1) Digital citizenship is the new online safety where the vast majority of online youth are concerned. That’s because the online risk that affects the most kids is cyberbullying, or online harassment. Statistics vary as researchers try to nail down the actual definition of “cyberbullying,” but two separate nationwide studies have shown that about a third of US youth have been cyberbullied – millions of kids. That’s a serious call for lessons from an early age, at home and school, in civility, citizenship, critical thinking, ethics, and media literacy. Ideally we need to teach those lessons offline as well as online, because young people make less and less of a distinction between the two. They just socialize. So learning citizenship, not just digital citizenship, is the growing need and a protection for our kids going forward.

As for the online-safety risk most talked about – sexual exploitation – only a tiny percentage of online kids are at risk of sexual abuse as a result of Internet activity (way under 1%, according to the Crimes Against Children Research Center), and these are typically troubled youth offline. “Those experiencing difficulties offline, such as physical and sexual abuse, and those with other psychosocial problems are most at-risk online,” the CACRC reported last year.

2) Parenting digital natives is not rocket science – even though they’re “natives” online and parents generally aren’t. It’s parenting! Sound parenting of Net users isn’t really about technology; it’s about their social lives, interests, and identity exploration. Engaged parents are quite accustomed to working on all those issues.

3) Ask your children about cyberbullying. The term may not be particularly relevant to them – another one that may make more sense to them is “online harassment.” Or just ask them if friends or acquaintances of theirs have been mean to them online and how they handled it. Maybe you can help. At least you can help them process what’s going on. (Research shows that only 10% of kids who’ve been harassed tell their parents about it, so it’s a question parents need to ask in a non-confrontational, helpful way.) If they are being harassed online, you mind find ConnectSafely’s anti-cyberbullying tips helpful, including the one about “saving the evidence.” Cyberbullying can also occur via text messaging, so be sure you talk to your kids about the kinds of text messages they’re sending and receiving.

4) It’s important not to freak out. What parents see teens producing and communicating on the social Web can be disturbing to them, but it’s not because teens’ lives and behavior have changed so much as because it’s now much more visible. That visibility is both good and bad. It exposes real-life adolescent activity – good, bad, or neutral – to parents, researchers, and law enforcement. Crimes have been prevented. Researchers can study self-destructive or otherwise risky adolescent behavior in real time. And parents can learn a lot about what their children’s peer groups are up to. On the other hand, kids have damaged their own and each other’s reputations, and sometimes impulsive adolescent behavior gets magnified into devastating events like a child’s nude photo(s) sent by wireless phone getting shared all over school and beyond (which has happened in more than a dozen states). The important thing is to stay calm and keep communication lines open, so they don’t go underground and lose loving parental back up.

5) The Internet is now a fact of life; understanding that good online decision making starts offline is the new “birds and bees” discussion – and ongoing conversation – parents and kids need to have. Think about it: Unless they’re up to no good, it’s a lot easier to talk about what they’re doing online than it is to do the old-fashioned birds-’n'-bees talk (though that’s an important discussion too – if they’re not learning it from you, they’re getting their information online, where you have less control of the outcome).

Anne Collier’s NetFamilyNews.org is the digital “community newspaper” of the tech-parenting and online-safety community – the only news service of its kind on the Web. Its “kid-tech news for parents” is designed to empower and educate grown-ups with the latest information on children’s tech interests and practices, as well as their online safety. NetFamilyNews is delivered daily and weekly in a variety of formats: an email newsletter, RSS feed, blog, podcast, and Web site.  Anne is also co-director of BlogSafety.com and co-author of MySpace Unraveled: What It Is and How to Do It Safely.

This question is not really a technological one. Technology merely gives kids’ mistakes a large platform from which to broadcast to a much larger group of peers. When I was a teen, if three kids passed mean notes and were caught, those three would be called to the principal’s office, and the issue would be largely private. Now that kind of scenario plays out on Facebook and involves the six degrees of separation of the whole, Internet-using world. This fact tends to escape students. They do not see the Internet as public, but rather as an extension of their bedrooms. They do not envision the millions of nameless, faceless people who could be pulling their photo from their albums, or even the named administrators with familiar faces who will see the picture of students drinking at a party (when it’s posted by a snubbed friend, or even a well-meaning but clueless friend).

