Don’t be scared, be aware.
A report was released today by the Pew Internet and American Life Project (a favorite research firm of mine) called “Teens and online stranger contact report” that I encourage you to read (a PDF download is available at the site). It outlines experiences teens have online with strangers. Only 7% of those asked said they had contact with a stranger that made them feel scared or uncomfortable. That probably 7% more than you and I as parents would like.
This has led to more school districts running events on how to protect your children online. I’ll be participating on a panel at the high school in our town next month on social networking. I’ll outline what to look for, how to teach your children what is right and wrong behavior online, and even how to participate and encourage your children in using various online social networking tools.
In discussing this with parents in our town, I learned that parents in general are very nieve to what their children do online. Most have never used Facebook or MySpace, few IM or text message (unless it is from their child, and then it’s usually responded to by a phone call from the parent since T9 text messaging is foreign to many adults). So that prompted me to propose a workshop for all of the elementary schools in our town to bring parents up to speed. From the response I got that night I proposed it to the PTA board, I think we’ll be doing this soon.
My point is this - you can’t protect or teach your children about appropriate online behavior unless you’ve participated yourself. Ask what social networking site your child uses - for the younger ones it’s probably Webkinz or Club Penguin. For the older ones it’s probably MySpace or more likely Facebook. Get yourself an account. Learn what they can do. Connect with your child online. Be involved in their online world.
The more you know, the better your children will be. Happy surfing!