Kid Safe » Social Networking

It’s a small world after all| Cyber Bully’s not just in AmericaKymberley Page

Kymberley Page — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 02:16:50 +0000

Cyberbullying is a global problem

NEW YORK — More than 10 percent of parents around the world say their child has been cyberbullied and nearly one-fourth know a youngster who has been a victim, according to a new Ipsos/Reuters poll.

And more than three-quarters of people questioned in the global survey thought cyberbullying differed from other types of harassment and warranted special attention and efforts from parents and schools."

The data clearly shows an appetite among global citizens for a targeted response to cyberbullying," said Keren Gottfried, of the global research firm Ipsos, which conducted the poll.

But, she added, whether or not schools live up to this mandate is in the hands of educators.

The online poll of more than 18,000 adults in 24 countries, 6,500 of whom were parents, showed the most widely reported vehicle for cyberbullying was social networking sites likes Facebook, which were cited by 60 percent.

Mobile devices and online chat rooms were a distant second and third, each around 40 percent.

While the report showed that awareness of cyberbullying was relatively high, with two-thirds saying they heard, read or had seen information on the phenomenon, cultural and geographic differences abounded.

In Indonesia, 91 percent said they knew about cyberbullying, in which a child, group of children or younger teen intentionally intimidates, threatens or embarrasses another child or group through the use of information technology such as social media or mobile devices.

Australia followed at 87 percent, while Poland and Sweden trailed slightly behind. But only 29 percent in Saudi Arabia, and 35 percent in Russia, had heard of cyberbullying.

In the United States, where cases of cyberbullying have been widely reported to have been linked to teen-age suicides, the figure was 82 percent.

Gottfried described the survey as the first global study of its kind and a benchmark to where assessments of cyberbullying vary.

"The key to this study is that it measures parental awareness of cyberbullying, not actual rates of the behavior," she said. "While we can't speculate on what actually happens, it is quite possible that the proportion of children actually being cyberbullied is in fact understated, since we are speaking with the parents, not the kids."

In India 32 percent of parents said their child had experienced cyberbullying, followed by 20 percent in Brazil and 18 percent in Canada and Saudi Arabia and 15 percent in the United States.

The highest incidence of people knowing of a child in the community being targeted was in Indonesia, with 53 percent. But only 14 percent there said their child had been cyberbullied — less than in Canada, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Overall, parents in France and Spain reported some of the lowest incidence of cyberbullying either of their own child or one in their community.

Gottfried said that future studies could show whether there was a trend toward greater awareness of cyberbullying, and shed some light on what affects parental awareness.

The complete list of results and countries can be found athttp://www.ipsosglobaladvisor.com/

Parents are #1 Tool in Combating Cyber BullyingKymberley Page

Kymberley Page — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:10:15 +0000

Re-post as Kids return to school after Christmas break!

Parents must be involved

Aug. 24, 2011, 6:34 a.m. EDT

The Reporter

CERTAINLY the topic of children bullying one another is not new; it is perhaps as old as childhood itself.

What is new, and confounding, is the utilization of various electronic communication programs by children. The programs present new challenges to adults, especially parents, to control behavior by children.

While bullying has always been a problem, it is clear that cyberbullying has raised the activity to a new level. When children and teens engage in bullying by computer, they are no longer face to face with their victim. Spiteful behavior is easier without human interaction.

This, of course, is not unknown to adults. From the time the first computer bulletin boards started turning up with computer geeks in the 1970s and 1980s, members were well-known for "flaming" each other with outrageous statements. Things haven't changed all that much in the passing decades.

The technology for communication by the Internet has become far more familiar and easier to use for the general public. Today's youth take to it as second nature.

THESE NEW technologies — text messaging, Facebook, and the like — are enormously popular. But like anything else, there is a downside. Rumors that were once transmitted by word of mouth can now appear instantly within a peer group, a school, a whole community and beyond.

The charges can be embarrassing, hurtful, depressing and even deadly to the individual or individuals involved. In many ways, it is the same old story with bullying, only more so.

School districts are struggling to come up with policies to curb this activity. Schools are experimenting with a variety of policies. There is no standard. People are still feeling their way.

The activity is relatively new. It changes and seems to get worse with each introduction of a new technology. And with all things teenager, what is current today is hopelessly last year tomorrow. Seen a Sony Walkman lately?

ONE VERY old-fashioned tactic presents itself throughout: the role of parents.

Kathleen Conn, a professor who has studied cyberbullying, stated at a recent conference that "Today parents want to be their children's friend. We have to tell parents that you are the adult and children may get mad, but it may save their lives later."

It seems clear, as well as common sense, that parents need to monitor the computer activities of their children for their own safety and public good.

— Journal Register News Service, West Chester Daily Local News

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Online SafetyLarry Magid

Larry Magid — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:35:32 +0000

SafeKids.com answers questions about Internet safety

I've been working in the online safety field since 1993 when I wrote Child Safety on the Information Highway for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. That document was based on what we thought we knew at the time -- before there was any research about the way kids and teens actually use the Internet. It's still reasonably good advice for young kids, but it's no longer what I'm telling people about pre-teens and teens. Unfortunately, some people are still using that advice from 1993 to apply to all kids.

