by Larry Magid

Internet filters have been around since the early days of the Web and they can play an important role in preventing young children from accessing inappropriate content. But they’re not a replacement for parental involvements — and they’re not for everyone.

Before installing and configuring a filter, parents need to decide if their child needs to have software controlling how they can use the Internet and, if so, how the filter should be configured.

I don’t recommend routine use of filters for teens, especially high-schoolers. For one thing, there are lots of ways for them to get around filters, including accessing the Web from their cell phones, game consoles or other people’s PCs. And since teens are on a fast path to becoming young adults, it’s better to help them develop the filter that runs between their ears. You can’t protect them forever, so help them learn self-control. Of course, there are always exceptions, and some teens do need extra supervision.

Filters can be a convenient way to keep young children from stumbling onto material that might gross them out or disturb them. Young children generally seek out a limited number of sites, but it’s certainly possible for them to stumble onto inappropriate ones.

Seemingly innocent search terms can sometimes bring up inappropriate sites. But rather than install filters on your computer, you might consider configuring the search engine your child uses.

Google, for example, offers a “search settings” option in the upper-right corner of its main page. Click on that and select either “strict filtering” or “moderate filtering” (the default). Strict filtering, which I recommend for young children, filters both explicit text and images. Just below the setting is an option to lock safe search so kids can’t easily turn it off for that browser. Be aware, however, that the lock is browser-specific.

Microsoft’s Bing.com also has a preferences section in the upper-right corner with similar controls. Yahoo allows you to configure its filters if you’re signed in with a Yahoo account.

My safety Web site, SafeKids.com, has a search page that’s locked into Google’s strict safe search. But no safe search option is foolproof. You still need to keep an eye on young kids when they’re online.

Microsoft Windows 7 doesn’t comes with a Web filtering feature, but it has controls that let parents limit when and how long their kids use the computer and to specify which programs kids can run. To use this, you need to create a Windows account for your child, and Microsoft recommends you password-protect your own account so only you can configure your child’s account.

The “time limits” option puts up a grid that lets you drag your mouse over certain hours of specific days that you wish to block. You can also turn on “allow and block specific programs,” which blocks all programs until you approve them. Another option allows you to block or allow games.

Although it’s not built into Windows 7, Microsoft has a free Web filter that works with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Microsoft’s Family Safety program doesn’t give you a lot of granular control over the types of sites your kids can use but it does let you choose between “strict” (which blocks all but child-friendly sites and sites you’ve allowed), “basic” (which blocks adult content) and “custom” (which lets you turn on or off a few categories, including social networking and Web mail.)

Symantec offers a more robust free program called OnlineFamily.Norton, which works with both Macs and PCs. This software gives you a great deal more control over the types of sites you kids can visit and allows you to create a separate profile for each child with recommended settings based on age.

If you already have a security suite, check to see if it includes filtering. TrendMicro Internet Security Pro, for example, includes a highly configurable Web filter. Also check with your Internet service provider to see if it offers a free Web filter.

Filters and other tools are not a substitute for parenting. Regardless of your child’s age and whether or not you use a filter, you should still check in with your kids regularly about how they use the Internet, their cell phones, game consoles and other technology.

When it comes to such issues as time online or obsessive use of the Internet or texting, remember that how you act is often more powerful than what you say. Kids learn by watching and if they see you constantly on the phone or online, they might wind up emulating your behavior.

Resources:
Parental Control & Online Child Protection: An excellent and very thorough review of parental control tools by Adam Thierer, president of the Progress & Freedom Foundation

ConnectSafely.org:  News, tips and commentary on all aspects of Internet safety, especially as it applies to the interactive “social” web.  (Disclosure, the author of this article is co-director of ConnectSafely)

GetNetWise.org: Excellent resources on Internet safety

This article is adapted from one that originally appeared in the San Jose Mercury News

A recent survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 73 percent of online teens use social-networking sites. Updating their Facebook or MySpace page has become a regular activity for teens as is using these services to catch up on what their peers are doing. But, for the most part, teens are using social networking while they are away from school. Many schools actually ban access to services like Facebook and Twitter and often configure filtering programs to block students from accessing them.

While I can understand why it might not be educationally relevant for schools to allow students to polish their online profiles while in school, I worry that schools are disallowing the very technology that kids are using for their informal communications and learning. As my ConnectSafely.org co-director Anne Collier blogged on NetFamilyNews, “Gutenberg’s press, was pretty controversial back in the day (15th c.) and probably didn’t make it into ’school’ for a while.”

