Click here for a resource list for youth in crisis and their care givers.
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society has mostly good news about how teens approach privacy issues on social-networking services. While “teens are sharing more information about themselves on social media sites than they did in the past,” according to the study, “few teens embrace a fully public approach to social media,” but “take an array of steps to restrict and prune their profiles.”
Read the entire post and listen to a recorded interview with Pew’s Amanda Lehnart over at CNET.
Two free Parents’ Guides help parents demystify and take the fear out of popular photo-sharing apps
Kids are flocking to mobile photo-sharing apps and leading the way are Instagram and Snapchat. Kids love Instagram (now owned by Facebook) because it’s an easy way to snap photos, enhance them with filters and quickly share them with friends. Snapchat is popular because photos self-destruct a few seconds after they’re viewed, so kids don’t have to worry about the long-term implications of having wacky or unflattering pictures permanently enshrined on the Internet. Of course, as we point out in A Parents’ Guide to Snapchat, , there are ways to capture the screen and even undelete pictures so kids need to still be careful not to post anything that can get them into serious trouble. Still, there are plenty of ways to have fun with your clothes on using Snapchat or Instagram.
Like Twitter, the default setting for Instagram is for photos to be public, but — as we say inA Parents’ Guide to Instagram, “you can easily change that.” Parents are advised to talk with their children about how to use Instagram’s privacy features and, of course, to be aware of what they post and how it affects their reputation.
Both Instagram and Snapchat require users be 13 or older but neither asks for date of birth. Parents are encouraged to talk about privacy and safety issues with children regardless of their age, but especially kids who are “too young,” but using it anyway.
Not so scary
Though there have been some scary press reports about these and other apps, the vast majority of kids are using them smartly. And it’s important for parents, educators and policy makers to understand that apps come and go but basic principles about safety, privacy and security remain constant. I’m not the first to point out that keeping kids away from such apps is like building a fence around a swimming pool. It might protect them from pool at that moment, but the best way to protect kids around all water is to teach them to swim safely. Our job as parents is to talk with (not at) our kids and help them develop life-time habits that will protect them in just about all situations online and offline.
What parents want to know
Each guide answers 5 top questions parents have covering:
The free guides, which I co-wrote along with my ConnectSafely.org co-director Anne Collier, are available to view on screen or print to share with schools, parent groups and kids and teens.
Disclosure: In addition to being co-author of the guides, I’m co-director ofConnectSafely.org, a non-profit Internet safety organization that receives financial support from Faceook, Google and other technology companies.
Book is based on based on the true-life story of Alter Wiener, a teen survivor of five prison labor camps during WWII (illustration (c) 2013 by Craig Orback)
Children’s book author Trudy Ludwig, who specializes in books “that explore the colorful and sometimes confusing world of children’s social interactions,” is working on an extraordinary project that deserves widespread support.
She’s collaborating with illustrator Craig Orback on a 32-page picture book titled Gifts from the Enemy, based on the true-life story of Alter Wiener, a teen survivor of five prison labor camps during WWII and the author of From a Name to a Number. Wiener has authorized the project.
Ludwig has written several children’s books including My Secret Bully. Trouble Talk. Too Perfect and Confessions of a Former Bully. As you can tell from the titles, she has dedicated her considerable talents to helping raise resilient and caring children.
Ludwig and Orback are launching their project on Kickstarter because, “With big publishing house mergers and buyouts taking place right and left these days, we want to create a more hands-on publishing model that further supports collaborative efforts.” And I have to admit I’m anxious to see how they do because I’m thinking of raising funds for my next book on Kickstarter after having written several books for major publishing houses.
Click here to view the Kickstarter campaign and pledge support for this worthy project and click below to see their video.
A forensics experts has shown how he can undelete Snapchat photos
I recently wrote about Snapchat, the popular photo sharing app that allows users to share photos that will self-destruct from between 1 and 10 seconds after they’re viewed. As I said in that story, there are many reasons people use Android and Apple iOS app and that, despite worries about sexting, most kids are using the app in ways that parents would probably approve of.
But, it’s also important for kids and adults to realize that there’s no such thing content that absolutely disappears forever. Anything that can be digitized can be copied and stored and, as a forensics expert recently demonstrated, with the right tools, Snapchat photos, like PC files, can be undeleted.
After transfering data to a PC, forensics examiner Richard Hickman can access deleted photos from a “received image” folder (screen shot from KSL TV)
Richard Hickman, from Utah-based Decipher Forensics, showed a KSL TV reporter how how his firm can restore deleted Snapchat photos from Android devices. He said he is working on a way to do the same with iOS phones and tablets. In a blog post, he described how he is able to transfer Snapchat data from an Android phone to a PC and recover deleted images.
