Parenting the Net Generation - Preview Version

© 2009 Media Awareness Network

www.media-awareness.ca

Vision: To ensure children and youth possess

the necessary critical thinking skills and tools

to understand and actively engage with media


Parenting the Net Generation Presentation1.Kids’ Online

Activities

2.Safety Issues

3.Online Marketing

4.Credibility of Online Information

5.Strategies for Safe, Wise and Responsible Use


Kids’ Online Activities

Kids need to bring critical thinking to all information, including: television, movies, video games, music, magazines, advertising and the Internet

What is media education and why do young people need it?



Young Canadians are a highly-connected generation:

half of teens have computers in their bedrooms

tweens use the Internet for two hours daily

teens use it for three hours

one-third of youth play games online

two-thirds of girls use the Internet primarily for socializing



The Internet is not another world – it’s just another space where kids live their daily lives

Today’s wired kid is a social one, connecting with friends and making new ones

Kids who spend more time online are more confident about their social abilities


Friends are always accessible through e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, chat rooms and cell phones

Everyone is equal on the Internet: children who areshy can develop relationships with peers online

Online communities encourage the developmentof real-world social skills and values

Safety Issues


InteractivitySafety Issues



Most IM software allows kids to block people they don’t know

Review contact lists for strangers

Use the “Keep ahistory of myconversations”option



Webcams often come built in to computers

Stand-alone webcams can cost as little as $20

Skype allows users to call any other Skype user in the world for free



Keep webcams out of kids’ rooms

Kids should:

close the lens cap or turn camera off when not in use

never use a webcam with strangers

never do anything they wouldn’t want the entire world to see



45% of teens say a cell phone is essential to their daily lives

42% say they can write text messages blindfolded

40% say they would diewithout their cell phones

20% say they have sent orposted nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves (“sexting”)



59% of kids pretend to besomeone else online

28% do so because theywant to see what it wouldbe like to be older

23% want to flirt with older people

Kids use the Internet to experiment with their identity:



Creating Identities on Social Networking Sites





On sites like MySpace, status comes from having thousands of “friends” view your profile









Virtual Worlds



online predators rarely misrepresent their age or their motives

youth, 13-15, involved in risky behaviours (talking with strangers, flirting, posting intimate information) are most at risk

majority of solicitations received from other youth (under 21)

Research on online predation shows:


CyberbullyingSafety Issues

Impact of cyberbullying can be more devastating than real-world bullying:

the person often doesn’t know who is bullying them

many people can covertly witness and join in the bullying



half of students report being bullied online (University of Toronto, 2008)

reasons for being harassed online include physical appearance, ability and/or sexual orientation (Shariff, 2008)

81% report that cyberbullying has become worse since the previous year (Shariff, 2008)

Prevalence of cyberbullying among students:



“Technology doesn’t provide tangible feedback

about the consequences of actions on others.”

(Willard, 2000) The lack of non-verbal visual cues makes it difficult to gauge how actions are being received by others

Building empathy is key to promoting pro-social behaviours in youth



“Technology allows us to be invisible or anonymous.”

(Willard, 2000)If a person can’t be identified with an action, then feelings of accountability are diminished

68% of students in Grades 6 and 7 who have been cyberbullied know the identity of the perpetrator (University of Toronto, 2008)


For more information on licensing the full workshop contact:

Media Awareness Networkwww.media-awareness.ca

[email protected]

This workshop preview has been produced by

Education

Parenting the Net Generation - Preview Version