As parents and teachers, we should teach kids to protect their privacy settings on social networking sites, a simple fix, by adjusting who can see their page, restricting access to their Walls and photos, and disallowing downloads of their photos. Yet that means a further layer of invisibility from the adult community. The better students protect themselves online, the harder it is for us to know what they are doing online, which is why we must trust students and teach them to make the connection between what they post and what could happen in the “real” world.

Young people are continually extending the use of social networking sites, their phones, and their laptops. One group of chemistry students at a local school created a group on Facebook that turned into an impromptu homework help blog. They kept abreast of assignments and shared the resources they found. The students invited the teacher as a friend, and she still uses some of those resources in her teaching today. Several extracurricular groups at my school use Facebook pages and groups to confirm meeting times and communicate announcements. Yes, students spend an inordinate amount of time watching silly videos on YouTube (just like most adults I know), but what YouTube offers teachers in terms of illustrating a physics experiment or seeing an author speak about her work is priceless.

However, once a ten-year-old discovers the world of YouTube from his friends or a school project, monitoring what he chooses to view becomes crucial. This challenge increases as kids get older and want their privacy—which I believe we should respect to a certain extent—but hopefully by that point, we as parents and as teachers will have talked to students frequently about the issues, which are more moral than technological.

We already will have discussed why we collect wireless phones during exams and how being a good friend doesn’t mean texting a compromising picture to the entire ninth grade (even if she sent it to you first). We will have covered the following: being a good person means not participating in online bullying–at the very least, when you see five people go on the attack on Facebook, don’t participate; at best, speak up to stop it.

As administrators, we now rely on the victims of bullying more than ever before because it’s hard to detect. When students see offensive things online perpetrated by their peers, we can help only if they print out the page. Otherwise, the ever-updated Wall, or message board, or instant message conversation will disappear, and it becomes impossible to hold students accountable.

A recent trend at my school is for girls to flash their web cameras during online chats with boys. The challenge for the viewers is to click a picture at the precisely right moment. This issue involves an age-old one of teaching girls to respect their bodies and all students to do the right thing, but it also involves communicating an idea of their future. Who knows which person, five years from now, will Google that girl only to pull up the “silly” photo she allowed to happen as a prank? The consequences are intangible to students, yet they seriously affect their future college applications, online resumes, reference checks.

Just as students must learn online responsibility, teachers too need to realize that social networking—and basically anything you do on your computer—creates an online diary that is accessible to someone, somewhere, someday. Again, as with any teachable moment, we must practice what we preach.

Molly Chehak is the Chair of Upper School English at Bullis School in Potomac, MD.

What tech tools/toys do you use frequently? Walk us through a typical day so that we can better understand how and why these devices factor into your life.

Kurt: On a normal school day, I use about three different gadgets. I always carry a wireless phone, on vibrate, so I don’t disturb any classes. Even if phones aren’t technically allowed in school, the convenience factor to call one of my parents to bring a forgotten book or lunch is unbeatable.

When I get home, I typically get on my computer. On this I can satisfy my love for music by listening to my monstrous collection of over 5000 songs. I can network and chat with friends using Facebook, a website that helps me keep up with people and schoolwork, especially on group projects. I can check my email on the web to keep up with times I need to be at a local theater for sound-tech work. I can even make and edit art using my scanner and Adobe Photoshop. This is useful technology to help me make my own shirts.

I’m also a big user of the iPod. I used carry this just about everywhere I go, but now I usually just use it in my car. I like to plug it into my radio using a cassette adapter so I can listen to the music I like without having to fiddle with the radio controls much, or sit through annoying commercials.

Although my family does have a TV with cable and TIVO, I only use that maybe three times a week to watch my favorite shows, “The Office,” and “Entourage.” Even if I am in the mood to watch TV, it’s just as easy to look up the show and watch episodes on the Internet, which, like TIVO, is free of commercials (assuming you find a good website).

Even less than TV, I use my Xbox 360 in spurts of three times a week, to then not use it for a month. Although I begged for years for a gaming system, the only time that I ever play it now is during times of intense boredom and sloth.