Snapchat responded with its own blog post admitting “if you’ve ever tried to recover lost data after accidentally deleting a drive or maybe watched an episode of CSI, you might know that with the right forensic tools, it’s sometimes possible to retrieve data after it has been deleted.”
Lessons learned
I’m sure you’ve heard this before but it doesn’t hurt to remind kids that, on the Internet, there there is no such thing as an eraser button. Even if you think something is gone, you never know for sure. The safest way to avoid problems is not to post or send anything that could get you into serious trouble if it were ever revealed.That’s not to say you shouldn’t do things that are a wacky or potentially even a bit embarrassing but you should avoid posting something that could get you into serious trouble or cause you severe mental distress were it later to surface.
When it matters: Calculating risks
It’s all a matter of calculating risks and benefits. Unless you’re sending your photos to mean or devious people, the odds of someone capturing the screen and sending around your pictures are probably quite low and — at least based on current technology — the process of undeleting is complicated and expensive and requires physical possession of the phone. It can’t be done remotely. The company that discovered it will charge parents and law enforcement between $300 and $500 per image recovered). What that means to me is that it’s OK to send wacky photos to your friends but not OK to send photos that could be illegal (such as sexually explicit or nude pictures of people under 18 — including self-portraits) or that could get you into serious trouble at school or with current or future friends or love interests. For more on the risk issues, see “Why I’m Not Worried That It’s Possible to Undelete Snapchat Photos.”
Advice for parents
The takeaway for parents is, once again, to talk with your kids about how they are using this and all other apps, but not to panic or prevent them from using the app. There are lots of fun and appropriate ways to use Snapchat and other photo-sharing apps and its “disappearing” feature, however imperfect, can add to its fun because kids know that in most cases the images won’t stick around forever. Does that equate no risk? Of course not, but it also doesn’t mean that there aren’t good — and appropriate– ways to use the app.
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children grateful for recovery of 3 missing women
David Finkelhor
by Larry Magid
David Finkelhor, the director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire and a researcher for the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children, has written an incredibly useful article for the Washington Post, debunking 5 myths about missing children:
1. Most missing children have been abducted by strangers.
2. More and more children are going missing.
3. The Internet has made kidnapping easier.
4. Prevention lies in teaching children to avoid strangers.
5. The main goal should be to reunite children with their families.
Myth busting can save lives and avoid panic
Debunking myths is important because it helps make children safer. For example, panicking over stranger abduction – as horrific as that is — does nothing to help the vast majority of missing children who are missing for other reasons such as running away or being taken by a non-custodial parent. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t do all we can to prevent and find the one-hundredth of 1 percent of missing children who are “taken by strangers or slight acquaintances,” but we must also focus on all of the other children who are away from home for other reasons.
It’s also important to know that there is not an increase in the number of missing children cases or other crimes against both children and adults. Finkelhor points to FBI statistics “showing fewer missing persons of all ages — down 31 percent between 1997 and 2011.” He also wrote that “The numbers of homicides, sexual assaults and almost all other crimes against children have been dropping, too.”
Internet not increasing risk
And, as several studies have shown, the Internet does not increase a child’s risk of being abducted. If anything, argues Finkelhor, “it may have contributed to the decline in missing children,” because it has changed the way children take risks. Socializing and experimenting online, said Finkelhor, is likely safer than “going to the unchaperoned open house or the keg party at the quarry.”
Most strangers are not “dangerous” but some acquaintances are
I’m very glad Finkelhor reminded people not to fall for the myth about “stranger danger.” While it is of course possible for a stranger to harm a child, the vast majority of children who are abducted, sexually molested or otherwise harmed by an adult are victimized by someone they know — often a family member or someone close to the family and sometimes by a trusted adult like a coach, clergy member or teacher. And strangers can be your friend. If a child is in trouble the best option is often to seek help from a stranger, perhaps a police officer but perhaps someone from the community. Rather than fear strangers, Finkelhor says “We’d do much better to teach them the signs of people (strangers or not) who are behaving badly.”
For more about missing children check out this Key Facts page from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), including:
If you have any information about a missing child call NCMEC at 800 THE LOST or visit the Cyber Tipline. You can also follow NCMEC on Twitter and visit NCMEC’s Facebook page.
Links:
Finkelhor’s Washington Post artitcle
Predator Panic Making a Comeback
Crimes Against Children Research Center
Net threat to minors less than feared
Disclosure: I’m a member of the board of directors of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children but do not speak on behalf of the organization
This post first appeared in the San Jose Mercury News
By Larry Magid
We’re just a few weeks away from school letting out and — for lucky families — a chance to spend a bit of time together on vacation.
