A bNetS@vvy interview with teacher Paula White.

1) How involved are you with social technology (virtual/video/online games, websites, mobile devices, social networking sites, texting, Twitter, etc.), both  professionally and personally? What do you like best and least about the way you use social technology in your professional life and personal life?

I guess you would consider me to be extremely connected all the time.  I have an air card to use with my computer when wireless is unavailable.  I have a Windows mobile phone with data service so I can always get on the Internet.  I have profiles set up on most social networking sites, though I use them to various degrees. I am a member of many social networking sites–Facebook, Linked-IN, professional Nings, wikispaces, Delicious, Diigo, voicethread, and Twitter, among others. I use Twitter daily professionally and find it invaluable. The others I use sporadically as the need arises.

I learned to text from my grandson, and he is actually the reason I recently changed my phone plan to have data service.  He began texting me when he was 10 (he’s 11 now) and I wanted to be able to respond. He mostly uses it in place of the phone calls we used to exchange, but it is not unusual for me to get a text from him on the weekends to simply ask what I am doing, or how the weather is when I am at the lake place and he has not come with me. He texts constantly when we are together, and I often ask who’s texting him.  Thus far, he has not been reticent at all about answering me. (I guess he hasn’t begun with the girlfriends yet.) I rarely text with others, but I do have a friend who is pushing me to use it more.

I use wikispaces [a web page - in this case a members-only site-created,used, and edited collaboratively by a group of people] with my students and have had great success.  The elementary students who use it have enjoyed not only the collaboration piece of wikis, but also the opportunity to “wikimail” their friends.  I set my wikis up so that the students can ONLY wikimail members of our wikis; thus they cannot be contacted by outsiders–not even their parents–unless they have joined our wiki.

2) Will your social technology activity change or stay the same over the summer?  Will you be taking time this summer to brush up on social tech in your personal/family life or on ed tech in the classroom?

I don’t separate my professional use from my personal use, because I MOSTLY use social networking tools for my job. If I had to, I would probably limit my personal use mostly to online shopping and email, except for keeping up with my brother in Afghanistan through his Facebook page and using Skype.

In the past, my students have indeed used the wikis over the summer; in fact, last year my graduating fifth graders created several pages on the last day of school or during the first week of summer vacation.

Twitter changes over the summer significantly, as folks have more time to send tweets.  Last summer I participated in probably 10-12 professional development opportunities online that I found out about through my Twitter PLN (Personal Learning Network). I was more connected last summer because of those findings, and I learned a tremendous amount through that networking.  This year I’ll be able to contribute to that, as I attend the National Educational Computing Conference in DC and will be tweeting as well as participating on an international panel about creating and building PLNs.

Both my principal and superintendent are users of social networks, so I get support at work to use them professionally. Many [Albemarle Co., Virginia] county folks are on Twitter because of the conversations I have been involved in, and I also introduced wikis to the county teachers at a workshop in summer of 2008. Most teachers in my building are not users that I know of, other than Google docs.

3) What advice do you have for parents and educators about how they might use the summer to become more tech savvy themselves, and to better communicate with, and guide tweens and teens about the safe and healthy use of social technology?

I know that my Daughter-in-Law will monitor my grandson’s use of both his computer and his phone, as will I when he’s with me.  A simple move to do so is to NOT have the computer in the bedroom of the child, but instead in a fairly public place so that the screen is easily seeable as an adult walks by.

I have tight reins on the wikis during the school year, and the kids and parents know that, as I work to educate them as well during the school year.  I will continue to monitor that use during the summer, and one infraction loses the student his/her access. They know that, so are careful.

Some parents don’t allow their children access to the wikis at home and that’s okay with me.  I had a student last year whose only home access was when he visited the other parent during the summer, and he readily admitted that parent didn’t monitor, so I was extra diligent checking the emails he was sending and the work he did on the wiki.

4) What tips do you have for families looking to stay safe online this summer?

Paula White’s Summertime Online Safety Tips for Kids:

Rule #1 for kids is NEVER put full name or contact/personal information on the Internet on any site.  I recommend to my kids that they develop an alias, and talk about how mine is either “digitchr” or “tzstchr” on websites I am new to using.

Rule # 2.  They shouldn’t join any sites without parental permission, and whenever possible use only sites that are monitored by a known entity.

Rule #3.  If Grandma or parents don’t want to see, read or hear it, then they shouldn’t publish it.

