INTERNET SAFETYFOR PARENTS & GRANDPARENTS

Laura Hubbs-Tait, Ph.D.Regents Professor

Cooperative Extension Parenting Specialist

Human Development and Family Science

Internet Safety: Kids’ Stuff?

Consider the source: Data sources for information on children and the internet:Marketing Research – for profit, selling adsMarketing to kids – games, phones, music, etc.Marketing to parents – “protect your kids”

Survey Research Centers – nonprofitSocial Science Research Publications – usually university sponsored research

Internet Safety: Kids’ Stuff?What does marketing research tell us?Child Wise (United Kingdom)

http://prezi.com/2itsvqxabjlf/children-and-their-media-2012/

Highlights of Child Wise press release: 5 to 16 year olds:1. 71% have a mobile phone with internet access

51% use that mobile phone to access the internet

2. Average more than 60 minutes/day on mobile phone activities other than calls.

3. More than half had accessed Facebook in the previous week

4. 39% of participants who had visited Facebook were under 13

5. Media total: 5.2 hours 2.5 hours TV + 1.6 hours gaming + 1.1 hours mobile phone=5.2

http://www.tnooz.com/2012/01/26/news/kids-today-travellers-of-the-future-and-how-they-consume-media-now/

Internet Safety: Kids’ Stuff?

So what about U.S.?-USA Today from Ypulse (profit)

Teens are using other social media such as Foursquare and Tumblr (microblog like Twitter).

Facebook wants children under 13 to have a Facebook page with parental supervision.

Do teens want more privacy (response to parents as Facebook friends) and so turn to apps and networks with less supervision? http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-06-20/facebook-teens/55723500/1

Other media used by teens: Instagram, a new "app" for sharing photos; ooVoo video chat; blogs and microblogs

Internet Safety: Kids’ Stuff?

Teen Internet Use (799 parents and 770 teens) 93% of 12- to 17-year old

“teens” access the internet (teens: 95%)

Teen Social Networking Use 75% participate in a

social network (80% of teens say “yes”)

Not-for-profit research:http://www.pewinternet.org/Trend-Data-(Teens)/Online-Activites-Total.aspx

Internet Safety: Kids’ Stuff?Pew Internet and American Life Project

Supervision – parents discuss 93% - ways of using internet

safely 87% - behavior toward others

online (aka: netiquette) 87% - what teen has been

doing online 94% - what teen should and

should not share online

Parent Supervision of social networking

80% of parents of social networking teens are their children’s friends

Pew Internet and American Life Project

Internet Safety: Kids’ Stuff?

So what about U.S.? - marketing research Much more of an alarmist picture:

Toptenreviews http://facebook-parental-controls-review.topten

reviews.com/30-statistics-about-teens-and-social-networking.html

Note that this is targeted toward marketing software for parental controls of social media

Internet Safety: Kids’ Stuff? Youth Internet Safety Surveys: 2000, 2005,

2010 http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/internet-crimes/papers.html

Three categories of online dangers surveyed each year:

Jones, L.M., Mitchell, K.J. & Finkelhor, D. (2012). Trends in youth Internet victimizations: Findings from three youth Internet safety surveys, 2000 – 2010. Journal of Adolescent Health, 50: 179-186.

Up - Includes cyberbullying

Down but still disturbing

Down but still disturbing

Internet Safety: Kids’ Stuff? Stanford University researchers - March 2012

8- to 12-year-old girls: media (video, music, homework, phone talk, email/posts/text/chat), F2F communication, and well-being

Media multi-tasking = additional media used when a child is using one already. Mean = 1.4 (i.e., 1.4 above the first)

What predicts SLEEP? Negatively: TV in room, video use of media, online

communication use, cell phone ownership, age. Above and beyond these: media multi-tasking

Positively: face-to-face (F2F) communication What predicts # friends who are bad influence?

Phone talk, online talk/chat/posts/email, video use, and media multitasking

F2F communication was negatively related – the more F2F, the lower the number of bad influence friends

Internet Safety: Kids’ Stuff? “Cute young adult websites”: not cute for pre-teens

www.someecards.com

www.reddit.com

What Can Parents and Grandparents Do?

Parenting style: authoritative Warm and affectionate with high limits and

expectations Parent-child attachment: secure

Sensitive and responsive to the needs of the infant/child – from birth

Open and frequent communication Related to attachment and parenting style Can be improved in parent education

programsAll of the above recommendations are based on recent research findings.

What Can Parents and Grandparents Do?

Check the History in a Browser – Records 20 days – or more. History can be set to delete on Exit.   To check this, Open Internet Explorer, Click on Tools (if

it's not visible hit the Alt key), then Internet Options.  In the middle of the window you will see a checkbox titled "Delete browsing history on Exit."   This checkbox should NOT be checked.

Free software: K9 Web Protection by BlueCoat (www.k9webprotection.com).   This tool installs to your Windows or Mac and links to

web browsers.   You set a password to it so that your children can't

access it or sites you don't want them to visit.   Instantly blocks harmful sites (pornography, violence,

gambling