Today, of course, books are a staple in school but, as any trip to a bookstore will illustrate, not all books are appropriate for classrooms. Should educators ban books because some books are “bad?” Of course not. Educators select appropriate books for use in class and incorporate them into the educational process.

The same should be true of social networking. While I’m not convinced that school filters should prevent kids from accessing sites like Facebook and MySpace from school computers during breaks, I can understand why educators would mostly avoid them for classroom use. Of course, there are pages on these sites with educational value, so it makes sense more sense for teachers to be granular by allowing access to appropriate social-networking pages rather than banning them entirely.

Social networking designed for schools
But it also makes sense to think about ways to incorporate specialized social networking tools in class. The Flat Classroom Project is one example where educators have built social-networking sites (mostly using Ning) specifically for use in class and home assignments. Not only does this allow for educationally relevant communication for students in the classroom, but for them to interact with students in far away classrooms both in the U.S. and abroad so students around the world can reach and learn from each other.

Fortunately, the idea of school-based social networking is starting to take hold. It has caught the attention of Mary McCaffrey, CEO of SchoolCenter. School Center, which bills itself as a “Web solutions company in the education market,” is in the process of developing social-networking tools marketed specially to schools. These tools will encourage students to interact with each other, using many of the same techniques they do when away from school but focused on their educational mission.

I spoke with McCaffrey not only about what her company plans to offer but about what many schools are currently missing.

Listen now


This post originally appeared on CNET News.com

Students at Herriton High School in Lower Merion School District near Philadelphia are given Apple MacBook laptops to use both at school and at home. Like all MacBooks, the ones issued to the students have a Webcam. And, in addition to the students’ ability to use the Webcam to take pictures or video, the school district can also use it to take photographs of whomever is using the computer.

In a civil complaint (PDF) filed in federal court, a student at the school, Blake Robbins, said he received a notice from an assistant principal informing him that “the school district was of the belief that minor plaintiff was engaged in improper behavior in his home, and cited as evidence a photograph from the Webcam.”

The district said in a statement that the “security feature was installed to help locate a laptop in the event it was reported lost, missing or stolen so that the laptop could be returned to the student.” The district further explained that “upon a report of a suspected lost, stolen or missing laptop, the feature was activated by the district’s security and technology departments. The tracking-security feature was limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator’s screen.” The district claims it has “not used the tracking feature or Webcam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever.”

Subsequently, district Superintendent of Schools Christopher W. McGinley sent a letter to parents saying that the security tracking feature is being disabled and that there will be “a thorough review of the existing policies for student laptop use” and a “review of security procedures to help safeguard the protection of privacy, including a review of the instances in which the security software was activated.”

In the mean time, the Associated Press is reporting that the FBI is investigating the district and “will explore whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws,” according to an unnamed official who spoke to the AP.

In an interview with CBS Evening News, plaintiff Blake Robbins said he was unaware that the camera could be activated at his house. “I thought that there was no way that they could do that at my home,” Robbins said, adding that the assistant principal “thought I was selling drugs, which is completely false.”

On the CBS Early Show, Harriton High sophomore Savannah Williams said she keeps the laptop in her bedroom and says that its on while she is “getting changed, doing my homework, taking a shower, everything.” She said she takes it into the bathroom with her to listen to music while showering. “I was shocked,” she added. She said “everyone is talking about it at school…everyone was really worried about ‘what are they watching me doing.’”

At least one student at Harriton isn’t particularly worried about the administration spying on students. In a podcast interview, 16-year-old junior Jon Brodo said “I don’t think anyone knows the true story…the problem is in this case is that there are so many rumors going around.” He said that he is somewhat concerned, but “I do trust that the school district knows its bounds.” Brodo said that most students, however ,”it’s been pretty hectic. It’s the conversation of everybody. I’ve seen the kid (plaintiff Blake Robbins) in the hallways. The atmosphere is definitely pro the kid and antischool district.”

On its Web site, Lower Merion School District says that it was one of the first districts in the country to issue laptops to all high-school students. And that is an extremely laudable effort on the part of the district to bring learning into the 21st century. It’s also commendable that the school put some thought into a recovery system to help locate lost and stolen laptops but it’s quite unfortunate that they used a system that enables administrators to take photographs of students using the machines away from school.