Since then we have learned a great deal about online safety, including the fact that most kids are doing pretty well. Although there are risks, many of the things that adults worry about are far less likely than some imagine.

So, to update people, I've created a new document at SafeKids.com called Online Safety FAQ which answers a lot of the most commonly asked questions such as:

Is my child at risk from online predators?
How common and dangerous is cyberbullying?
How common is sexting and what are the dangers?
Can social networks harm a person's reputation?
How much is "too much" time online?
What is the impact of pornography on kids?
What special risks are associated with Facebook, Google + and other social networks?
Is there a danger with online games?
What are the dangers associated with mobile phones?
How can my kids and I protect our security
Should I install Internet filtering or monitoring software?

Click here to see the answers to those frequently asked questions.

Rise in Social Media Correlates with Safer Experiences for TeensLarry Magid

Larry Magid — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:26:00 +0000

Here's a shocker for some. By two important measures, teens are safer online now than they were before the advent of social media.

A new report from the Crimes Against Children Research Center (CCRC) found a decline in 2010 of both unwanted sexual solicitations and unwanted exposure to pornography compared to studies conducted in 2005 and 2000.

According to a 2011 report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, "95% of all teens ages 12-17 are now online and 80% of those online teens are users of social media sites."

As I wrote in my CNET News blog, a 2010 survey of 1,500 youth between 12 and 17 found that 9 percent had received an unwanted sexual solicitation in the past year. This compares to 13 percent in 2005 and 19 percent in 2000. In all three studies, some of those unwanted sexual solicitations came from other youth, and the vast majority of them were not "aggressive." Only 3 percent of the youth in 2010 said that offline contact was attempted or made. Most youth did not find the solicitations to be frightening or disturbing. That's actually a bit lower than the 4 percent who had aggressive solicitations in 2005 and identical to the 2000 figure.

There was a small rise in the percentage of youth who experienced some type of online harassment during the 12 months preceding the survey. Eleven percent had experienced harassment in 2010, compared with 9 percent in 2005 and 6 percent in 2000.

Although sometimes used to indicate cyberbullying, harassment is not the same as bullying. The survey asked youth, "Did you ever feel worried or threatened because someone was bothering or harassing you online?" Bullying (cyber and otherwise) is defined by the Olweus Bullying Prevention program and most other experts as "aggressive behavior that involves unwanted, negative actions," along with "a pattern of behavior repeated over time" that "involves an imbalance of power or strength."

The mostly good news comes at a time when the majority of American youth are using social media, most notably Facebook. The first survey took place years before Facebook or MySpace, and the 2005 study before most teens were using Facebook (Facebook wasn't open to high school students until September 2005). Correlation doesn't necessarily imply causation, so I'm not suggesting that Facebook has necessarily caused unwanted solicitation or pornography to decline, but it obviously hasn't caused it to increase.

Could Social Networking Be Diverting Kids from More Dangerous Sites?

I'm speculating, but I do wonder, though, whether a case could be made that social media has made kids safer and less prone to unwanted pornography. For one thing, kids are now spending time in sites like Facebook instead of chat rooms, which were always the most problematic venue for unwanted solicitation. Moreover, Facebook and most other social networking sites prohibit nudity and other sexually explicit content, so while kids are on Facebook, they are very unlikely to stumble into pornography. Again, I don't have data to support this, but it sure seems likely.

The authors of the study made the same observation, pointing out that "youth have migrated from chat rooms to social networking sites over past several years. In social networking environments, youth may be confining more of their interactions to people they know, thus reducing online unwanted sexual comments or requests."

Disclosure: Larry Magid is co-director of ConnectSafely.org, a nonprofit Internet safety organization that receives financial support from Facebook, Google, Tagged, and other social media companies.

This post also appears on SafeKids.com.

Teachers: Beware of ‘Cyberbaiting’Larry Magid

Larry Magid — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:33:56 +0000

(Credit: Symantec)

A study from Symantec found that 21% of teachers had either been cyberbaited or knew a teacher who had.

Cyberbaiting, according to Symantec's Internet safety advocate, Marian Merritt, is when students deliberately provoke a teacher into doing something stupid, then video it and post it online. "This of course has the net effect of embarrassing the teacher, taking a momentary lapse of judgement in a classroom and embedding it onto the web."

As per that 21%, remember it includes teachers who know someone it happened to. Only 4% said it happened to them. Still, it's one more thing for teachers to think about.

The study -- which included interviews from kids and parents in 24 countries including the United States -- also found that 62% of kids reported that they have had a negative experience online. It also found that 95% of parents know what their kids are looking at online.

Visit my CNET Blog for a more complete report on the study and a podcast interview with Marian Merritt.

