Staying Connected | Restricting Access | What's Online About Your Family
Widespread use of information technology by young people is here to stay. U.S. Department of Education statistics (PDF) show that children begin using computers and the Internet in nursery school. Statistics from 2003 indicate the trends in Internet use:
Nursery School: 67% used computers; 23% used the Internet
Kindergarten: 80% used computers; 32% used the Internet
High School: 97% used computers; 80% used the Internet
Overall, 91% of students used computers, 59% used the Internet
When
parents hear about online dangers, some may want to either ignore the problems or turn off their computers.
And when children face a potential threat online, they would often rather deal with the threat on
their own than turn to a parent or other trusted adult for help.
According to the 2006 Teen Internet Safety Survey conducted by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Cox Communications, 33 percent of 13- to 17-year olds reported that their parents or guardians know "very little" or "nothing" about what they do on the Internet.
Unfortunately, according the 2006 study Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later (PDF), when young people go online:
13% (1 in 7) received unwanted sexual solicitations.
34% communicate with people they have never met.
11% establish close personal relationships with individuals they meet online.
For parents, the solution is not to restrict access to the Internet but to learn more about the potential problems and then teach their children how to use the Internet safely.
Staying Connected
Adults typically think of technology as a tool for working, managing money, shopping, finding information and communicating. Many adults, especially those who spend their days working at a computer, welcome the opportunity to occasionally get away from technology.
In
contrast, young people often report that technology is central to entertainment and maintaining friendships.
Some young people believe they would lose many of their social contacts or friendships if they could
not connect to the digital world. After school, children and teenagers often head home and log on
to the Internet to stay connected with their friends, especially if they don't have the freedom afforded
by a driver’s license. And they may stay connected for most of the evening.
For many teens, social networking on web pages is an important part of their lives. According to the 2007 Teen Internet Safety Survey:
- 71% of online teens ages 13-17 have created a personal profile on a social networking site like MySpace, Friendster or Xanga. These sites allow children to create their own websites and share their personal information with anyone, anywhere in the world. Creating a profile is a way young people can experiment with their identities.
- 58% of teens post information about where they live
- 70% of females and 58% of males post personal photos or videos of themselves
- 8% post their cell phone numbers online
Parents need to teach their children that:
- they should never share personal information like their actual name, age, email address, physical address, city, phone number, school name or names of family members and friends in their profiles.
- if they (or someone else) uploads photos or information to the Internet, that information can never be retrieved or controlled.
- once something is on the Internet, anyone can access it. Anyone can download it, resend it, print it and even alter it to look like something it is not.
Restricting Access…why it doesn't work
Young
people's online lives are very important to them. But teens are not likely to be open about a potential
cyber threat if they feel their parents' reaction could put an end to their computer access and communication.
From a young person's perspective, that punishment poses a far greater threat to his or her social
life than a cyber predator poses. That's one reason education and open communication about computer
use between you and your child are so important.
Preventing a child from accessing the Internet by taking away computer privileges at home or school does not solve the problem. It may potentially create even greater problems if your child finds other ways to access the Internet that you don't know about.
Downloading filtering software on the computer a child uses at home isn't enough. Children can easily access the Internet in other ways and most filtering software can be defeated.
Young people can go online with a cell phone or gaming console like Sony PlayStation, Nintendo or handheld gaming devices, or at:
- coffee shops and restaurants with Internet access
- hotels with Internet access
- a neighbor's house with wireless Internet access
- schools
- public libraries
- friends' houses
Parents should also remember that accidents happen. If you find inappropriate material on your computer and there is no repeated pattern, give your child the benefit of the doubt. This will show trust and help keep communication open. Remember that threatening to take a computer away from a child is one of the biggest reasons children do not report incidents to their parents in the first place. Assess the threat and react appropriately.
Some
parents may choose to use a "keylogger" to monitor their children's computer use. Keyloggers,
which can be either software programs or a piece of hardware, allow you to track all activity that
occurs on a particular computer. Once installed, keyloggers are designed to collect information about
what was typed on that machine, chatroom logs and screen images (known as screen shots). Keylogger
software also can allow the installer to receive an email when a certain word is typed on that computer
– all while being virtually invisible to other computer users.
While this can be an effective way to gain information, keyloggers raise many questions about privacy and potential identity theft. Since children typically use multiple computers and can access websites, instant messaging and chat rooms with their cell phones, the effectiveness of keylogger programs is limited. Ultimately, while keylogger tools may be considered to help protect children, they are no substitute for trust and open communication between parents and teens, or for teaching your children responsible, safe behavior on the Internet.
What's Online About Your Family
Have you "Googled" yourself lately? Just because you haven't put something about yourself online does not mean someone else hasn’t.
If you have been in the news, own property or have a published phone number, or if someone simply wanted to upload information about you, personal information about you and your family is likely posted to the Internet.
To see what is out there about you or your children, here are some of the places to check:
Online profiles that
people create to access blogs, chat rooms and instant
messaging accounts. Often these are available for anyone on the Internet to review. Be sure
to check the privacy policies before willingly providing your personal information.- Social networking sites where you or anyone else can create a personal webpage about anyone, including you, and then share whatever is posted with the world. Examples include MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, hi5, Xanga and orkut. You might be able to request that your personal information be taken down from a website, but there is no guarantee that someone has not already seen it and even saved the information.
- Search engines such as Google and Yahoo, or Icerocket, which specializes in blog searches. Since someone can always create multiple social networking site accounts, consider running a search through some of them by using a search engine. You can find pictures of yourself online if the image file includes your name. Conduct an image search on Google using your name and see what comes up.
- Local, state or federal government websites that provide access to public information. Examples include mt.gov online services, Zabasearch.com and WhitePages.com.
- Online background check services.