Of course, no judge has yet ruled on the plaintiff’s claim and the school has denied that it has used the cameras for anything other than helping recover missing machines. But even if that turns to be the case, the mere fact that staff members had the ability to turn on the camera remotely is problematic. While it’s fair to assume that the school could monitor what students do with district owned equipment (just as employers can with equipment used by employees even when they’re away from the office), I can understand why students and their parents would be shocked to learn that officials could remotely turn on the camera.

Listen to interview with student Jon Brodo

This article first appeared on CNET News.com

While it doesn’t break any new ground, MTV’s half-hour special, “Sexting In America: When Privates Go Public,” is a good reminder for teens that taking and sending nude pictures is never a good idea.

The show will air at 9 p.m. PST and EST on Sunday–Valentine’s Day.

The program, which is aimed at teens, explores the consequences–to one’s emotions, reputation, and legal standing–in posing for, taking, distributing, or forwarding nude pictures by cell phone or computer.

The show features 19-year-old Ally, who was 16 when she sent a nude picture to an ex-boyfriend who said he’d get back together with her if she did so. The boy, in Ally’s words, “ended up sending it to everybody in his contact list” and soon Ally’s picture was all over school. Ally said she sent the photo because “having him ask me for the picture made me feel wanted again.”

Instead she felt betrayed, especially after the reaction from classmates. “The harassment just started immediately,” she told MTV. “Kids in my school were really brutal and terrible to me in the hallway and they would call me whore, slut, ‘ho’.”

Ally, now in college, has a new boyfriend “who doesn’t like the fact that there is a nude picture of me still out there, but he’s completely understanding about it.” She told MTV that she still bears scars from this incident. “The picture is always there in the back of my mind,” she said.

Phillip Albert, now 20, has faced other consequences. When he was 17, his 16-year-old girlfriend sent him naked pictures. A month after he turned 18, he and his girlfriend got into a fight and after getting a nasty phone message from her in the middle of the night, he opened up the message with her photo and pressed the “little select all button” followed by the send button.

As a result, the girl’s picture was sent to over 70 people including “friends, teachers, parents, and grandparents.” Phillip was arrested for distribution of child pornography, put on five years probation, and required to register on the public sex offender list. He was kicked out of college, can’t find a job, and can’t live with his father because his dad lives too close to a high school. As a registered sex offender, Phillip isn’t allowed to live near a school, playground, or a church. Unless his lawyer is successful in getting to court to take him off the list, he could remain on the registered sex offender list until he’s in his 40s.

The MTV program draws on a survey conducted by the TV network and the Associated Press last year that found “29 percent (of young people 14 to 24) report receiving messages ‘with sexual words or images’ by text or on the Internet.” Confirming Ally’s story, the study found that “61 percent of those who have sent a naked photo or video of themselves have been pressured by someone else to do so at least once.”

In this study, 1 in 10 youth said they shared shared a naked image of themselves, but a subsequent study conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that “4 percent of cell-owning teens ages 12-17 say they have sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images or videos of themselves to someone else via text messaging.” Pew reported that “15 percent say they have received such images of someone they know via text message.”

The Pew data, which covers only minors–not young adults–indicates that the practice may not be as widespread as MTV and other studies have suggested. But even 4 percent represents a significant number of teens who have sent nude images of themselves.

If you have a teen in your life, it’s probably worth 30 minutes of your and your teen’s time to watch this show together on Sunday night. If your teen has ever been on the fence about taking, sending, or forwarding a sexting message, the show could provide some incentive to make them think twice.

“Sexting in America” is associated with A Thin Line, an MTV-sponsored site with information on sexting, cyberbullying, and other teen issues.

ConnectSafely.org, the Internet safety nonprofit I work with, also offers advice for avoiding sexting.

Here is the “Sexting in America” trailer:

by Larry Magid

Cell phones and the Internet are great ways for romantic partners to stay in touch, but based on a recent survey of 14- to 24-year-olds, they’re also being used to spy and harass significant others.

My report on the Associated Press and MTV study about youth digital abuse focused mostly on sexting and how youth respond to cyberbullying. But there was also some interesting data on how technology is being used for “dating abuse.”