Paula White’s Summertime Online Safety Tips for Teens Helping Younger Siblings:

1. Reinforce that the smartest thing kids can do is never putting a full name or contact/personal information on the Internet.

2. Share safe sites.

3. Explore Get Game Smart together and talk rules and safety tips

Paula White’s Summertime Online Safety Tips for Parents

1. Understand that social networking tools come out faster than any of us can keep up with them, so ask your kids which ones they use, and look them up.

2. Parents can check their child’s username here, Username Check, to see which sites they may be on

3. Parents can also see a list of web 2.0 tools here,  and ask about some of them of their child.

4. Go to the FBI’s Parent Guide.

5. Explore a sample safety pledge and create your own with your child: Click here for sample safety pledges from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Paula White is a 30+ year veteran teacher who has produced award winning visual arts projects and websites with students in grades K-5.  An Apple Distinguished Educator, an Elementary Educator of the Year, and National Teacher Training Institute Master Teacher of the Year, she received the Golden Apple for her school in 2008, and was recognized in 2007 as a Technology Innovator by THE Journal.  Paula regularly presents at state and national conferences and served on the NETS for Teachers Development Team for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Follow Paula at @paulawhite on Twitter.

As the school year rapidly comes to a close, teachers and parents should consider the fact that children and teens will soon have plenty of time on their hands — frequently unsupervised. They will have ample opportunity to explore many nooks and crannies of cyberspace. How can the adults in children’s lives make sure their online activities are safe and responsible?

Parents and teachers know how to keep children safe and encourage responsible action in the “real world.” When children are young, we keep them in safe places, ensure they are under the care of responsible adults, watch over them carefully when in more public places, and provide simple guidelines that lay the groundwork for safe and responsible behavior.

As young people grow, we provide greater freedoms – and more guidance on expectations for behavior. By the time they are teens, they will be going many places on their own. But parents still remain engaged by asking, “Where will you be going? Who will you be with? What will you be doing?”

To keep young people safe online requires applying these same approaches. Keep them safe when they are younger. Empower them to make safe and responsible choices as they grow. Research has demonstrated that teens whose parents are actively and positively involved in their online activities engage in less risk-taking online behavior.

To protect children at home (in the summer or any time) requires that parents effectively establish safe “fenced online play yards” and impart simple protective strategies. The online risks faced by children and teens include:

a)  Spending too much time online;

b)  posting or sending material that could damage their reputation or place them at risk;

c)  receiving or sending hurtful messages;

d)  accidentally accessing damaging material; and

e)  being profiled and targeted through certain types of advertising.  See Common Sense Media’s article “Mediating Media Exposure” .

Helpful family safety features are now available for parents to establish an electronically fenced online play yard. These include features like Vista and Symantec Family Safety features and the controls in Internet-accessible gaming devices. The key features of these family safety controls are:

a)  white lists that allow parents to determine the specific sites their child can access;

b)  controls for who their child can communicate with;

c)  time limitations; and

d)  retention of history file.

These features are far more robust than filtering software, which seeks to block access to inappropriate sites (although blocking is also a component of these features). 

Key safety guidelines for children include:

a)  staying on the sites that have been selected;

b)  keeping their activities in balance;

c)  thinking before they post; 

d)  handling hurtful online situations with the help of a caring adult, if possible;

e) seeking adult help if inappropriate material accidentally appears; and

f)  paying attention to when sites seek to advertise to them.  See Common Sense Media’s tips on “Selling to Kids“.

The most effective risk prevention approaches for teens is to utilize a “social norms approach.” If students know other young people are not engaging in risky behavior they are much less likely to do so. Research has shown that the majority of teens are making good choices online and effectively responding to negative situations. They have no desire to connect with online “creeps.” By identifying and promoting the healthy, protective behaviors that are the actual norms for young people online we can help more young people engage in these safe and responsible behaviors.

The foundation for safe and responsible online behavior for teens is three-fold:

1) Think before you post. Teens must understand the Internet law of predictable consequences. The more embarrassing or damaging the material they post, the more likely it will become very public and be seen by people who will judge them badly.

2) Keep your life in balance. Time spent online or using screens should not take the place of the other things that keep their life in balance – like getting together with friends and physical activities, preferably outside.

3) Connect safely. Take time to get to know people online, remembering that it is possible to create false profiles or impressions. Know how to effectively respond to hurtful messages or situations and do not cause harm to others.

