Internet safety is of critical importance to kids in this generation. Our students are getting more and more connected with digital entities such as social media and Skype and with that dramatic shift in communication arises a need to understand the safety implications associated with online identities.
We’ve all see the horrific and scary Dateline NBC “To catch a predator” shows and know that there are real dangers coming from chat rooms to our children. What I like about the video posted from KINSA is that although it was a little dated, the focus was on giving the parents a real look and tips at how this all works. What surprises me, coming from a digital crime background is how proficient the children of today are at identifying threats. Many of today’s internet savvy kids already know what to look for when chatting online and are not as gullible as society would make them seem.
However, that doesn’t negate the fact that they’re operating in risky territory and the parents need to be more prepared. This video goes a long way to help, but more emphasis needs to be placed on monitoring your kids contact lists without violating their privacy too much. If kids don’t feel they have privacy or that their “personal lives” are being threatened, they’ll become more secretive and work on more covert methods of contacting friends online. This is all bad news for parents, because it means they’re competing with their kids for control of a world they don’t understand where the child holds the advantage because they’re a digital native.
As with most problems, the golden ticket is education – more education for the kids and the parents. Not just the involved soccer moms, ALL the parents.
No comments:
Post a Comment