Holly: I use my PC and my iPod most often. I love music, so I listen to my iPod on the way to/home from school, before I go to sleep, and during the day (on weekends). I use my computer for homework, and other “fun” things. I love to go on a social networking site that’s like an art gallery. It’s where I write in a virtual journal (blog), and submit my little cartoon characters (they’re called puffs) I’ve made in Microsoft Word. When I’m done with my homework and dinner, I usually go on my computer and draw puffs and submit them to the site. I also like to work on a story I’m writing with my best friend. I usually use my computer for creative purposes, but I also like to play computer games like Barbie Explorer.

Do you think that your digital activity (the tech stuff you do every day) is reflective of what other kids your age are doing/drawn to right now?

Kurt: I think it’s safe to say that my use of technology is incredibly reflective on what other kids my age use. Almost every kid I know has his/her own wireless phone, computer, and iPod. This is not only because we want them, but also because we all have a firm grounding in how to use them, even without glancing at an instruction booklet. We have an incredible technological learning curve, partly because we have grown up in this age of rapid technological advances. Even from the age of six, kids learn how to navigate menus and sub-menus on Gameboys and TV guides.

Holly: Well, quite frankly, no. I’m not really sure what the other kids in my grade are doing. I know the boys play video games, and the girls are probably shopping on eBay for Hollister stuff. I know my best friend writes our story a lot on the computer and uses the art gallery/social networking site a lot, but I also know that YouTube is really popular with EVERYONE in my grade.

Was there something — a device or game or social networking site — that you didn’t use last year that has become really useful/important to you this year?

Kurt: Within the last year, I have taken enormous technological strides. I set up a Facebook account for myself, around October of 2007, which has been a great resource for both socializing and schoolwork. I also embraced text messaging, which I had previously made fun of and thought was awkwardly developed. Of the advances I have made, the largest one came recently. About two weeks ago, I got a smartphone, which skyrocketed into everyday importance. This one small device does everything I want. I can use Facebook and the Internet on it, keeping me in touch with anyone and anything I please. I can text message more easily on it, making the system not feel so cramped. I can take pictures, entertain myself with simple games, and I even replaced my iPod with it, cutting down on pocket space used.

Holly: I have – I only used to use my computer for games / watching videos. But now, I’m using it for more creative purposes. My whole online life revolves around the story I am writing with my best friend and making / submitting things to my favorite art site for the world to see.

What kinds of tech tools/toys do you think kids will be asking for this year? Help us understand what the new trends online activity might be for tweens/teens in the new year.

Kurt: After getting a smartphone, I personally feel completely set on the technology front for a while. However, I do think that this is a piece of technology that just about everyone would love to get his/her hands on. As with most technology, it was developed for convenience factor. I expect all social networking sites to grow, but I think that Facebook will gain the most people in particular. At a glance, it seems safer now, restricting people from viewing a page unless they are a designated friend or within a group.

The gaming industry is also changing very rapidly with the realization of Internet possibilities. Traditional games are shifting from the traditional release of one unchanging product. Instead, companies are releasing a product, and then following up with patches, which are free game content add-ons, available for download off the Internet. However, games do not stop there. Companies are taking the Internet’s philosophy to a whole new level, sinking development time and resources into optional online multiplayers, a crucial new item that is becoming key to a game’s success. Some companies have even gone so far as to develop entire games that run solely on the Internet.

Holly: Even though I just got the new iPod nano, I wanted an iPod touch. I wish my parents would buy it for me, but it’s, like, $300! I really don’t know what’s the “hot” thing for kids today/the new year, but I know Guitar Hero is really big with a lot of people. The Wii game console is something that everyone says they’re getting for Christmas as well. Also, a few kids in my grade are talking about their MySpaces. I’ve never bothered to go on the site and search them, but I’ve only heard a few girls talking. So I don’t know how many kids have a MySpace in my grade.

Describe how you and your parents communicate about/negotiate your online activity. Do you anticipate any changes in that communication in the new year?  If so what, and why?

Kurt: Over the past year, there has only been one major change in the way my parents and I handle technological/Internet concerns. After an unfortunate month where I surpassed my text limit, I now pay for my phone’s text messaging plan. I am not limited in online activity; however, my computer does have anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewalls on it to protect the computer itself from any unwanted activity.

In the past, I have been responsible with my phone, social networking sites like Facebook, and the Internet in general. Because of this, my parents are very relaxed about what I do on these. The only thing that has changed is that when I was younger (13), I played a lot of video games, and ended up being limited to an hour every day. Over time I lost interest, and today gaming is not a concern.