The study (PDF) found that 22 percent of youth involved in a romantic relationship say they feel like their significant other uses a cell phone or goes online to check up on them too often. The study also found that “more than 1 in 4 say their boyfriend or girlfriend has checked the text messages on their phone without permission,” and more than 10 percent of the young people said that a boyfriend or girlfriend has demanded that they give them their password.

Whether by coercion or not, 26 percent said they had shared an online password with someone. Females (31 percent) are more likely to share passwords than males (22 percent). And though there isn’t necessarily a causal relationship, 68 percent of those who have shared passwords report having been a target of digital abuse compared with 44 percent of those who hadn’t.

Not surprisingly, a significant minority of the youth (12 percent) said that a boyfriend or girlfriend call them names, put them down, or say really mean things to them on the Internet or cell phone.

And about 1 in 10 said that a significant other demanded that they unfriend a former boyfriend or girlfriend on social networks.

The survey, conducted for The Associated Press and MTV by Knowledge Networks interviewed 1,247 people between the ages 14 and 24 in what was described as a nationally representative survey.

This data comes just as there is increased attention on teen dating abuse. CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric reported last week that 29 percent of America’s teens “say that they were emotionally, sexually or physical abused by their boyfriends and sometimes even girlfriends last year.” Though technology doesn’t cause nor necessarily play a role in teen dating violence, it clearly can amplify the problem, especially if a partner in the relationship is using a cell phone or computer to harass, stalk or spy on their partner as the AP/MTV survey has shown. Technology can also be used by partners to embarrass their significant others by making it possible for partner to details or their relationship online. One of the biggest downsides to “sexting” is the possibility of a partner sharing those images with others.

Marriage and family therapist Marty Klein is less concerned about kids sharing intimate photos with their partners than he about how some are misusing those images. “Take the sex out of sexting and what you have is a betrayal of trust,” Klein said. The Internet, he added, “more clearly and sometimes more dramatically focuses our attention on problems that people have struggled with forever.” In other words, the Internet and mobile technology don’t cause these problems (that exist in offline relationships) but they can amplify them.

Couric also reported that calls and online chat to the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline went up nearly 600 percent from March 2007 to March 2009. The Helpline’s Web site has advice for teens including a section on helping to determine if you’re being abused.

In conjunction with the release of the digital abuse survey, MTV launched A Thin Line, a Web site that provides resources to help youth deal with sexting, constant messaging, spying, digital disrespect, and cruelty.

Back to school time is an excellent time for kids, parents and teachers to think and talk about the safe and approprite use of the Internet and social networking tools.

My message to parents and teachers is simple. Embrace the technology that kids use, recognize that whatever you may lack in technology knowledge you make up in wisdom. And remember that you, too, were once a kid. Your first reaction to kid activity that may be a bit disturbing shouldn’t be to freak out and shut down access but to take a deep breath, talk with (and listen to) the kids and do everything you can to encourage dialog.

And try to become familiar with the technology your kids use. That doesn’t mean you necessarily have to be their friend on Facebook or MySpace, but before you start trying to control how they use social networking technology, make sure you understand it.

Teachers should attempt to use social networking as part of the educational process. Whether they know it or not, kids are enaged in informal learning through their use of social networking so why not use the same technology for formal learning? And while you’re at it, incorporate digital citizenship and media literacy into your teaching.

As my ConnectSafely co-director Anne Collier pointed out in “Social media literacy: The new Internet safety,” media literacy and critical thinking “is protective against manipulation and harm.” Encouraging kids to practice good digital citizenship helps protect all young people, because “behaving aggressively online more than doubles the risk of being victimized.”

Hemanshu Nigam, MySpace & News Corp Security Chief

As per kids, Hemanshu Nigam, the chief security officer at News Corp and MySpace offers some Online Safety and Back to School advice especially suited to youth who use social networking services like MySpace and Facebook (MySpace is one of several companies that provide financial support for ConnectSafely). He starts off with the usual internet safety advice: “Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want the world to know” and “don’t get together with someone you ‘meet’ online unless you’re certain of their identity.” Then, perhaps a bit uncharacteristic of his background as a former federal prosecutor, Nigam also provides advice about the compassionate and kind use of social networking.

•  Post with respect: photos are a great way to share wonderful experiences. If you’re posting a photo of you and your friends, put yourself in your friends’ shoes and ask would your friends want that photo to be public to everyone. If yes, then you’re uploading photos with respect.
• Comment with kindness: compliments are like smiles, they’re contagious. When you comment on a profile, share a kind word, others will too.
• Update with empathy: sharing updates lets us tell people what we think. When you give an opinion on your status updates, show empathy towards your friends and help them see the world with understanding eyes.