The most effective instructional approach to use with teens is to ask them to discuss their personal guidelines for their online activities – first in small groups and then in a large group. This allows the more savvy students, who tend to make good choices online, to play a leadership role. Other students who may not have thought the issues through will be far more inclined to follow the sage guidance of their peers than any adult delivered guidance.

I recently used this technique with a group of teens at a teen conference. Small groups came up with sound guidance that I was able to deepen by asking further questions within the larger group discussion. Another adult reported to me that on the way out of the room she overheard one teen say to another, “Wow, there are some things I need to fix with my profile.” Addressing these issues through this kind of positive peer influence is powerfully effective.

Summertime or any time — empower your children/students to move safely and act wisely in cyberspace.

Nancy Willard, MS., J.D, is the Director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use. She has a background in work with at risk youth and law and has focused on issues of youth risk online and effective Internet use management in schools for over 12 years.

What will your kids be doing this summer? Heading to camp, splashing around the local pool, working a part-time job – and maybe still managing to spend oodles of idle time online?  How can caring adults keep up their kids’ online summer activity and behavior? 

This issue tackles summertime safety online from a variety of viewpoints.  In From the Experts, Internet safety expert Nancy Willard offers specific risk prevention tips for parents of children and teens (and see Willard’s downloadable cybersafety handout, available at bNetS@vvy’s Tips and Tools section).  In Parents’ Corner, teacher and mother Vicki Davis details four guidelines for building “a family summertime safety line.”  Our Teacher’s Desk piece features Paula White, a tech-savvy elementary school teacher who urges parents and teachers to spend the summer learning more about the benefits of social technology.  And in our Youth Voices segment, we hear from two typical kids, one age 11 and one age 15, about how they use social technology in their daily lives. 

Thanks for reading, and let us know about your tips/strategies for gaming, and Internet/social technology safety.  We’re always looking for new contributors to bNetS@vvy, 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.

Sincerely,

Mary Esselman, editor, bNetS@vvy

Internet safety expert Sharon Cindrich (http://www.pluggedinparent.com) interviews two youngsters – Henry, a sixth grader, and Maddie, a ninth grader, about their gaming activity.

Do you like playing video games with friends or by yourself?   

Maddie: I like playing video games, usually with my friends. I don’t like it when it’s just me alone. I like to have the video game that I am playing be more social. So maybe when I go to a party or something we all have a Guitar Hero tournament. Or maybe we will play each other in a Wii tennis match. Games are more fun that way.

Henry: I love playing video games. I like it when I play by myself.  That way I can concentrate on the game. I think it’s better and more fun that way.

Which kind do you like to play better: online, video or computer games?          

Maddie: I like video games that have a lot of action. I don’t like games where you have to get a bunch of tasks done just to get to another level. I just want to know what happens next! It’s kind of like watching a movie. It can’t be too long or too short otherwise, I just lose interest.

Henry: I like playing video games because I think they can be much more fun. I don’t like playing online games sometimes, because they can be less exciting and there are a lot of violent games online. I like computer games, too, especially Rome Total War because it’s historic and has a lot of action.

[Ed. Note: Henry is referring to the difference between online games -- games that exist online at sites like miniclip.com - and computer games, games you buy in a box and install on your computer or play from a disc on your computer drive.]

What are the good things kids get out of playing video games?         

Maddie: Definitely strategy and hand-eye coordination are the two important things that kids can use in the future. Plus, they are a lot of fun.

Henry: The good things kids can get out of video games are hand-eye coordination and computer skills. You can also learn about history on some games. The only other thing is fun and a lot of it. Playing games can be a big stress relief.

Are there any downsides to playing games?        

Maddie: Too much of anything is bad for you. So if you play video games too much you could end up growing into the couch and being labeled as a “couch potato”.

Henry: You can get easily addicted to video games. Sometimes you can’t get your work done at school because you’re too busy thinking about video games. Same thing goes for homework. Also, some games are too violent and they can really bother kids. 

Do you think games have changed the way you learn? How?       

Maddie: Rarely do I find myself thinking about video games when I’m trying to learn. I don’t think I can see any ways where playing games could influence my learning good or bad.

Henry: It can teach you what’s good or what’s bad. Some games can be very historic. There are some games used for learning online, but they are usually kind of boring.

What should parents know about gaming and kids?         

Maddie: It’s not really what parents should know about gaming — it is what they should know about their kids. Parents should be able to trust their children enough to know that the content displayed in the video games should not influence their behavior. With that being said, it’s always a good idea for parents to research any kind of media that their child is viewing to make sure it’s appropriate for them.