Although I don’t expect much to change on the Internet, I do expect a general shift in communication. I think that PDAs [personal digital assistants] and Smartphones will gain a larger user base of people who feel they need to be connected to everything all the time. I also think that the use of Bluetooth devices will become more popular. Although the Bluetooth headsets remind me of robotic Remora fishes when they are attached to people’s ears, the hands-free technology is bound to become more widely used as people crave convenience.

Holly: My mom really doesn’t know that much about computers; it’s my dad who lays down the rules. The rule is, no downloading of any kind unless I ask him first, and if I find a new website, I have to show/ask him so he can make sure it’s safe / if he wants me to do it.

What advice do you have for parents, regarding Internet safety in the new year?

Kurt: To all the parents out there, my advice is this – do NOT stalk your child in regard to online activity; this will cause a lack of trust if discovered. You should definitely talk to your child to try to educate him or her about the Internet, but do it cautiously. The Internet is safe as long as it is used reasonably.

The biggest thing to remember about the Internet when worrying about any of the above issues is that the Internet changes people’s perceptions. When you go online, you will often feel as if you are a different person. You feel disconnected from yourself, and will start to do things that you would not normally do. You can easily start to write mean-spirited things about people because you do not feel that you are actually saying them, because they did not come out of your mouth. You can feel you are safe even if you have revealing information on the Internet. This is because it’s not some sort of a strange person physically staring into your house window. My advice is, tell your child not to put anything on the Internet that they wouldn’t mind being broadcasted on TV, or put on the front page of a newspaper.

In other words, don’t become parentally power-crazed and limit everything your child does on the Internet or videogames. This will make them feel that you have become a tyrant, and they will resent you. Instead, just make sure that they are doing whatever they do responsibly. And if necessary, reasonably limit it.

Holly: My advice for parents is: TALK TO YOUR KIDS. By talking, I don’t mean nagging, because that will just get them mad and they’ll want to disobey their parents even more. Just tell them what to do if someone approaches them and, for example, asks “ASL” (age, sex, location). Parents should give their children flexibility, but they need to make sure their kids are being safe too.

What would you like to say to educators, also, about how they might approach Internet awareness and safety with students in the new year?

Kurt: Schools are embracing technology surprisingly well. My school uses Smart Boards. These are interactive boards in place of chalkboards that allow computer information to be broadcast and accessed remotely from the front of the classroom. This allows teachers to easily prepare for classes, giving them room to put in links to reinforcing movies or pictures, and provides students an easy media to take notes from. Teachers don’t need to police all technology, just technology that hinders the process of education.

Also, a shout out to my school — UNBLOCK YOUTUBE!

Holly: I have the exact same advice for teachers: TALK TO YOUR KIDS. I would like to see teachers use avatars in a place like Dizzywood.com and pretend to talk to each other and see what the kids would say if asked. Then they could explain what is and isn’t okay to do. I also think [they should advise] students not to be too open about themselves online. Some kids are way too trusting.

How might kids’ online activity change in the coming year – and how can parents and educators help guide these young people toward Internet safety? Teens Kurt Woerpel and Holly Jarrett offer frank, practical, and downright charming advice, in this Q&A with bNetS@vvyTeens Kurt Woerpel and Holly Jarrett offer frank, practical, and downright charming advice, in this Q&A with bNetS@vvy

Do you feel you’re up to speed on the digital life of your tween/teen?

I feel very up to speed with the digital life of my teen and am highly familiar with the technology that defines it. The main reason is that I am a “techie,” and have been for years, surrounding myself with technology since the 1980s. That said, our youngest daughter (age 13) does NOT have a wireless phone. (She tells us she is the ONLY student in the ENTIRE SEVENTH GRADE who doesn’t have one; we honestly don’t care.) She’ll have one eventually, but right now, she doesn’t need one; it is simply a convenience/luxury/status item for her at this point in her life. All computers in our home are in our family room. We give her a lot of freedom online because we have worked hard to establish an environment of mutual trust and respect. She has given us all of her usernames and passwords and (usually) won’t venture onto a new website before asking us. We monitor the websites she visits, we know everyone on her IM buddy list, and we have repeatedly stressed what information is and is not acceptable in an online profile. She creates websites regularly (using services like Freewebs.com) but always shares her work with us. Most importantly, she is actively developing her artistic and literary skills via digital art and a collaborative adventure story (inspired by ‘Twilight’) she is writing with a friend. It’s currently 50 pages, single-spaced, and they say they are going to keep writing for a long time. These are just some of the examples of how technology is used in our household in productive, healthy ways.