Listen to 1 minute segment

One 1-minute CBS News/CNET Tech Talk segment which includes a sound bite from Marian Merritt

Parents Helping Young Kids Lie to Get Past Facebook’s Age RestrictionsLarry Magid

Larry Magid — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:24:00 +0000

In May, Consumer Reports revealed that there were 7.5 million kids younger than 13 using Facebook, including more than five million 10 and under. In every case these kids had to lie to get around Facebook's rule that you must be 13 or older to join.

One might assume that these kids are also deceiving their parents, but that's often not the case. As I point out in my CNET blog, many parents are not only aware their kids are on Facebook but actually helped them set up the account.

Most parents know

A new study, "Why parents help their children lie to Facebook about age: Unintended consequences of the 'Children's Online Privacy Protection Act,'" points out that:

95 percent of the parents whose 10-year-old was on Facebook knew about it
78 percent of them helped the kid sign up. Of all kids under 13
68 percent of parents helped their child create the account
78 percent of parents think it is OK for their child to violate minimum age restrictions on services

Overall, said the survey, "Almost three-quarters (74 percent) of parents whose child is on Facebook and who reported a minimum age knew that their child was on Facebook below what they believed the minimum age to be."

COPPA to Blame?

The primary reason that Facebook doesn't allow kids under 13 is because of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The law doesn't force companies like Facebook that collect personal information about users to block kids under 13, but it sets up a lot of road blocks including a requirement that the company get "verifiable parental consent." The process is expensive for companies and time-consuming for parents so, most companies that allow users to enter personal information, simply don't allow kids under 13.

COPPA was written back in 1998 -- long before Facebook -- to protect kids from revealing information to be used for marketing purposes and also to reduce their risk of exploitation. But, as the study's co-author danah boyd (her legal name is all lower case) pointed out in my CBS News / CNET interview (click to listen to MP3), "If you want to participate in social media, it's not that you can participate without giving over information, that simply is not possible." The whole purpose of Facebook is to share and you need to provide at least some personal information to use the service. The solution, said boyd, "is not to make it harder for them to lie."

In June, I blogged that Facebook ought to allow children under 13, because I think that it would be a lot safer to let them on in an age appropriate manner than to collectively bury our heads in the sand and pretend that they're not there. If this were the case, it should be accompanied by all sorts of parental controls as well as greatly increased privacy settings. I would also argue that the children to given an ad-free environment and that, of course, no information be used to market to them now or in the future. There should be a limit on who they can communicate with, but they should be allowed to use the service to interact with family members and others approved by their parents. As my ConnectSafely.org colleague Anne Collier pointed out in a NetFamilyNews post, there are plenty of good reasons why we should close the "communications gap," by allowing kids under 13 to communicate via popular social networking sites.

Facebook has indicated that it has no immediate plans to challenge COPPA and has no announced plans for finding a COPPA compliant way to welcome pre-teens. So, in the mean time, it will continue to block those who enter a date of birth that indicates they're below 13 and continue to remove the account of those who they catch after the account has been established.

The Federal Trade Commission is currently reviewing COPPA and is seeking comments from the public about proposed rule changes which, currently, do not include removing the under-13 restriction.

For more, see danah boyd's post Why Parents Help Tweens Violate Facebook's 13+ Rule and Anne Collier's Kids lying to Facebook, not their parents: Study.

Disclosure: Larry Magid is co-director of ConnectSafely.org, a non-profit Internet safety organization that receives financial support from Facebookand other Internet companies.

Rock To Stop the Violence – Bullying and Cyberbullying Preventionkidsafe

kidsafe — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:01:35 +0000

This month 1 in four youth will be physically, emotionally or verbally abused by another youth. Bullying isn't a joke.

You can be an anti-bullying rock star this month. October is Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. Sure there are many programs that target anti-bullying. But what about programs in your homes, business, and tolerance or diversity classes in schools?

Rock to Stop Violence would like everyone to know the facts, choose not to ignore the warning signs of bullying on either side that can cause severe depression, low self-esteem, poor school performance and even suicide.

We encourage you to take the time to discuss tolerance and diversity in your homes, businesses and classrooms.

You can help. You can make a positive difference.

For more information about our programs, upcoming curriculum, use of posters for your classrooms or seminars, or to request a presentation, visit our website at http://www.rocktostop.org.

Here are a few other recent posts about cyberbullying prevention

CNN's week long series on Cyber-bullying

Larry Magid's recent post on how exaggerating bullying might lead to more bullying offline and online.

The Justice Department addresses the issue of bullying and cyberbullying

and unfortunately what parent's don't know about cyberbullying may hurt them – but should they spy?

Rock to Stop Violence Team

How do you feel about all this attention to bullying this month? Do you think it will be old news and forgotten next week? leave your comments below let us know your views.

from: Kid Safe

SmartPhone Privacy Issueskidsafe

kidsafe — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:12:29 +0000

By: Russ Ptacek

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Pictures you’ve e-mailed or uploaded from your smartphone could be leaking location information threatening your safety or that of your children.