ConnectSafely.org, the non-profit website I co-direct, has lots of other advice on the safe and productive use of social media and technology.

When I think about all the possible dangers associated with technology (cyberbullying, sexting, inappropriate material, online and game addiction and even the remote chance of being harmed by a predator), nothing strikes me as scarier than texting while driving.

A recently released study (PDF) by the VirginiaTech Transportation Institute found that truck drivers who were texting were 23 times more at risk of a “crash or near crash event” than “nondistracted driving.” As per talking on a cell phone, the same study found no increased risk for truck drivers and 1.3 times the risk for car drivers. There was considerably more risk associated with dialing while driving. The institute’s Richard Hanowski acknowledges that the numbers are likely to be different with car drivers. As reported by CNET’s Jennifer Guevin, the study also found that “texting took a driver’s focus away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds–enough time…to travel the length of a football field at 55 mph.”

A December 2007 simulator study by Clemson University found that “text messaging and using iPods caused drivers to leave their lanes 10 percent more often.”

Paul Green, research professor at University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute who has done a decade’s worth of research on driver distraction, said “from the science so far, it’s very clearly a problem. We don’t have exact statistics yet, we have enough information to say that texting shouldn’t be permitted while driving.”

The New York Times has created an interactive game that measures how reaction time is affected by distractions.

Teens at biggest risk

When it comes to texting while driving, teens are a particular risk group considering that, according to Nielsen (PDF), “The average U.S. mobile teen now sends or receives an average of 2,899 text-messages per month” and apparently some of those texts are being sent and read from behind the wheel.

A 2007 study conducted by AAA and Seventeen magazine has been widely misquoted as 46 percent of teens admit to texting while driving. But what the study found is that “61 percent of teens admit to risky driving habits.” Forty-six percent of that 61 percent say that they text message while driving.

This issue is in the news a bit more than usual these days because of a shocking video created by a police department in the UK. It depicts a teenage girl texting while driving followed by a terrible crash with gruesome results for her friends in her car and the family whose car she hit. Before viewing the video (scroll down) please be aware that it is graphic and very disturbing. And before forwarding it to a teenager, also be aware that many youth risk prevention specialists question the effectiveness of videos that try to use shock value to change teen behavior.

Shock videos can backfire

Russell Sabella, professor of counseling in the College of Education, Florida Gulf Coast University, says that “While there is some research that shows that some students can be sensitized to potential consequences from videos like it, there is also evidence that students get emotionally aroused in the short term but desensitize in the long term. He said “some students get reinforced by the message that this happens to others but ‘it won’t happen to me.’”

Professor Sabella “would rather see a video with more positive role modeling such as someone who turns off their phone before they drive or perhaps uses a “designated texter”–someone else in the car who can do the texting for you.” If a shock video is going to be used, he said “is has be of a comprehensive effort which includes kids, parents, teachers, legislators, and authorities.”

“A more effective approach,” said Patti Agatston from the Marietta, Ga.-based Prevention/Intervention Center, “might be to have teens involved in creating a public service announcement that include positive messages about looking out for themselves and the people they care about by not texting and driving.” Agatston says that it’s “helpful for youth to receive consistent and repeated messages from a variety of sources, including their peers and parents or guardians.”

Don’t just forward this to your kids

Indeed, if you are going to show this video to your kids, I suggest you watch it with them or, better yet, assemble a group of teens to watch it together and discuss it among themselves. What their peers say will have a bigger impact than what you say. You can view the video here:

The first things you need to know about cyberbullying are that it’s not an epidemic and it’s not killing our children. Yes, it’s probably one of the more widespread youth risks on the Internet and yes there are some well publicized cases of cyberbullying victims who have committed suicide, but let’s look at this in context.

Bullying has always been a problem among adolescents and, sadly, so has suicide. In the few known cases of suicide after cyberbullying, there are other contributing factors. That’s not to diminish the tragedy or suggest that the cyberbullying didn’t play a role but–as with all online youth risk, we need to look at what else was going on in the child’s life. Even when a suicide or other tragic event doesn’t occur, cyberbullying is often accompanied by a pattern of offline bullying and sometimes there are other issues including long-term depression, problems at home, and self-esteem issues. And the most famous case of “cyberbullying”–the tragic suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier–was far from typical. Cyberbullying is almost always peer to peer, but this was a case of an adult (the mom of one of Megan’s peers) being accused of seeking revenge on a child who had allegedly bullied her own child.