Henry: If kids are playing games online, you can sometimes chat with other players and that’s okay if you’re playing with a friend. But if you’re playing with people you don’t know, they might swear. In some games, if you say bad words you can get kicked out. Parents should check out what their kids are playing. Parents can check the history of the computer to find out what game sites their child has been playing on, too.

A bNetS@vvy Interview with parent Rich Wood.

Q:        You are a father who is savvy about and enjoys online technology, like gaming.  Tell us about your tech knowledge and how it compares to that of your sons.

A:        I’ve spent the last 20 years in front of a computer. I first used Apple Macintoshes when they debuted in 1984. I like digital gadgets of all kinds. iPods, GPS, digital cameras. I’m on Facebook. I really want a supercool smartphone.

Yet my two sons, ages 10 and 13, are wired in ways I couldn’t imagine when I was their age, in the era of Pong and Radio Shack TR(a)S(h) 80 computers. If we let them, William and Henry would spend all day dinking around with the iMac. Or the Wii. Or their mom’s iBook. Or my Windows laptop. Or on their iPods, or our Flip camera or my Canon digital SLR. My wife, a kindergarten teacher at a low-income school, says third-graders who don’t have computers at home have their own MySpace pages. 

Our sons, like the kids at my wife’s school, have been wired since the age of 2.

Q:        Within limits, you do allow your kids to play games, like on Wii or games they can access via computers and mobile devices.  You’re comfortable with giving them some freedom online, so long as you and your wife monitor their activity.  In your opinion, what role do parents play in this online, digital world our kids inhabit?

A:        We’re in a time of transition. I’m a GenXer. We helped invent this stuff, yet it still seems so new. We’re adapting. The new generation, the Millennials, they don’t know any other way. But both generations are learning:

• William logged on to our eBay account. It was easy. We’d set up the automatic eBay login. William waited until there was 30 seconds left, and then bid $500 on a Wii (about twice retail). I e-mailed the seller and explained that William was 10 and did not have $500. The guy understood and went with the back-up bidder. Lesson: Manually log in to sites like eBay, and don’t tell your kids your password. (A few weeks later, we bought a Wii at a bricks-and-mortar retail store for the regular price.)
• When Henry was seven, he had a friend over. They Googled Bob the Builder. They put an extra O in Bob. Hours after the friend went home, his mom called and described the Triple-X Web site her son had been exposed to at our house. Lesson: Teach your kids to spell. Seriously, invest in some good filtering software, hover over your kids’ shoulder (not very practical) or accept the fact that kids today are going to see and hear things that we’d rather keep secret. If they do see and hear those things, then talk to them about it!

Soon, we’re going to talk about appropriate ways to create alter egos in the online, interactive Mii part of Nintendo’s Wii.

Q;        You seem so comfortable with your kids’ online activity.  You’re informed enough to know that you need to talk to them about what’s appropriate in the world of interactive, online gaming, for example.  What some might see as a threat, you see as an opportunity, given responsible parental oversight.

A:        Yes.  Creating alter egos for the Mii part of Wii, that’s a chance to talk about race, gender and stereotypes. With the Wii Mii, you create new people from existing parts, kind of like a digital Mr. Potato Head (PLAYSKOOL actually has an online Mr. Potato Head coloring game for pre-schoolers).

And who knows what’s next? Maybe in a few years, William and Henry will become video game programmers or create the next YouTube or Facebook.

Q:        What advice do you have for parents who want to learn more about helping kids game safely?

• Don’t buy your kids excessively or gratuitously violent video games. Kids don’t have a natural predisposition for violent games, so why encourage them? (We apply the same principle to movies.)
• Put the computer or game console in a prominent, public place in your house. That makes it easier to keep on an eye on what your kids are doing. Bedrooms are bad.
• There are a lot of free, Web-based games, such as addictinggames.com. Avoid the violent ones (see above). But many of the games are silly and simple, and they’re free. You don’t have to spend $50 to have fun. Pbskids.org/games is a great site and no violent games.
• Limit the amount of time your kids play video games, whether it’s on the Web, CD-based or on their game console. They DO have better things to do.
• Play video games with your kids. Some of the basic Wii games, like baseball and bowling, are so simple even adults can play them. (Super Smash Bros. Brawl? It’s way too frenetic and fast-moving for your typical 40-year-old.)