“Perfect, just like that,” cooed NBC Action News staffer Susanne McDonald to her four-year-old daughter Laine as she took a series of smartphone pictures. “Ready? One, two, three! Good Girl.”

We loaned McDonald and Laine a smartphone to see just how threatening a seemingly innocent snapshot could be once loaded online.

Police are concerned

“It's frightening,” said Leawood School Resource Police Officer Mark Chudik when we showed him what we had uncovered.

We combed Twitter and sites like Facebook , Craig's List, and Photobucket .

We searched by entering the names of area cities. We easily identified the home addresses and play areas of children whose pictures were posted by their parents.

“That is legitimately terrifying,” said McDonald when we showed her information we obtained from pictures she posted of daughter Laine.

It's a new and frightening threat to parents.

The full risk is even an unknown to many internet crime experts, like Chudik, who said he’d never seen private information shared so quickly in such an unknown manner.

He calls the hidden smartphone data today's biggest risk online.

“It's probably going to be number one for a while,” Chudik said.

Technique involves free, easily available software

Chudik used a free browser add-on to click on pictures of four-year-old Laine.

He not only found her home when he clicked on a picture of her bedroom, but located her day care, favorite fast food shop, and the specific part of the park where she plays.

“The fact that they found the bedroom is terrifying,” McDonald said. “Scary, like terrifying. Especially as a parent because of the fact that you can see the exact place of it.”

We searched online servers by local cities creating a menu of nearby children and their locations.

With one online bedroom picture, we were able to find the home of two Olathe brothers.

When we went to their home to warn their parents, they declined to comment, but did change the settings on their Photobucket account to private.

How it works

At UMKC, computer science Professor Deep Medhi says smartphones leave a high-tech invisible trail using the same geotracking technology that enables the social website Foursquare and handheld map apps.

“Exactly like in your GPS device in your car,” Medhi said. “When you do it, it can tell you exactly where it is.”

Medhi showed how the easily-obtained software can translate geotagged photos, uploaded or linked from popular websites, into maps.

“Exactly that spot where that picture was taken,” Medhi said.

How to deactivate your geotagging

The site icanstalku.com reposts pictures from unwitting Twitter users in real time, translating their photos into actual addresses and maps.

The site also lists a how to deactivate geotagging on the iPhone, Blackberry with GPS, Google Android, and Palm WebOS.

The site recommends restricting which applications can access GPS marking, or turning off location services altogether, in your smartphone settings.

“You want to be able to do it almost on a picture basis,” Medhi said.

“I don't think you can think of anything worse than a stranger knowing all that information,” said Officer Chudik.

Experts say you can still be perfectly safe by turning off GPS settings before taking pictures you plan to post online and by keeping your online photo servers restricted to private.

Do you publically post your smart phone pictures? Leave us your comments below.

from: Kid Safe

Exaggerating Bullying Could Increase Bullying

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:59:21 +0000

As I previously wrote, cyberbullying is a serious problem, but not an epidemic. Yet, there continue to be widespread reports that bullying has reached epidemic proportions. This misinformation can actually have the unintended consequence of increasing bullying.

One study, from the Crimes Against Children Research Center, showed that bullying has actually decreased in recent years, and no credible studies have shown a significant recent increase. The recent EU Kids Online (PDF) study from the London School of Economics found that "across Europe, 6 percent of 9- to 16-year-old Internet users have been bullied online, and 3 percent confess to having bullied others." In the U.S., the Cyberbullying Research Center found that 20 percent of "randomly selected 11 to 18 year old students in 2010 indicated they had been a victim at some point in their life."

Even the most optimistic numbers indicate a problem, but I wouldn't call this an "epidemic" of either bullying or cyberbullying as some articles and TV shows have suggested.

Some well-meaning advocacy groups have contributed to the misinformation by releasing data suggesting that the majority (in some cases the vast majority) of youth have been bullied or have bullied others, though most surveys have put the percentages much lower -- typically around 20 percent. One reason for the discrepancy in the research results is the lack of a uniformly agreed upon definition of bullying. Some studies ask whether "anyone has ever been mean to you" or has "hurt your feelings." Based on this definition, I am surprised that the rate isn't near 100 percent.

Bullying defined

A more widely accepted definition of bullying comes from the Olweus Bullying Prevention program which says that bullying has "three important components:"

1. Bullying is aggressive behavior that involves unwanted, negative actions.
2. Bullying involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time.
3. Bullying involves an imbalance of power or strength.

When these components are used to determine incidents, the rate of bullying is substantially lower. Of course, you can argue with the definition, especially when it comes to online or so-called "cyberbullying," because -- online -- a single act of bullying can be repeated over time and it's harder to agree on the definition of an "imbalance of power," where a person's online "power," influence or presence may have little or nothing to do with traditional means of obtaining power such as physical strength, appearance or popularity.