And, as per “epidemic,” it depends on how you define cyberbullying.

The most commonly recognized definition of bullying includes repeated, unwanted aggressive behavior over a period of time with an imbalance of power between the bully and the victim. In theory, that also covers cyberbullying, but some have taken a broader approach to cyberbullying to also include single or occasional episodes of a person insulting another person online. Indeed, because of the possibility of it being forwarded, a single episode of online harassment can have long-term consequences. “‘Power’ and ‘repetition’ may be manifested a bit differently online than in traditional bullying, Susan Limber, professor of psychology at Clemson University, said in an interview that appeared in a publication of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. She added, “a student willing to abuse technology can easily wield great power over his or her target just by having the ability to reach a large audience, and often by hiding his or her identity.”

Manifestations of cyberbullying include name calling, sending embarrassing pictures, sharing personal information or secrets without permission, and spreading rumors. It can also include trickery, exclusion, and impersonation.

Fuzzy numbers

Partly because there is no single accepted definition of cyberbullying, the extent of the problem is all over the map. I’ve seen some reports claim that up to 80 percent of online youth have experienced cyberbullying, while two national studies have put the percentage closer to one-third. A UCLA study conducted in 2008 found that 41 percent of teens surveyed reported between one and three online bullying incidents over the course of a year.

A recent study by Cox Communications came up with lower numbers, finding that approximately 19 percent of teens say they’ve been cyberbullied online or via text message and 10 percent say they’ve cyberbullied someone else.

One thing we know about cyberbullying is that it’s often associated with real-world bullying. The UCLA study found that 85 percent of those bullied online were also bullied at school.

Signs of cyberbullying

It’s not always obvious if a child is a victim of cyberbullying, but some possible signs include: suddenly being reluctant to go online or use a cell phone; avoiding a discussion about what they’re doing online; depression, mood swings, change in eating habits; and aloofness or a general disinterest in school and activities. A child closing the browser or turning off the cell phone when a parent walks in the room can be a sign of cyberbullying, though it can also be a sign of other issues including an inappropriate relationship or just insistence on privacy.

Preventing and stopping cyberbullying

After struggling with a school-wide bullying problem, Aaron Hansen, principal of White Pine Middle School in Ely, Nev., told Fox News that he asked the kids to fill out a survey indicating when the bullying took place and who the bullies were. He then invited the alleged offenders into his office to tell them “your peers feel that like you’re not very nice to people at times and they feel like sometimes you’re a bully.” Based on working with those kids and working with their needs–including problems at home–the school was able to reduce the problem.

Not every situation will resolve itself quite so easily, but identifying the reasons kids are acting as bullies can go a long way toward preventing it as can educational programs that stress ethics and cyber citizenship (”netiquette”). It also helps kids to know what to do if they are victims of bullying. At ConnectSafely.org (a site I help operate) we came up with a number of tips including: don’t respond, don’t retaliate; talk to a trusted adult; and save the evidence. We also advise young people to be civil toward others and not to be bullies themselves. Finally, “be a friend, not a bystander.” Don’t forward mean messages and let bullies know that their actions are not cool.

If your child is a victim of cyberbullying, don’t start by taking away his or her Internet privileges. That’s one reason kids often don’t talk about Net-related problems with parents. Instead, try to get your child to calmly explain what has happened. If possible, talk with the parents of the other kids involved and, if necessary, involve school authorities. If the impact of the bullying spills over to school (as it usually does), the school has a right to intervene.

Be careful what we legislate

There are lots of state laws that focus on cyberbullying, some requiring schools to provide educational resources. While I’m all for education, I think we need to be careful about any legislation that outlaws cyberbullying. U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) has proposed H.R. 1966, well meaning legislation that could imprison for up to two years, “whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior.” On the surface, it seems fine but as UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh has pointed out, it could also be used to punish political and other forms of speech. “I try to coerce a politician into voting a particular way, by repeatedly blogging (using a hostile tone),” he writes, “I am transmitting in interstate commerce a communication with the intent to coerce using electronic means (a blog) “to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior.” Professor Volokh said that if the law is passed, he expects it to be “struck down as facially overbroad.”