Posts Tagged ‘Cybersafety’

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Parents are Worried and So They Should Be

September 9, 2011

Parents are clearly worried about their children’s online activities.  They are worried about the content they get access to and the people they befriend and chat with on social media sites such as Facebook.

In a nationwide survey conducted by legal information website FindLaw.com, it was revealed that 67 percent of 627 parents are extremely worried (10%), very worried (18%) or somewhat worried (39%) about their children’s safety online. About 20% said that they are not very worried while 14% are not worried at all. The study was done with a small sampling but FindLaw.com said that it was demographically representative.

Most parents are taking steps to restrict their children’s use of the Internet. Steps taken vary, including: monitoring which sites they visit (35%); using site-blocking software (21%); restricting their access to computers (19%); restricting the use of social networks (18%); reading their emails or social posts (17%); and not allowing any Internet use (8%).

I recently attended a Professional Development session on cyber culture.  The survey conducted by AISV interviewed thousands of kids from Grade 4 to Year 8 and collected information about their internet habits.  Some of the interesting findings included:

  • 1 in 5 year 5/6′s don’t consult parents about their internet activity.
  • 15% of year 5′s and 20% of year 6′s have internet access in their bedrooms.
  • Half the respondents claim they don’t have parent imposed internet rules.
  • 30% of respondents know ways in which to circumvent parental controls such as bypassing net filters and minimising pages when parents approach.
  • 40% of respondents name their school or city on social media sites such as Facebook.
  • 84% use chat rooms on a daily basis.
  • Approx. 3/4 don’t use privacy function on their social media pages.

I have 2 tips for parents to help keep their children safe.

1.  Don’t allow them to have a computer (or move the i-Pad or notebook) in their bedroom.  Instead keep the computer in the living room or another room that is open to you and other adults.

2.  Please watch the clip below with your children.  It is a brilliant clip about cybersafety.  I have posted it before and will continue to do so when discussing this issue.

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Posted in Cyber Safety | 1 Comment »

Should Schools Punish Their Students For Their Online Behaviour?

August 22, 2011

Whilst I feel that the courts made the correct ruling, preventing an Indiana high school from punishing two girls for posting racy photos online, I applaud the school for trying to address the behaviour.  This was clearly not a school issue and therefore not within their jurisdiction.  This was something the parents of the two girls could either address or ignore.  But what I like about this story is that a school cared enough about their reputation, setting an example of proper behaviour and helping those two girls reflect on their actions.

Two Indiana girls — one 16, one 15 — took racy photos of themselves at a slumber party and posted them online. When their high school found out, it suspended the girls from participating in a certain amount of their extracurricular activities. Can the school legally do that?

A federal district court in Fort Wayne, Ind., recently ruled that it cannot — because the punishment violated the girls’ First Amendment rights. The legal question of what rights students have to post provocative material on the Internet, and what rights schools have to restrict such postings, is still unsettled.

I hope schools become far more active on the subject of cyberbullying and cybersafety, two issues which are not clearly within the jurisdiction of schools.  For too long schools have been only too happy to turn a blind eye to what their students do outside the school gates.

This was not the appropriate time to act but at least it wasn’t summarily ignored like so many other matters are.

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Now Schools Are Spying on Their Students

August 14, 2011

I am in favour of schools playing a far more proactive role in dealing with cyberbullying and advocating privacy settings to protect against cyber stalkers, but spying on their students’ Facebook pages is not appropriate.

SCHOOLS are using internet monitoring companies to read what students are saying on social networking sites.

The typical service used by schools such as Ascham looks at any publicly available material posted on sites such as Facebook, Formspring and Tumblr to monitor the sometimes ferocious use of the media by young people.

 

Whilst schools often go into their shells when it comes to cyberbullying, spying on their students is an invasion of privacy.  Instead of concerning themselves with publicly available material they should work harder to ensure their students have their privacy settings on.
This measure will do precious little to stop bullying.  Bullies are much smarter than we give them credit for.  They find ways to harass away from the watchful eyes of anyone that might punish them for their crimes.
Yet whilst this will do little to prevent bullying it will make the students even more negative about school and authority in general.

 

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Posted in Cyber Bullying, Cyber Safety, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Cyberstalking the Worst Type of Bullying

August 9, 2011

Another reminder of the severity of falling victim to cyber bullying:

The inability to escape from the 24 hour online world and the public nature of threats posted on the internet make being bullied electronically more intense, it was claimed.

Addressing the American Psychological Association’s Annual Convention, Elizabeth Carll said: “Increasingly, stalkers use modern technology to monitor and torment their victims, and one in four victims report some form of cyberstalking, such as threatening emails or instant messaging.”

Victims may feel stress, anxiety, fear and nightmares, as well as enduring eating and sleeping difficulties, she said.

Dr Carll, of the APA Media Psychology Division, “It is my observation that the symptoms related to cyberstalking and e-harassment may be more intense than in-person harassment, as the impact is more devastating due to the 24/7 nature of online communication, inability to escape to a safe place, and global access of the information.”

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Posted in Cyber Bullying, Cyber Safety | 1 Comment »

Police Want Parents to Spy on Their Kids Online

May 29, 2011

So bad is the problem of stalking paedophiles preying on children, that Police are advising parents to spy on their kids’ online activities.  In a perfect world parents should resist spying on their kids, as their trust is essential for a close relationship.  However, there are exceptions to this rule.  The rise of evil paedophiles who prey on naive and impressionable children, may present parents with little choice.

Parents should keep a regular and close eye on what their children do online, say Scottish police, especially on who they are chatting to.

The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) is concerned about the growing threat of grooming and the dangers of paedophilia. The Scotsman reports that since Operation Embark was set up to tackle the problem two years ago, 18 people have been convicted of online grooming and sentenced to a combined 24 years in prison, 23 years of probation, and 840 hours of community service.

Detective Inspector Eamonn Keane, who heads the SCDEA’s e-crime unit, said: “There’s various software to assist parents in helping them keep their children safe on the internet, which can help identify their computer history.

“You can set your governance tools to search for key words, so if there’s been sexually explicit behaviour from a 13 or 14-year-old it would pick up on that. You can apply parental controls on the internet in the same way as you can on digital TV channels, blocking unsuitable websites.”

Police say parents should be informal friends on Facebook and other social networks, so that they are in the loop of conversations that their kids are having.

Parents should also educate themselves about the social networks their kids are using – how they work, what functionality they offer and how often they are being used.

Social networks do not only mean Facebook – children can correspond with strangers on Bebo, YouTube, gaming networks, Twitter, MySpace and forums, as well as chat services like MSN Messenger, Skype, AOL Chat and Google Talk.

Parents: Please share this video with your children.  I have posted it before, but the clip’s importance and its powerful message will see me post it on occasion.

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