Q:        Can you please define a few relevant gaming terms for our audience?

Rich Wood’s Gaming Glossary:

• Mii: A cartoon-like character, or alter-ego, created on the Nintendo Wii. Miis can interact via the Internet.
• Flip camera: A small digital video camera with four buttons that can retail for $129.99. It can upload videos to YouTube in three steps and 10 minutes.
• Sims: The ultra-popular computer game that allows players to create characters, cities and families, among other social constructs.
• Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Mario Cart: Remember roly-poly Mario from Donkey Kong, the 1980s arcade game? He’s still around in these current Nintendo Wii games.

A former newspaper reporter, Rich Wood is media specialist and an organizer for the Washington Education Association. His wife is a kindergarten teacher and an NEA member.

Selected gaming quotations from the author’s sons, William and Henry (ages 10 and 13)

• William: “My favorite games are Super Smash Brothers brawl and Mario Cart. They’re fun. They just are.

• William on Web-based games: “You hear about them from friends and kids at school. Then we Google them to find them.”

• William on store-bought CD games: “I like Zoo Tycoon and the Sims. You get to build stuff.”

• William: “My Mii looks like me.”

• Henry: I go to friends’ houses and play the games. Then I ask my Dad to buy them.”

• Henry: I don’t like glitches, like when the games don’t work. The manual doesn’t tell you anything. We try the games on someone else’s Wii.”

• Henry: “My favorite Wii game is Mario Cart because I like to race people. I race people from other countries on the Internet. You have a profile and it has your Mii. You can do it on Guitar Hero, too, but it doesn’t tell you their country.”

• Henry: “I like addictinggames.com. Because they’re addicting!”

• Henry: My friends tell me about YouTube videos, like “How to be Ninja.” The funny ones.  People acting really dumb.”

• Henry: “It’s not very hard (to make a movie). We made comedies with our cousins.”

Ed. Note: The article and sidebar above contain references to brand-name devices and games.  These references reflect the experiences and viewpoints of the authors and do not reflect any official endorsement or recommendation on the part of bNetS@vvy.

As an ITF/Media Specialist, I could begin this piece with a long explanation of the journey I have taken the past five years in the multi-user virtual world of Second Life.   I could explain how I struggled to get my administrators and teachers to “buy-in” to this new 3-D online frontier, and then I might pontificate upon the majestic learning that happens there every day.  I could continue with a treatise on digital learners and how their needs are different and finally provide a long list of recommended readings that say it all over again, with more syllables.  But no– let’s start simple — let’s keep it simple.

Virtual Worlds (also known as multi-user virtual environments or muves) have been around long enough now to become mainstream in our children’s online culture.  Whether it is your 6 year-old playing in Webkins or Club Penguin, your 9 year-old in Disney’s Toon Town or your teen in Teen Second Life, Habbo Hotel, or There.com, kids are in these worlds – and they are not leaving!

So what’s the appeal?  Why have muves become the new playground for scores of kids as well as adults?  Because they are visually rich, engaging, and most of all, social!   Kids do not want to be isolated; they want to belong.  They prefer a certain level of anonymity  because of all the uncertainty and insecurity that accompanies the road to adulthood.  Muves allow for this. Proprietors of these worlds encourage safety and security measures for kids.  In fact, they usually outline rules and requirements about privacy quite clearly in their terms of service.

Concerns I often hear voiced from parents and teachers who are faced with trying to compete with muves for their child’s attention are often fear-based and misdirected.  The press has taken a sensational slant to nurture the dark side of the Internet and now they have extended that focus to virtual worlds, convincing uninitiated caregivers that there is a pedophile lurking around every virtual corner and a bully behind every keystroke!

Teachers worry that this time spent at the computer has preempted reading and writing (i.e. literacy), and that muves are denying kids the socialization that real world exchanges provide.  I would counter that argument with the fact the media literacy is a primary factor to success in the 21st century, and that virtual worlds are providing the context in which to learn.

Parents are befuddled with the level of engagement and focus their kids can devote to the virtual world, when they can’t seem to extract a complete sentence from them at the dinner table.  Based upon my personal experience, and that I have had with 1400 middle school students, as well as their teachers, let me venture to offer a few basic suggestions to help guide your understanding.

1.   Start out with a bank of unbiased information, — do your homework!  Read about the different worlds and their specific capabilities.  Find out which age group is the primary target audience and how much security (or lack of) the platform enforces.  Look to see if the interface is well supported and whether or not the content is creative, interactive, and engaging. Look for the learning that occurs within the context of play.