A recent study, found that many mothers (I don’t know why fathers were excluded from this study!) fear that “cyber dangers” are as real and harmful as drunk driving or experimenting with drugs (see the link below).   Do you feel the same way or do you have a different take on tweens/teens’ digital activity? Please explain.

That survey was conducted by Harris Interactive for McAfee, a marketer of computer security products. While they are probably genuinely concerned about the customers they serve, in the final analysis, they’re really just trying to sell software. In fact, for a rebuttal of sorts, see: Online Predation An Exaggerated Problem written by Larry Magid. He sums the article up nicely with this quote: “That might be how moms feel, but it’s not reflective of the real world.”

To get a look at the real world, I’d suggest parents check out research like “Networked Families” by PEW/Internet and “Teens’ Online Safety Improved by Education, Research Shows” by Dian Schaffhauser. These studies illustrate many similar points – for example, the importance of education, mutual respect and setting limits – but without inflammatory language. Yes, there are risks online. Yes, easily avoidable behaviors magnify those risks. But do they rise to the level of danger associated with drug and alcohol abuse? No. Peer pressures to experiment with drugs and alcohol are far worse. Cyber dangers are easier to deal with because peer pressure is (usually) not the driving force behind online experimentation; curiosity is. As a parent who is also a technology teacher, I feel that the best way to handle curiosity is education.

Over the holidays and well into the new year, parents will consider purchasing wireless devices, phones, computers, video games and other tech toys/tools for their tweens/teens.  Are your children requesting the latest tech gadgets, and if so, do you feel comfortable buying them the products they’re requesting?

Our children (two daughters, ages 13 and 18) are not requesting anything electronic, though Santa is bringing our family its first Wii console (Ssssssh! It’s a surprise!) We’re not at all concerned with the online play aspects of the Wii platform; we know our kids will use the device responsibly. One of the reasons we chose the Wii (vs. an XBox 360 or PS3) is the family-friendly nature of the games. In our household, the Wii becomes just another electronic device, and our kids will use it as responsibly as they do the computers in our home.

As a caring and aware parent, have you found any particularly helpful resources –in addition to bNetSavvy.org — for parents who are concerned about keeping children safe online?  If so, please share that information.  If not, can you explain what kind of resources you would like to have?

In my opinion, some of the best resources for education on these topics are Larry Magid’s and Anne Collier’s Connect Safely ; Anne Collier’s Net Family News blog ; and Common Sense Media’s ‘For Parents’ section. All of these are worth browsing to increase one’s knowledge of what’s REALLY happening in cyberspace. These can be read online or subscribed to via RSS or email. Their writing is timely, free of bias, and easily digestible (virtually jargon-free). More importantly, they are communities where parents can easily participate – even if they have never commented on a blog or joined a forum before. To me, the real power of Web 2.0 is that it has changed the user dynamic, giving those that desire it a chance to participate in the discussion, rather than simply be receivers of information.

As a caring, active parent, do you feel that families have the kind of support they need — from schools, the community, the local and federal government — to help keep children safer online?  Can good parenting alone help keep kids protected online, or do you feel that the more needs to be done in terms of specific school, community, and state/federal oversight policies?

I don’t need support from anyone to keep my children safe online, that’s my job, but I am thankful for (most of) the attention the topic of cybersafety has gotten in the media of late. It’s helped to establish the importance of the discussion and to encourage other parents to participate – to see that it is in fact a serious problem that requires their involvement. It is hard, though, for many parents who don’t have a comfort level with technology and who can’t (or won’t) read blogs or visit websites to get educated. I fear for those parents, and for their children, because they are the ones at the greatest risk. Those families need education – not fear-mongering, ratings-generating exploitative shows like some of the “catch a predator” shows on TV.

