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Do You Know How to Manage Facebook Privacy Settings?

Chances are that you are on Facebook. Or, if you’re not, you soon will be. After all, Facebook boasts over 400 million users across the world (Facebook Press Room) and is growing rapidly.

We all have our own reasons for joining—we want to connect with old friends, find new friends, or we give in to pressure from friends or family that are already there (Groundswell, 2008). However, too many of us join Facebook without giving much attention to our Facebook privacy settings.

A Consumer Reports survey, released yesterday, says that 52% of social network users posted “risky information” during the past year. Interestingly, the number was 56% among Facebook users. A New York Times analysis of this Consumer Reports survey says the report “inadvertently reveals that Facebook users clearly have no idea about how much they’re publicly sharing on the network.”

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Internet Browsers for Kids: Surf Knight

Yesterday I was introduced to an internet browser created just for kids, Surf Knight. I’ve seen similar products from time to time and I’m not quite sure what to think about them. On the one hand, I can image great benefit for parents and children with a web browser that is specifically engineered for child use and parental monitoring. For example, Surf Knight lets parents control which websites a child is able to access and it provides filtering for pornographic websites, if your child is doing internet searches.

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Free Range Kidlets


Photo by Relasa via Flickr

When we started the non-profit (Community Watch) in 2006, we were told that children were at extreme risk from strangers, and that thousands and thousands of kids go missing every single day in the US. We had law enforcement, safety experts, and children’s books expound on these two ideas, and we were pretty sure it was our job to let parents know that, too.

We were wrong, and we figured it out pretty quick, thankfully.

We want our kids to be safe, to grow up safe, and to learn how to keep themself safe so they’re prepared for any situation. The skills they need to do that are like a toolbox, and one of the most important tools in that box is CONFIDENCE.

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What Games Are Your Kids Playing?


Uploaded by FuujaHouin via Flickr

A recent Philadelphia Enquirer story highlighted the fact that kids today are putting away their dolls and action figures earlier in favor of online games and social networks. One dollmaker, interviewed for the story, said his company used to make dolls for girls up to 12, now, he says, “By the time they hit 4 or 5, they want a cell phone.”

Using Technology Earlier

We can debate whether this is a positive or negative turn in our culture, but the fact remains that kids are turning to online games much sooner then they were a decade ago. This is due both to the proliferation of high-speed internet into the home and the increased market of online games aimed at children. Case in point, my 6 year-old begs me everyday after school to play Club Penguin, a virtual online environment where he has a cartoon penguin avatar and plays games with other users. When I was 6, if you were lucky enough to know someone with an Atari, you might get to watch an older kid play it.

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A Three-pronged Approach to Teaching Internet Safety to Children


Photo by Leonard John Matthews via Flickr

There is a lot of discussion about who should teach kids how to stay safe online. Why do we care? Because kids are going online in huge numbers, and while online they encounter bullying, scams, and sexual predators.

Kids should receive online safety education at home, at school, and from the vendors that provide internet products and services.

Online safety education at home

Computer use is fundamental to our society at this point. From the time our kids are infants, their images are posted online. Kids today communicate with their family online through social networks and gaming, they check for homework assignments and movie times, and they shop.

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