Social norms research shows accurate reporting makes kids safer

Putting the bullying problem into its proper perspective doesn't minimize it, but actually helps prevent it from getting worse. I know that may seem counterintuitive, but there is a lot of solid research that shows that if people overestimate anti-social or harmful behavior, they are more likely to engage in it themselves. In other words, reporting accurately about the rate of bullying actually makes kids less likely to bully others. Besides, as my ConnectSafely.org co-director Anne Collier wrote in NetFamilyNews, "Kids deserve the truth about cyberbullying."

Much of this research focuses on health related activities such as smoking, alcohol abuse and overeating, but there is also data on the impact of peer perceptions on bullying.

Overestimating contributes to the problem

A paper (PDF) published in the April, 2011 edition of Group Processes Intergroup Relations, by H. Wesley Perkins, David W. Craig and Jessica M. Perkins, shows that "variation in perceptions of the peer norm for bullying was significantly associated with personal bullying perpetration and attitudes." As the authors pointed out, "decades of research in social psychology... have demonstrated the strong tendency of people to conform to peer norms as they look to others in their midst to help define the situation and give guidance on expected behaviors in the group or cultural setting."

The authors also observed that "adolescents and young adults (incorrectly) tend to believe that risky or problem behaviors and attitudes are most common among peers and think protective responsible action is rare," and that "these misperceptions then contribute to or exacerbate the problem behavior as more youth begin to support and engage in the behavior than would otherwise be the case if norms were accurately perceived."

Bullying is not normal and it's not OK

To put it simply, overestimating bullying makes it seem like it's common. And, so the reasoning goes, if it's common, it must be normal and if it's normal, it must be OK. Well, it's not OK and, fortunately, it's not normal. And that's exactly what anti-bullying programs need to emphasize.

Norms awareness campaigns

The authors of the study recommend that schools engage in awareness campaigns that emphasize that most kids don't bully. In their paper, they give examples of positive media campaigns to help reinforce behaviors that are both positive and normal.

Responsible media coverage

While media coverage about bullying can help raise awareness and lead to positive results, it's important that it be accurate and reasonable. Coverage that exaggerates either the size of the problem or the likely outcomes does little to help and can actually hurt. It's also important to realize that the impact of bullying can range from mildly annoying to extremely serious. And while it is true that bullying can be a contributing factor to some suicides, it's also true that it's rarely the only factor. What's more, the vast majority of youth who are bullied are able to handle it without extreme reactions.

Parents, educators, government leaders, nonprofits, the media, religious organizations and, of course, young people themselves need to step up our efforts to create a positive social climate, but we must do so without resorting to hysteria and exaggeration.

Slide show:

Do fear and exaggeration increase risk? View more presentations from Larry Magid

Larry Magid blogs at SafeKids.com and LarrysWorld.com

Our Spokesperson Makes Variety Newskidsafe

kidsafe — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:07:19 +0000

I was amazed to see that the spokesperson for Club TUKI was in the world renowned Variety news! We here at Club TUKI have long known what a talented young woman Cymphonique is, to make it to Variety means You've Made "IT". We are all very proud and honored that Cymphonique has chosen Club TUKI and Internet Safety and Responsible Digital Citizenship as one of her favored causes. We know we will be seeing a lot more articles like this one.

Cymphonique Miller: Rapper's kid knows 'How to Rock'

Youth Impact Report 2011: Up Next

By MICHELLE WEISS

Cymphonique Miller

If the powers that be at Nickelodeon decide you're a star, it's only a question of when. For 15-year-old Cymphonique Miller, early 2012 should be her time.

That's when Nick, in partnership with Alloy Entertainment ("Pretty Little Liars"), unveils musical sitcom "How to Rock" as a starring vehicle for Miller.

By then, the mellifluously monikered 14-year-old will have had plenty of practice both singing and acting. Daughter of Master P and sister of singer-actor Romeo, Miller has already released two albums and been nominated for a BET Award for her "Something" musicvideo.

And Nick has featured her in guest roles on "True Jackson, VP," "Big Time Rush," "The Troop" and "Just Jordan."

"Rock" exec producer David Israel watched just five seconds of her audition tape before turning it off — he had seen enough.

"The first video I looked at, she was probably 12 and she was singing like somebody much older," he recalls.

Miller got the part, about a young girl who dominates teen angst and humiliation by becoming the lead singer of a band. "To be this talented at this young an age, I feel like she has unlimited potential," Israel says.

Thank You and Congratulations Cymphonique!

From all of us at Kidsafe.com and Club TUKI!

from: Kid Safe

Technology Doesn’t Cause Bullying And — Despite Claims — It Can’t Prevent ItLarry Magid

Larry Magid — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:29:20 +0000

My inbox is full of pitches for products and services that claim to prevent bullying. Most use some type of word recognition to either block offensive messages or report them to parents. But even if you add the word "cyber" to bullying, it's still bullying. Bullying isn't caused by technology and it's not cured by it either. It's about relationships.