Summer also means lots of free time for children and teens — time that can be taken up in outdoor activities like sports or playing in the park, indoor activities like playing video games and going online, or hybrid activities such as hanging out with friends while, at the same time, using their mobile devices for texting, taking and sharing pictures, playing games and social networking. For many kids these days, the lines between being offline and being online are blurry.
Talk but don’t lecture
So for parents, this is a great time to sit down with your kid and have “that talk.” No, not about the birds and the bees but about the bits and the bytes or, more precisely, about the appropriate use of the technology that many kids will have almost unfettered access to while they’re away from school.
The most important thing is to make this a conversation, not a lecture, and to approach it with a bit of humility because — at least in terms of the apps and services they use — they probably know more than you do. Use that to your advantage by getting them to explain what they’re doing on their computer, tablet, phone, iPod touch, game console or whatever devices they’re using to get online.
Engage kids in helping
Have the kids use their tech skills to benefit the entire family. If you’re planning a family trip, have the kids go online to research the history, geography and all the cool things to do at your destination. They can search through mobile app stores to find apps focused on the place you’re going (some cost money, so have them help you figure out if they’re worth the price). Have them read through local newspapers for the area you’re visiting and report back on what’s happening there. If you’re driving to your destination, the kids can be in charge of navigation with your cell phone GPS and by consulting an online map before you go (though with the price of gas today, I recommend you check out the route too).
If your teen or child has a smartphone, ask them to show you all the apps they use and have them explain what they do with them and how they are protecting their privacy. Ask them to explain the privacy features of the app and then do a little research on your own to make sure there aren’t some they’ve missed. Do the same with any social networks they use. You can find links to articles about settings for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and popular game consoles at SafeKids.com/privacysettings.
Tablets and Toddlers
Very young children are now going online with tablets, iPod touches or their parents or older siblings’ smartphones, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There are lots of great apps for small children from PBSKids and others but do be aware of how much time they’re spending with the device and what they’re doing.
Don’t assume that an app has to be labeled “educational” to have value. As Hanna Rosin asked in a recent Atlantic cover story, “Would you make your child read a textbook at bedtime? Do you watch only educational television? And why don’t children deserve high-quality fun?” She and experts she quotes make the case that young children can learn from a variety of apps and activities regardless of what “category” they fall under.
Still, and I know you’ve heard this before, never use technology as an electronic baby sitter. Kids of all ages need lots of interaction with family and friends and a wide variety of activities, including plenty of physical activity. Come to think of it, so do adults.
Be a good role model
And speaking of adults, consider how you’re role modeling. You can’t expect your child to moderate his or her use of phones, tablets and computers if they see you constantly using yours. Try to have dinner together as a family and try to ban the use of devices during the meal. Don’t leave your devices on in the bedroom. Consider creating a charging area in the main part of the house where devices can recharge their batteries while family members recharge theirs in bed. And “I use my phone as an alarm clock” isn’t a good excuse. You can buy a stand-alone alarm clock for under $10.
As I look back at my summer vacations as a kid, I remember hanging out with friends, spending a bit more time watching TV, playing games and sometimes being bored. The same can be true today. Kids can hang out with their friends in person and online (sometimes at the same time), they can play with apps on their devices and, instead of TV, many will watch YouTube.
And when it comes to boredom, that too isn’t such a bad thing. It’s a time to slow down, reflect and be left alone with your own thoughts. For that to happen, we need to “unplug” once in awhile — a lesson worth teaching our kids and heeding ourselves.
Larry speaks with Connie Yowell, Director of Education at the MacArthur Foundation about Project:Connect
Coders, writers, teachers and others concerned about making the web a better place for kids gathered in New York on Thursday for Project:Connect, a hackathon dedicated to building tools to make the Net a better place for children, sponsored by Facebook, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla, and the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI),
Categories of projects:
Winners
Winners of Project:Connect (photo: Krisa Kobeski)
Social good category
Enable literacy category
Control of information category
Members of “That could be your sister” project (photo: Larry Magid)
Click to listen to Larry’s 1-minute CBS News/CNET Tech Talk segment on Natick’s 1:1 program, including an interview with Natick High School principal Rose Bartucci
Natick High School students and staff in front of brand-new school building (Photo: Natick School District)
Natick, Massachusetts, a town of about 33,000 people situated about 30 miles west of Boston, has recently instituted a “one-to-one” laptop program, equipping each of its 8th through 12th graders with a MacBook laptop they can use at school and at home.
The program, which is being evaluated by researchers at Boston College, seems to be getting off to a good start, according to staff and students I spoke with when I visited the campus of Natick High School. This mostly middle-class district already has a low dropout rate and a high graduation rate but, according to high school principal Rose Bertucci, test scores have risen “and there is a lot more engagement with the students.” She said that students are retaining more information and that discipline problems are down. She acknowledged that there are some challenges including “making sure they stay on task in class all the time.”