2.   Provide choices!  Have your child try a few different worlds.  Let your child direct their own experience but keep an eye out for any inordinate level of frustration or, conversely, of the dreaded plague of boredom.

3.   Involvement with your child’s online activity is key!  Muves, just like any other online activity require PARENTAL SUPERVISION!  Set a timer if you are concerned about over use.  Sit down with your child and have them explain what they are doing  and why they like it.  Play with them! (What a novel idea!)

4.   Join list-serves and websites that surround the virtual world, in order to stay educated and share your ideas and questions with a like-minded group. Encourage your child to contribute to wikis and in-world postings (they’ll practice reading, writing, and socialization).

5.   Model healthy habits.  Let your child see you get up from the computer and take a bike ride, go to a park (bring the dog), plant a garden, read a book, paint, play music, dance, sing, build a birdhouse, bake a pie, build a sandcastle, walk in the woods, build a snowman, throw a party, throw a ball…you get it?

Schools are just not able to provide your kids the degree of instruction in literacy skills demanded by the media-rich, abundant information landscape that is available to them.  They are trying — and a few are on their way — but for the most part they are strangled in systemic demands for compliance with standardized testing which breeds standardized teaching.  You have a golden opportunity here to bond, to have fun, and to guide your child’s experience with the technology tools and skills that will serve them well in their future that is under construction.

Peggy Sheehy serves as ITF/ Media Specialist at Suffern Middle School, Suffern, NY. She is a fierce advocate for the meaningful infusion of technology in education and has presented her work with education in Teen Second Life at the Tech Expo, NYSCATE, NECC, EdNet, and the Tech Forum NY. As a true pioneer in virtual world education, she is sought out for advice, curriculum direction and professional development. Her vision encompasses a globally collaborative 3-D virtual world campus where learning is student-centered, product-based, playful, and creative. See her blog here:  http://ramapoislands.edublogs.org

Our focus this issue is on gaming – what does that mean in a Web 2.0 age?  We’re not talking Monopoly, kickball or even Ms. Pac Man anymore; when people talk about “gaming,” they mean computer games, online games, and virtual reality games.  What do parents and teachers need to know about gaming, and how can they use that knowledge to help kids “game” smartly and safely?

This issue tackles those questions from a variety of viewpoints.  In From the Experts, Internet safety expert Sharon Cindrich discusses the pros and cons of children gaming for education and entertainment.  In Parents’ Corner, parent Rich Wood gives us his perspective on how to responsibly parent kids who love to game. Our Teacher’s Desk piece features Peg Sheehy, an ITF/Media Specialist and virtual world educator, explaining how virtual world “gaming” can help prepare students for 21^st century success.  And in our Youth Voices segment Internet safety expert Sharon Cindrich interviews youngsters Henry and Maddie about why they love gaming, and how they work with adults to stay safe.

We’ll continue to cover the topic of gaming and kids’ safety here at bNetS@vvy; you’ll find ongoing information at the Gaming section of our site.  We also suggest that you check out Common Sense Media’s Games page, to help you select appropriate games for your child and keep your gaming child safer online.   You may also want to visit Microsoft’s public service website Get Game Smart or peruse their list of tips for parents of gamers which includes advice for helping kids cope with gaming cyberbullies and “griefers.”

Be sure also to take a look at some new downloadable, easy-to-print tools now featured on bNetS@vvy.  Each tool was created by the Family Online Safety Institute, a leader in Internet safety efforts.

• A Family Online Safety Contract,  to help parents establish rules and set limits for their children’s online activity.

• A Children’s Bill of Rights for the Internet, to help kids see that they deserve and should demand safety online.

• The Parents’ Child Protection Guide for the Internet, which offers “Ten Things You Can Do Today to Protect Your Children on the Internet.”

Thanks for reading, and let us know about your tips/strategies for gaming, and Internet/social technology safety.  We’re always looking for new contributors to bNetS@vvy, 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.

Sincerely,

Mary Esselman, editor, bNetS@vvy

Walk into any school classroom today and there’s a good chance you’ll find children playing educational games – video games, computer games and online games.

What started with Pac Man and a game of Pong has turned into a 21 billion dollar industry producing games that incorporate sophisticated strategies, spectacular graphic effects and multi-layer, multi-player gaming platforms. 