While I have no doubt that monitoring software that runs on phones, computers or the web can be used to focus in on offensive words, I don't think it's the solution to offensive behavior. At best it can block a message from getting through or inform parents that a kid is either being bullied or bullying others. While that might have some value, it does nothing to stop the underlying attitudes that foster and motivate the behavior and it does little to equip the person being bullied with the skills needed to survive unscathed.

Subtle meanings

And even if technology can identify offensive words, it's not all that good at understanding the subtle meaning behind the words. Words must be considered in context and context can only be ascertained if you understand the relationship between the people involved. Even racial, ethnic, sexist and homophobic epithets have their context. The same word that's used as part of a vicious attack can sometimes be a term of endearment. Among friends, it can be used affectionately or humorously or perhaps in a teasing and maybe even annoying but not necessarily harmful manner. In other contexts it can be mean or hateful. The same can be true of other "hurtful words," which sometimes hurt a lot, sometimes hurt a little and sometimes don't actually hurt at all. Humans are a lot better than machines at distinguishing between an inside joke and a vitriolic attack.

Even if we can agree that something is negative, it's close to impossible for a machine to know how someone will respond. Reactions can range from laughing it off, mild annoyance to anger and depression. And how someone reacts often has more to do with their own resilience or other things going on in their life than the words themselves. The same comment that one person might laugh at or get over quickly could be extremely hurtful to someone else.

Besides, most cyberbullying is also associated with bullying at school or other non-virtual spaces.

Not really a solution

The biggest problem with a technical "solution," is that it's not really a solution. If a person is thinking mean thoughts, then simply muzzling them does nothing to modify those thoughts. Combating bullying, hatred, bigotry and cruelty is more than just suppressing mean speech, it's also helping people think differently about others.

And, finally, blocking or reporting negative speech doesn't build the resilience that young people need to thrive even in the face of negative behavior. While we must seek to end bullying and harassment and limit meanness, we must also learn to cope with it. That's not to say it's ever acceptable, but we can't let bullies ruin our lives and we must teach our children to stand up to bullies and realize that it's not their fault if someone else is mean.

Might help some children

I'm not saying there is never a role for monitoring software. There are some children who need a bit of help either because they can't control their impulses to say inappropriate things or because they are particularly vulnerable to bullying. Clearly, parents must make their own decisions as to whether monitoring software is appropriate for their children. But such products are not for everyone. Most kids don't bully and most kids that do receive an occasional mean or annoying message are able to handle them without horrendous consequences. As always, your first response should be to talk with your kids and find out what they need before trying to find a technical solution to a problem that may or may not exist. Technology can sometimes support parenting but it can never replace it.

It takes a village, not an algorithm

Combating bullying -- which typically takes place at school -- isn't a one-off task. It involves encouraging a culture of respect and a set of commonly understood norms that celebrate diversity and discourage mean and hateful behavior. That takes everyone -- students, teachers, administrators, parents, police officers, janitors and everyone in the community. It's a job for people, not software.

Resources

It's time to take the 'cyber' out of cyberbullying

Clicks, cliques and cyberbullying: Whole school response is the key (NetFamilyNews)

Larry Magid is founder of SafeKids.com and co-director of ConnectSafely.org which offer resources on cyberbullying.

Think Twice Before Sharing on Social NetworksLarry Magid

Larry Magid — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:37:03 +0000

As far as I can tell, Google engineer Steve Yegge never intended to become famous for criticizing the company he works for. But if you use his company's search engine to google his name, you'll find plenty of references to his recent Google+ post, in which he called the company's new social media service a "pathetic afterthought," a "knee-jerk reaction" and a "study in short-term thinking."

Those are harsh words for someone to write about his employer, but in a follow-up post, Yegge said that he had never meant for it to be public. He intended it to be "visible to everybody at Google, but not externally."

Yegge, who referred to himself as "not what you might call an experienced Google+ user," posted his rant at midnight and made it public by mistake.

I'm not sure what he did wrong. In his follow-up post he said "by the time I figured out how to actually post something I had somehow switched accounts." But one thing is for sure, if a Google engineer can mess up on his Google+ privacy settings, so can the rest of us.

Whenever you post something on Google+ you have the option to post it to the public or restrict it to specific people that you enter by name. Or, you can select a group, or groups, of people called "circles." Directly below the text box is an area where you can "add circles or people to share with." Once you make a selection and click "share," your post is seen only by those people.

There's a catch to in-line privacy settings

But there's a catch. Whatever option you select will remain the default until you change it. So if you generally post only to specific circles but decide you have something to say to the public, you had better remember to go back and change the setting the next time you post.

To be fair, the icons that represent your choice are big, bold and in plain English. But that wouldn't necessarily prevent someone from forgetting to check their last setting. If you found that you have made a mistake, Google+ lets you delete or edit the post and change the audience but -- as has been said many times before -- once something is "out there," it's out there.

