went down a bit. But now I’m getting them back up again.
Did you feel like it was addictive?
That was really the first video game I liked, something about it was really awesome. You lose track of time, kind of. An hour feels like 20 minutes. It’s weird.
I am a procrastinator in general, so I’d save [homework and assignments] for the last minute and do them at the end. But even when I played, what I had to do was in the back of my mind the whole time. Sometimes, I didn’t do things exactly thoroughly, so I’d have more time to play or be online.
Do you have rules or limits for the amount of time you spend online?
For Warcraft I did. I couldn’t play during the week at all, and couldn’t play Sundays. I had limited times on Fridays and Saturdays. Not really for the Web. I use the Internet for school and for fun, and they don’t really time that as much.
What else do you do online? Do you email?
No, mostly iChat and use Facebook. I listen to a lot of music and download songs.
Do your friends or classmates play e-games a lot?
Yeah, when I heard about other people, me compared to them I barely played at all. Some kids spend their whole day doing that, and nothing but. Most of my friends don’t play video games so much, but some kids in my class talk about and I overhear how much they’re playing.
—–
(more…)
