There was an interesting article published on LA Times that discusses about cyberbullying in and outside schools.
Here is a link to the full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-cyberbully2-2010jan02,0,1194810.story
Good news for folks that have an older iPod Touch. Apple has lowered the price to upgrade iPod Touch software to the latest version.
Prior to this price drop, upgrades were priced at $9.99. iPhone OS 3.1 upgrade is available for $4.95. This price drop coincided with the overall price drop for all iPods announced at the Apple Rock and Roll event on Wednesday.
While Mobicip continues to support older OS versions, we highly recommend that parents upgrade the OS since it includes advanced parental control features that were not available in the 2.x and earlier versions.
Child Protection Week promotes the belief that it is everyone’s responsibility to make their community child friendly.
Child Protection Week is coordinated nationally by the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN Incorporated) and, in Queensland, by the Child Protection Week Committee, comprising representatives from a range of government and non-government agencies concerned with child protection issues.
Promoting the value of children and focusing attention on the issues of child abuse and neglect, the objectives of Child Protection Week are to:
Microsoft is attempting to provide a critical solution through their new online safety website to increase online safety, through education.
“Microsoft has been very active in providing online safety information for over a decade. Our newest effort is our redesigned Consumer Online Safety Education website at www.microsoft.com/protect. This site is designed for parents, caregivers, and educators to find the latest information on a number of online safety topics,” reads a message from a member of the Microsoft Privacy Team.
Microsoft’s new website is designed to offer users the necessary resources to protect their machines, themselves and their families. In this regard, the main areas of interest are related to avoiding online fraud and to enforcing data protection. Microsoft has an entire corner of the Consumer Online Safety Education website dedicated to getting security support. The section offers users a range of resources from free PC scans to individual chat support.
“All of the content has been updated to address “Web 2.0” safety topics, including spoof websites, online donation scams, public Wi-Fi safety, online reputation management, cyberbullying, social networks, and blogging. Other new features include: Resources – including safety brochures and event planning guides. Community section – featuring online forums and top safety bloggers. Comics – covering topics such as cyberbullying and privacy. Videos – safety PSA and other educational materials,” the Microsoft Privacy Team representative added.
| According to a recent global survey by Crowd Science,the most popular activities among smartphone users are visiting websites (80%), taking photos (74%), and using email (73%), |
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David Burt, who runs the Filtering Facts blog, discusses survey results published by Trend Micro. David says
A new survey of parents from security vendor Trend Micro that the percentage of parents using filters is holding steady at 55%. This is almost the same as a Pew survey in 2005, which found that 54% were using Internet parental controls. A survey in the European Union earlier this year found 59% of parents using parental controls.
From the Trend Micro press release:
Parents may have a misperception of their kids’ online safety — over 65 percent of parents surveyed believe their kids are safe while using the Internet and 60 percent are not concerned about kids coming into contact with cyber threats such as spam and viruses, or inappropriate content such as nudity and gambling through Internet-related devices like game consoles aside from the computer. While the parental control feature in a security software program is a tool parents can use to prevent kids from accessing inappropriate Web site content – especially since 63 percent of parents surveyed said they will not be sending their kids to daycare or summer camps (and will likely be home alone) this year due to tighter family budgets — 45 percent of them said they either don’t have it, or they don’t know if they do. In addition, 30 percent of parents think their kids are protected from inappropriate Web site content.
As a parent, you always feel the need to educate your children about keeping themselves safe when they are online. In addition to the parental control software, like Mobicip, available in market today, promoting critical thinking for kids about appropriate behavior on cell phones and the internet is essential. These are some of the useful websites that provides valuable tips on online safety.
While Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS are primarily used as portable gaming consoles, they can also be connected to the internet through a wireless broadband connection. The main intent behind this is to download games off the web and compete with other players remotely.
Are these browsers very popular among kids who are busy playing games? The answer surprisingly is yes. With readily available Wifi networks, kids accidentally access inappropriate content/messaging and become easy targets to cyber predators through these gaming consoles. There are many forums where concerned parents share information on internet safety and consumer advocacy groups raise concerns about unsupervised internet access to kids using such devices.
However, both PSP and DS come with parental controls to block or control internet access. In addition, parents should also take time to have a dialogue with their kids about internet safety and sharing personal information since kids as young as 7 years old are attracted to these gaming devices.
Online Safety is equally important at home and outside home, especially at school where a kid spends most of his/her day. A parent can always supervise a child’s online activity at home on a day-to-day basis. There are several tools available in the market today to enforce rules on a child’s online activities at home. But is the child safe online at school?
Statistically, kids are safer online at school than at home. The students are usually better supervised at school by teachers, librarians and media specialists. Also, most schools, if not all, use monitoring technologies to oversee the students’ online activities. Many schools block instant messaging and chat as this is the predominant medium for cyber predators.
However, as a parent, you are responsible to make sure your child’s school has policies in place to enforce online safety. There are several questions you can ask the school, some of which are,
A team effort of parents, teachers, librarians, safety officers and school officials can make progress in ensuring that students’ online experience is as safe as possible.
President-Elect Obama has stated that he would create a Chief Technology Officer position when he takes over the presidency. Internet safety groups have taken notice and are now pushing for an additional office to be created specifically to protect children’s safety while online. The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) just sent in a report last week asking President-Elect Obama to also create a National Safety Officer to serve under the CTO. Washington Post writer Kim Hart recently wrote an interesting article regarding this topic. Here’s what I gathered to be the most valuable points:
Parental controls and internet safety have become increasingly more relevant in the media these last couple of months due to the conviction of the Missouri woman who was found to have caused the suicide of a 13-year old girl by committing computer fraud on MySpace. The increased usage of social networking sites, instant messaging and cellphones is definitely proving to be a growing challenge. While agencies and individual companies are trying to do their part individually, a coordinated approach may help institutions like FOSI to be more effective. Stephen Balkman, Chief Executive of FOSI, states that “We need to react more swiftly to the challenges new technology brings. We see a lot of activity in the industry and some agencies, but I don’t see overall coordination we can work off of.”
While I think that this is positive news, let’s not forget that the most valuable internet safety solution we have at our disposal is entirely controllable by ourselves. Software tools and government help are nice, but we need to educate today’s youth about the dangers of the internet; remind them to stay safe online by not giving away personal information. Make them feel comfortable enough to report if somebody is bullying them online. If we educate them properly, they will be more prepared to deal with dangerous situations that may arise. Having government help is great, but the onus lies on us to pass along our knowledge to the more youthful population.