Gaming is almost impossible to avoid in today’s tech-saturated world. According to the Entertainment Software Association, 65 percent of households play computer or video games, and many children have had quite a bit of practice with the mouse or game joystick before they even hit kindergarten. But, is this a bad thing?

 ”In my experience, today’s kindergarten class is equally divided by those that are exposed to gaming and those that are not,” says Stacey Kannenberg, parenting expert and author of Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten. Kannenberg charges that gaming, while entertaining, actually helps develop fine motor skills, primes a child for computer learning and uses repetition to teach basic skills.  ”The children who are not exposed to the computer might have slower motor skills in the areas of coloring and cutting with a scissors.”

Part of the reason for an increase in digital game-savvy kindergarteners is their parents, explains Kannenberg. “More and more parents are realizing the value of gaming because many of today’s parents are digital natives who grew up during the evolution of gaming.”

In many cases, teachers are using digital games as teaching tools for traditional subjects and finding that children are motivated beyond the basic objectives of the game to challenge themselves past their typical skill ability. “Young kids are playing sophisticated games with layers of learning,” says Kannenberg, adding that a child who earns digital coins in a game to take care of and feed her digital pet doesn’t even realize she’s learning. “You have to ask yourself, what would you rather do:  sit at your desk and listen to your teacher talk about the value of coins or play a computer game that teaches the same thing by allowing you to earn and spend money?” 

Tracey Christman, an education columnist and mother of two, was thrilled when a computer game helped her son with math. “My son had difficulty memorizing his math facts and we used a computer game program to help him practice,” says Christman, who is also a school psychologist for Milwaukee Public Schools. “I think some games online are wonderful, engaging, challenging, and reinforce the targets for the grade. My son would have never learned his math facts without the aid of a computer program.”

While there’s no denying the educational benefits, gaming also presents parents and teachers with unprecedented challenges. Despite the fact that over half of digital games purchased in 2008 were rated “E” for “everyone” (6 years and up), or E10+ for “everyone 10 years and up,” content is a concern.

“Let’s face it there are many violent and inappropriate games on the market that could be detrimental in the development of a young child,” says Kannenberg. 

Christman agrees. “A huge negative for me as a parent and professional is the use of realistic violence in games. The games kids play can involve killing people, hurting people. Exposure to this level of violence is not part of the normal development of children and comes out in their play, drawings, and stories.”

Even non-violent games are a worry for parents. Amanda Robison, a mother of two children ages 9 and 12, believes gaming affects her children’s behavior. “I see a direct correlation between my kids’ bad behavior and the amount of time they spend in front of game screens. They get crabby and irritable, very much like when they haven’t gotten enough sleep.” Robison also has concerns about her children’s activity levels, and sets time limits in order to help them mix up their activities. “Gaming – working on the computer – is addicting, and both kids are less active than they used to be,” says Robison.

So what is a concerned parent to do? Practice good old-fashioned parenting:  set limits, define boundaries, and enforce rules.  This takes vigilance, foresight, and the ability to communicate clearly, all of which, of course, can be exhausting.   The rewards, however, are more than worth the effort.  When it comes to online gaming safety, sticking to clearly defined rules is of paramount importance if kids – and their parents – hope to enjoy the benefits of educational (and entertaining) games.

While it has been difficult, Robison believes that consistent parental guidance teaches children another important skill – to be cautious and critical when it comes to digital games. “Through educational and monitored child-friendly network opportunities, [my children] have become savvy and smart technology users! We are cautious parents who always do our homework with regard to what’s age and developmentally appropriate and still fits our moral compass – we try to keep games with weapons at a minimum!”

Over time, Robison feels consistently enforcing her family values and boundaries when making gaming choices has helped teach her children to do the same – a critical competence that will come into play as they become more independent. “By now, enough time has passed that our kids have shown us they are consistently conscientious and careful, too.”

Sharon Miller Cindrich is a mom, the author of E-Parenting: Keeping Up With Your Tech-Savvy Kids (Random House 2007) and the syndicated column “Plugged In Parent” featured in newspapers and magazines nationwide. Learn more at www.pluggedinparent.com <http://www.pluggedinparent.com>  or www.sharonmillercindrich.com <http://www.sharonmillercindrich.com> .

Parents are increasingly using social networks to keep kids safer online and in the real world, but sometimes you need structure to succeed, as parent Kate Mattos discovered.