The laptops have filters that keep students away from sites deemed inappropriate. Currently the district blocks access to Facebook but does permit students to use Twitter and YouTube. I visited a social studies class where the teacher was encouraging students to Tweet questions to students in other countries in an effort to begin an international dialog. Not everyone was pleased about the decision to block Facebook. I spoke with two students who felt that the school should allow Facebook access at least when the students are using their computers outside of class. Of course students with smartphones have unrestricted access to the Internet on their own devices using their carrier’s data networks unless their parents have equipped the phones with filters. High school students are permitted to use smartphones on campus, but not in class except during teacher authorized learning projects.
Natick also has a brand-new high school building that opened this year. It’s equipped with LCD screens throughout to inform students of campus events along with WiFi throughout the entire school. The school even has an incredibly well-equipped high-tech fitness center with tools to measure pulse rate, blood pressure and progress along with a staff of fitness teachers to help students and staff develop lifelong fitness habits.
Several years ago, when I took my own kids around the country to visit colleges, I kept thinking that I want to go back to college. But after spending time in Natick, I almost wish I could go back to high school. Almost.
Links
School district’s page on 1:1 laptop program
What does research say about one-to-one computing initiatives
Instagram recently introduced its new “Photos of You” feature that allows users to tag people in photos. The mobile photo app company, which was acquired by Facebook last year, said in a blog post that it’s letting users add the “who” to their photos along with the “what” and “where” that were already available. Instead of using the word “tag,” which is used on Facebook, Instagram is calling it “Add” as in adding names of people to a picture.
To access this feature you need to update the app in the Apple app store or Google play.
How it works
After you take a picture, you have the option to “Add People” from the Share screen. You then tap on a person in the picture and answer the on-screen question. “Who’s this?” You select their name from the drop down menu or you can search for the person. You can also share a picture you’ve already taken by going to the photo and selecting “Add People.”
When you share the photo, the person’s name appears on it. You can also use the service to tag brands such as the name of a restaurant you’re visiting.
You can only tag your own photos
Unlike Facebook, you can only tag photos that you’ve taken. You can’t tag another person’s photo even if you’re in it.
Privacy and notification
If your photos are public (that’s the default but you can post privately if you wish) than anyone can see the photo and the tag. If you post privately, then the photo and the tag will only be seen by people you have approved as followers.
You need access to a picture to be notified if you’re tagged
If you are posting publicly or if the person you’ve tagged is following you, than that person will be notified. But it’s important to note that if you are tagged by a private poster that you’re not following, you will not be notified, you won’t be able to see picture or the tag even though all of that person’s followers will see both the photo and the tag. This policy is the same as the way Instagram handles @Mentions, which shows up in status or comments. If you are tagged and have access to the picture, you can untag yourself.
Photos you are tagged in will also appear on your profile by default. You have the option of changing your settings so that you have to manually approve a photo before it’s posted on your profile but just because a photo isn’t on your profile doesn’t mean it’s invisible. It is still accessible to people who follow the person who posted it. You can change the settig as follows:
You can also manually hide any photo from your profile by clicking on it, tapping your name and clicking “Hide from My Profile.”
Untagging
If you have access to the picture, you can untag (Remove) yourself form a photo as follows:
Blocking and reporting
You can keep anyone from tagging (the correct term is “adding”) to you a picture by blocking them. Once a person is blocked they can’t tag you or @mention you but of course they can still put up pictures of you and there are other ways of entering your name so this is not a full-proof way of preventing people from putting up pictures of you that you might not like.
If you feel that a photo is bullying or harrassing or otherwise violates Instagram’s terms of service, you can report it to their support department by taping the … below the phot0 and tapping “Report Inappropriate.”
Facebook and Instagram are different
Although Instagram is owned by Facebook, the services have different policies and different terms of service. For example, while both Facebook and Instagram require uers to be 13 or older, Instagram does not ask for a user’s date of birth on signup, though anyone reported and found to be under 13 will have their account deleted.
With Facebook, you can tag anyone and you are notified when you’re tagged even if the person tagging isn’t your friend, Instagram has a different policy in that it only notifies you if the person is posting publicly or if you are following them. Here is Instagram’s privacy policy and here’s Facebook’s Data Use Policy
Privacy Tips
Advice to parents
Instagram is very popular among teens and — even though it’s against the rules — I’m sure there are some preteens using it as well. Kids need to understand how to use Instragram’s privacy features but mostly need to think about what is and isn’t appropriate to photograph, share and pass around to others. For more on safety, security and privacy for kids and teens, visit ConnectSafely.org and SafeKids.com – both sites that I help operate.
This post is adapted from one that appeared on Forbes.com
The original post was published in September 2010 but has now been updated here.
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