Empowering Today’s Youth to Make Wise Choices Online This presentation is brought to you courtesy of the Internet safety experts here at Caledonia

Web Wise Kids….our goals To bring the issue of internet safety to the forefront To educate middle school children and teenagers on how to remain safe online To educate parents and teachers about online safety To initiate communication between parents and teens about online content To assist local groups in implementing Internet safety programs

The Need for Internet Safety The Internet has great potential for good, but it has also provided predators with almost unhindered access to teens, and provides them with the anonymity they need. There are people online who deliberately target teens and purposely expose them to inappropriate, even criminal, material and activities. Through the Internet, kids are often tricked or manipulated to look at pornography, join gangs, commit crimes, leave home, engage in sexual acts with adults, and more.

Who is most at risk online? Teenagers. They have a high level of autonomy & independence Are technologically savvy (far beyond their parents and teachers) but have little wisdom about good boundaries

Online, they know they won’t be dismissed based on appearance; it feels safer than “real life” relationships In online relationships, there is a lack of social constraint: two “loners” are communicating with no one watching. This anonymity leads to self- disclosure and a strong sense of intimacy They are highly curious about romance & sex In almost all crimes that were reported, children did know that their online friend was significantly older.

Obstacles to Safety Most parents do not talk to their teens about Internet Safety for 3 reasons: Lack of Knowledge Some parents are uninformed about the Internet and its safety hazards Denial Some parents do not want to admit that their child could be endangered by their poor Internet habits Discomfort Some parents feel uncomfortable or awkward talking about Internet safety to their child

Nationwide Parent Study One in three parents (30%) are not concerned about their children’s safety when they are online. One in five parents (20%) said they do not know any of the internet codes or passwords, IM “handles”, or addresses of their children. 5% or less of parents surveyed are familiar with acronyms most commonly used by children online (i.e. POS “parents over shoulder”, CTN “can’t talk now,” etc.)

Parent Responses Parent provides no rules at all to govern a child’s use of the Internet, or Parent provides inconsistent rules (rules exist but are rarely enforced), or Parent creates all the rules - this deprives the child of the opportunity to formulate his own internal safety standards. Child may forget or rebel against parent’s rules.

The Problem Online teens frequently communicate with people they have never met: 64% have Instant Messaged a stranger, 60% have ed a stranger, and 55% have participated in a chat room discussion with a stranger. Nearly one third (40%) of online teens said that they have talked about meeting someone whom they’ve only met through the Internet. 38% of online teens said they use code words on a daily basis to hide online conversations from their parents (e.g. “PIR” means “parent in room”).

The Problem Research Unlimited, Oct. 2005, con’t. 56% of teens said that they have been asked personal questions (such as their age, sex, or location) online by someone they have never met. More than one fourth (27%) of teens report that they have talked online about sex with someone they have never met in person. 27% of teens said that they’ve known a friend to actually meet someone they only knew online. One in five (21%) reported that a person they only know through online communication has asked to meet them.

HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS? 1,500 households; children ages from Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later Office of Juvenile Justice and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children STATS IN 2000STATS IN 2005 Exposure to unwanted sexual material (despite filtering software): 25%34% Victim of online harassment: 6% 9%

HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS? con’t. STATS IN 2000STATS IN 2005 Communicated with strangers online: 40%34% Formed a “close” online relationship with someone they met online: 16%11% Received unwanted online solicitations from strangers: 19%13% Received unwanted online solicitations from acquaintances: 3%14%

HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS? con’t. STATS IN 2000STATS IN 2005 Posted personal information online 11%34% Posted picture online 5%18% Made rude or nasty comment online (harassed others) 14%28%

On the Internet: Child/Teen predators have the “advantages” of:  Age  Experience  Practiced manipulation tactics  Sophisticated technological skills and/or equipment to lure children  Anonymity Teenagers have the “disadvantages” of:  Innocence, trust  Feeling “invincible”  A desire for acceptance and independence  A reliance on the adults in their lives to protect them from the consequences of their unsafe choices

SOME FACTS ABOUT BLOGGING taken from Pew Internet & American Life Project, "Teen Content Creators and Consumers", Nov  33% of teens post photos, stories, or videos on the web on sites such as MySpace, Friendster, Xanga, Facebook  19% of teens keep an online blog (diary); 69% of these post photos, stories or videos on the web  38% of teens read online blogs

What can we do to protect children from online predators? We CANNOT rely solely on parents to protect their children; We CANNOT rely solely on law enforcement to prevent Internet crime; We CANNOT rely solely on educators to teach our children Internet safety We CAN train children to be aware of Internet safety issues so that they can serve as their own first line of defense.

Teens need to learn: that they are vulnerable to predators, even if they feel invincible How dangerous it is to post personal information and photos online how to remain as anonymous as possible when using the Internet to avoid endangering themselves how to recognize and repel the advances of a predator what to do and who to talk to if they feel they have been approached by a stranger online that it is NEVER a good idea to meet in person someone they have “gotten to know” online

The Web Wise Kids Approach Divergence from the lecture format: Web Wise Kids offers Fun and Educational downloadable computer detective games called MISSING, Mirror Image and AirDogs. Ongoing support and education: Web Wise Kids offers parents, teachers, youth leaders, and law enforcement the use of a prepared Internet safety program.

Why Our Games work Innovative Innovative Fun Fun Educational Educational Easy for any facilitator to use Easy for any facilitator to use Challenging for teens Challenging for teens Avoids the “lecture” format Avoids the “lecture” format

National Research Research shows that middle school age students learn best when they are actively engaged with content. Multimedia approaches assist learners understanding of concepts and relationships not explainable in print text. Technology allows students to make a hands-on, minds-on approach to solving problems that is authentic and relevant. National Middle School Association

An Internet Safety Plan Teens are encouraged to create their own guidelines for safe online behavior Discussion is encouraged in classroom and at home with parents Creative assignments help children internalize what they have learned

The Problem: CYBERSTALKING Every year, 1.3 million Americans are terrorized by stalkers. 65% of these stalkings begin online. Yet, many victims never report their stalkers.

The Problem: PIRACY and BULLYING The NEA estimates that 160,000 students miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by a bully. 80 to 90 percent of students state that they have been bullied at school. Thousands of teens don’t understand that copying and downloading games and music without permission is stealing, and it can have lifelong consequences for them and their families.

A Quick look at Some Other Issues Facing the “E-Generation”  Gaming, gambling, online crimes, piracy  Viruses, worms  Vocabulary of E-subculture  Pornography (online and now on cell phones)  Phishing (to name a few: Ebay, Paypal, MasterCard)  Computer Addiction  … and many more.

My child knows more about the computer than I do. What can a parent do ?...

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