Facebook recently adopted similar "in-line" privacy settings. It now lets you decide each time you post whether it should be seen by the public or only by Friends, specific people you specify or a list of people. Lists can be ones you've set up (like Google+ circles) or "smart lists," which Facebook generates based on things you may have in common, such as work or school.

With Facebook, you need to look for a small indicator just below the update box that might say "Public," or "Friends" or perhaps the name of the list of people you're sending to. As with Google+, anytime you make a change it remains in place until you change it again, so it's very important to glance down at that indicator to avoid sending something to the wrong people.

But even if you're very careful in how you use your social network's privacy settings, I still urge caution when posting something that could cause problems if seen by the wrong people. There is nothing to stop someone from copying and pasting what you post. You can delete something from your profile, but you can't prevent others from posting it to theirs or sharing it via email or other means.

Email, too

It's also important to be cautious when sending email.

Several years ago, when I was writing for the Los Angeles Times, I got a worrisome email from my editor about a column I had submitted. Upset, I forwarded it to my wife with the comment "I don't think he likes my work," but instead of pressing "forward," I clicked "reply." The good news is that he wrote back saying that he loved my work but just had a small problem with that particular column.

And when you do forward, be careful about the "thread" of messages you're sending on. A couple of years ago, my wife forwarded an innocuous Gmail message to my daughter but she didn't realize that the message was part of a longer conversation that included a plan for my daughter's surprise birthday party.

Also be careful when you type names in the "to" box. Some email programs and Web services (including Gmail) have an auto-complete function that saves keystrokes but makes it easy to select the wrong person. If President Barack Obama were using Gmail to write a message to his wife Michelle Obama, he could easily direct it instead to Michele Bachman.

Another common error is responding to people on lists. I'm part of a Google Group listserv and when someone posts to the list, the "from" field shows their name. So if you want to respond privately, it's natural to just click "reply." But if you do that, the reply goes to the entire list, as several of us have discovered when we accidentally broadcast what was meant to be a private response.

In 1968, Andy Warhol said, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." The future is here, but with the wrong click, that could easily turn into 15 minutes of infamy.

Disclosure: Larry Magid is co-director of ConnectSafely.org, a nonprofit Internet safety organization that receives support from Google and Facebook.

Larry Magid blogs at LarrysWorld.com and SafeKids.com This post first appeared in the San Jose Mercury News.

Cyber Security Awareness ConferenceKymberley Page

Kymberley Page — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:31:30 +0000

Digital Defense is partnering with the Alamo ISSA (Information Systems Security Association) during National Cyber Security Awareness month to provide community education forums at no cost to the public.

San Antonio, TX (PRWEB) October 12, 2011

Digital Defense, Inc. (DDI), a San Antonio-based corporation and leading provider of Information Security solutions, is partnering with the Alamo ISSA (Information Systems Security Association) during National Cyber Security Awareness month to provide community education forums at no cost to the public. DDI will host two of these informational sessions:

Protecting Yourself Online – Wednesday, October 19th, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

This session is designed to highlight risks associated with online computer use with real world examples and recommendations for testing and resolving computer security issues.

Child Safe – Thursday, October 20th, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

A program designed to educate and provide a place that parents can come to learn about protecting themselves and their families from online threats, both as they exist today and where they are going tomorrow.

“With the arrival of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, we thought it would be a great idea to launch educational programs related to computer security at no charge to help educate citizens on how to better protect themselves online,” stated Matt Hajda, president of Alamo ISSA. “These sessions, along with the mentoring of students for the CyberPatriot Competition, all align with our overarching mission to educate and expand the knowledge and skills of ISSA members in information security. We appreciate DDI’s participation in helping to bring further awareness to the importance of information security education.”

Digital Defense CEO and President, Larry Hurtado added, “We are pleased to be a play a role in heightening awareness around cyber security. The October forums align with San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro’s recent proclamation which recognizes National Cyber Security Awareness month and encourages government, research, and business organizations to engage in activities to educate citizens of the importance of implementing proper computer and network security procedures and online safety practices.”

To learn more about the cyber security awareness events, visit the Alamo ISSA website.

About Alamo ISSA Chapter

The Alamo ISSA Chapter of ISSA was founded in 2000 and meets monthly in San Antonio, providing members with education and networking opportunities. Meetings are open to the public, and schedules are available at http://alamo.issa.org.

About ISSA

ISSA, http://www.issa.org, is the largest international professional association for information security professionals. With 10,000 members in 70 countries and a network of 152 chapters, ISSA is dedicated to expanding the knowledge and expertise of information security professionals and the development and evolution of industry practices. Members are consistently recognized as experts on critical issues in the field and are seen as important resources for small businesses, global enterprises, and government organizations.

About Digital Defense

Digital Defense, Inc. (DDI) is a leading provider of security governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) solutions. Our unique combination of managed, cloud-based services, gives our clients maximum flexibility in the implementation of their security programs. We provide the insight necessary for organizations to protect their critical customer and business information while allowing them to focus on their business, rather than dedicate resources to network security. DDI clients enjoy greater visibility and management insight of their enterprise-wide GRC programs using DDI’s proprietary Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery platforms and assessment tools. For more information about Digital Defense, please visit our web site at http://www.ddifrontline.com or contact us at 888.273.1412.