I opened the drawer of my jewelry box and my stomach dropped: there was nothing in the drawer, nothing.  A black hole of stolen jewelry. I checked the next drawer, and the next. They too were empty. I had been burgled.

Later that bright spring morning, the police came and took my report. That’s when I learned that there had been other burglaries in my safe, suburban neighborhood. The burglar typically struck in the morning, shortly after people had left for work. With 30 or more homes hit in the area, why had I not known?

My next step was one that would not have even been possible 15 years ago: I got on the Internet. I checked the police department Website and found a running list of burglaries in my area. I e-mailed my civic association leadership to tell them about it.

Next, I sent a note to my middle school PTA listserv. I knew that parents occasionally leave sick children home alone while they spend a few hours at work-what if the burglar entered a home with a child in it? Or a child came home early and surprised the villain in the house?

Almost as soon as I hit “send,” PTA listserv exploded. Parents were sympathetic, curious, worried. They wanted to know when it happened, what was taken, and how I was. I learned about the burglaries in an adjacent quiet leafy neighborhood-so many, in fact, that the civic association there had put out articles and held a meeting about the problem. Worried about the kids, the school principal emailed with me, noting that the school was distributing a handout urging parents to follow safety guidelines, such as ensuring that children don’t walk home alone. Teachers sent e-mails and asked how my child was handling the situation. 

I was grateful for the support, but I began to notice something. Here was all this advice in a chattering listserv, but not one expert leading the discussion. What was the best way to navigate all the considerate suggestions and caring advice? No one was a home security specialist or a police officer-someone who could take all the collective concern to the next level of action and protection. No one to give us next steps and solutions.

Welcome to Democracy 2007. Make no mistake: I love the fact that at 11:00 at night I can reach out and find support. I love the power of finding out more with a click of the mouse. Networking proved to be an extraordinary way to get connected to people who really do care about me. This e-conversation was a community builder. And I did get, I think, good advice.

But I came to strongly believe that the outpouring of counsel must be tempered by expertise. I needed to learn about the best ways to protect myself and my family and about the after-effects of a burglary, the loss and deep uneasiness. I needed to know how to help my child develop the skills to stay safe. The reality is that I got that offline, from the police, a security company, and an expert at work.

I thought about my sixth-grader and the way she uses social networks. She often gets “real” information from her friends through their e-mail communications. They trade stories-some real, some

not-about what lurks on the Internet, on the streets, or in the school. No one is monitoring those conversations. No expert is there to help give facts or guide their conversations.

For many online lists and social networks, open discussion in which everyone is equal is the point-and indeed, the value. But in some cases, especially when it comes to safety (for children or adults, online or off), it can be useful to include reliable authorities to move things to the next level. Here are a few suggestions:

• Include or nominate leaders and experts who can speak with authority on certain topics and guide the discussion (reining it in if it becomes speculative or off-topic).
• Help youth understand the differences between “experts” in online forums (often well intentioned contributors) and those whose credentials can be verified and who have authority to speak to an issue.
• Remind kids that you can read their online communications. (Yes, it can be done!) Then, help to interpret speculative or faulty information. 
• Place computers where you can monitor what children are doing. At home, I keep computers out of bedrooms.

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Kate Mattos is Communications Counsel for the National Education Association and the mother of an 11- year-old daughter.

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Online predators.

Many kids are eager for validation and acceptance, which makes them vulnerable to advances from predators. Nearly 20 percent of online teens say they’ve received unwanted sexual advances, according to the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. It’s a good idea to protect names, schools and addresses and to avoid posting videos and pictures, which can reveal a child’s location.

Cyber-bullying.

This can take many forms, including sending threatening or harassing emails, texts, or IMs (called “flames”), posting false information using another child’s password, or changing passwords and altering or deleting information from someone else’s site.

 Academic disruption.

Social networking can be a useful academic tool, but it can also lead to problems with focus, attention, and schoolwork. A 2006 Kaiser Family Foundation report found that when students are studying on their computers, they’re actually doing something else-IMing, e-mailing, downloading files, or watching TV-65 percent of the time. Grades may suffer as social connections flourish.

Damaging content.

Any time information is transferred, there’s the risk of inadvertently downloading inappropriate files, viruses or malicious scripts that can damage a user’s computer. Teens need to know what to watch for and how to avoid the bad stuff.

Legal and financial pitfalls.

It’s also important to talk to kids about safeguarding financial information, or avoiding illegal file-sharing.

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