Bottom line, GOOD PARENTING IS THE BEST WAY to keep kids protected online, especially when parents get their information from bias-free non-profit institutes and industry experts with no agenda other than educating the public. That said, I think schools have a responsibility as well, as is the case in Virginia (see also) and New Jersey (see also ).  The problem is, even THESE STATE ORGANIZATIONS often fall prey to the media hype of late and can sometimes perpetuate misconceptions about the true risks. For example, see: ‘Internet Predator Stereotypes Debunked in New Study’. The Crimes against Children Research Center (CNRC), University of New Hampshire is widely respected as a source of bias-free, current and accurate information on this topic. Organizations like this need support from community members everywhere, and most importantly, they need to have their information disseminated to the widest possible audience.

As a tech teacher and parent, I find State and Federal oversight policies a bit scary, primarily because our elected representatives don’t always seem to be as up-to-date on these topics and trends as are smaller, more nimble, innovative groups like the NCMEC and CNRC. While there is evidence that this is changing, it is a slow process, maddeningly frustrating to those of us who are working hard to educate ourselves and those around us. As a result, well-intentioned legislation largely miss the point and create new barriers to accessing legitimate educational websites, for example. Well written laws, enforced swiftly and effectively, will protect our citizens best. That’s easier said than done, in my view, unfortunately!

Kevin Jarrett is a parent and teacher from Northfield, New Jersey.

I thought I had the perfect resolution for this New Year: to become a super net-savvy mom and teacher. A texting, Twittering, YouTube-ing marvel, hip enough to leap Internet safety issues in a single bound. I’d learn to program an MP3 player while composing lesson plans on a PDA as I worked out on the Wii. Yes, this year, I’d master all the gadgets and learn to live on Facebook. I’d talk tech with my students, run cyber circles around my computer-loving son, and keep us all safe online.

Is that what we parents and teachers need to do in 09, become super-heroically cyber savvy, in an effort to outsmart Internet dangers? Absolutely not, say the contributors to this month’s bNetS@vvy issue. Their collective advice for Net safety in the New Year? Don’t let yourself be intimidated or overwhelmed by the technology of the moment. Be informed, aware, and communicative with your kids. Model ethical behavior online and off.

“This isn’t rocket science,” says Internet safety expert Anne Collier. “Let’s keep it simple. Instead of ‘I will be more tech savvy,’ try ‘I will ask more questions about what my kids are doing online.’ ‘I will look over my kids’ shoulders, I will spot-check their history online.’ And here’s a really good resolution: ‘I will learn about the connectivity features of any product I buy my child. I will learn what the parental controls are, and I will study those features. I will make the effort to know what’s appropriate for my child.” More of Anne’s up-to-date, practical advice is featured in this issue’s From the Experts.

In his Parents’ Corner piece, self-described “techie” parent (and teacher) Kevin Jarrett echoes Collier’s sentiments: “Bottom line, GOOD PARENTING IS THE BEST WAY to keep kids protected online, especially when parents get their information from bias-free non-profit institutes and industry experts with no agenda other than educating the public.” Jarrett points readers to relevant studies and reliable websites on Internet safety.

High school teacher Molly Chehak reflects on the challenges of being a “tech savvy” teacher, and finds that her students’ online activity provides her with opportunities for teachable moments. In her Teacher’s Desk piece, Chehak notes: Thus, the number one concern about technology aligns neatly with one of the major concerns about parenting: how do we teach tweens and teens to evaluate situations responsibly and make good decisions?

Finally, in Youth Voices, we hear from two honest and delightfully enthusiastic Net-loving teens, Kurt Woerpel, 16, and Holly Jarrett, 13. They let us into their cyber worlds and explain how and why they treasure their online activities. Their advice to adults who want to help keep kids safe online? Says Kurt: “…don’t become parentally power-crazed and limit everything your children do on the Internet or videogames. This will make them feel that you have become a tyrant, and they will resent you. Instead, just make sure that they are doing whatever they do responsibly. And if necessary, reasonably limit it.” Adds Holly, speaking to both parents and teachers: “TALK TO YOUR KIDS.”

Thanks for reading, and let us know about your tips/strategies for Internet Safety in 09. We’re always looking for new contributors to bNetSavvy, and we invite you to share your stories with us by emailing internetsafety@nea.org. Together we can help young teens make the most of technology – more safely.

Happy New Tech-Savvy Year, from all of us here at bNetS@vvy.

Sincerely,

Mary Esselman, editor, bNetS@vvy

bNetS@vvy is published by the National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN) and Sprint.