Reader Contact Information

Digital Defense, Inc., 9000 Tesoro Drive, Suite 100, San Antonio, Texas, 78217

Phone – 210.822.2645, Fax – 210.822.9216

http://www.ddifrontline.com

###

Digital Defense and the Shield Logo are Registered Service Marks of Digital Defense, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Patty Koebele
Digital Defense, Inc.
210.582.6128
Email Information

Does it take “Celebrity Status” to Find Missing Children Now!kidsafe

kidsafe — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:57:02 +0000

At first, when I was reading this article, as I read several articles every day regarding Child Safety, Internet Safety, Missing Children and Cyber – bullying to decide what to post about on this blog, it was just "another" missing child that I pray for and wasn't really sure wether to post the article or not.

I have found that even I, Kid Safe blogger, have become a little jaded to all the daily reports of missing children, then the next day they are found safe and sound by someone within the family usually taken by another family member and just a "lack of communication" or worse news that for some reason i choose not to add to this site.

Today, this was a revelation for me. If I am "just a blogger" and have this attitude, what must the police think when they get these calls? The investigators that deal with this on a daily basis. I know for me the whole Casey Anthony tragedy really upset me in a different way than the Amber Dubois case effected me. You see I lived in Escondido when Amber Dubois went missing and I was working at Kid Safe and was HORRIFIED that they would not issue an "Amber Alert", they did not take the case seriously "for reasons unknown to the public". I was deeply entrenched in the case, it was personal for me. I lived and worked in the community and I take my position at CEN very seriously. I felt that if "we" couldn't even get an Amber Alert issued in our own home town how could we proclaim to be the national source for Child Safety?

I wrote more posts on the her case than any other case in the last 5 years. I was asked to remove several of my posts, as they were derogatory towards the Escondido Police Department and it was creating a "negative" affect on the case. So i acquiesced, against my personal feelings and judgement, "for the better good" of the company. And NO the requests to take the posts down did not come from within CEN and CEN management left the decision up to me. i just wanted her found. I wanted her case taken seriously, I wanted her parents to have some peace, I was angry for them and obviously I took it all very personally.

So when I read this report today, I remembered reading about it last week when I had chosen NOT to post it because I "assumed" the child would be found the next day and by the time the KidSafe readers got around to reading it, it would be old news or worse, I would have a stronger "story" to write about.

Then I got to the last paragraph of this report and really started to question myself, my commitment to keeping children safe, what constitutes a "story" with me, the "Content Manager" of KidSafe.com.

Below is an excerpt from the AP "story" released today which I have scheduled to post before this one that I am writing now. I decided to separate the posts because I don't want my personal story to effect the readers mind of the missing child report. All Missing Child Reports MUST be taken seriously, Must be judged as TRUE "Kidnapping's" until found otherwise, by the police, the governments, the schools, the extended family, the friends AND the media, including "bloggers" like myself who proclaim to be concerned with the safety of Children.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A New York-based security consultant who said he was hired by a wealthy benefactor to help search for a missing baby in Kansas City got little response Wednesday from police who have been looking for the child for more than a week……….

…………."With Bill, one benefit, because he has celebrity status as a private investigator, the media is going to be interested in seeing what he's doing," Mesis said. Later, he added, "He's putting his reputation on the line, too."

A year after the Amber Dubois Kidnapping, she was found, sadly, not alive, and not a story I like to talk about very much.

from: Kid Safe

Have You Heard the News? New All Girls Magazine From BYOU!Kymberley Page

Kymberley Page — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:20:12 +0000

One Year Subscription to the girls only magazine designed to FEATURE YOU!

This Full Color Print Magazine is delivered to your mailbox and is packed full of articles, pictures, games, puzzles, stories about our readers and online members, and of course exclusive content from BYOU Be Your own You and Cymphonique!

Yes, it’s true! BYOU is launching it’s own magazine called Be Your Own You! In every issue, you’ll find exclusive interviews with today’s positive role models, empowering stories on girls making a difference in the world, powerful self-esteem tips & projects, BYOU-only features on our partner & pop star Cymphonique Miller, on-location photos, fun games & puzzles, fabulous fiction reading, contests, and lots more, including YOUR chance to be featured!!

You’ll want to be sure to get your annual subscription TODAY at our SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY PRICE of ONLY $10!! This extraordinary price expires Saturday, October 8, at midnight (after that you can still get your annual subscription for our regular price of $17.97)

Here’s what you’ll find in our PREMIERE October/November Issue: EXCLUSIVE interview with singer/dancer/actress Cymphonique Miller!

Inspiring story of “Warrior Princess” – a 14-year old cancer survivor who is making an impact on girls everywhere!

Powerful article on positive thinking with easy instructions on a fun self-esteem project you can do!

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