Interesting that they're being lumped together: The European Union is moving its Safer Internet program will be training the spotlight on "cyberbullying and cybergrooming," German tech-news site Heise reports, the former being about peer-to-peer behavior and the latter about adult-to-child aggression. So far only two EU countries have enacted legislation dealing with these forms of aggression. … [Read more...] about EU to tackle cyberbullying, grooming
international online safety
UK’s new national online-safety council
The UK has unleashed a new Net-safety watchdog, the BBC reports. Called the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, it's the panel called for in British psychologist Tanya Byron's Action Plan, which resulted from the year-long study she conducted at Prime Minister Brown's request. Announced by British Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, the council has representatives from … [Read more...] about UK’s new national online-safety council
UK data on youth meeting strangers online
"One in five British children has met a stranger they first encountered online," the BBC reports, citing a survey from British identity-verification company Garlik. "As many as one in four 8-to-12 yea- olds ignore age restrictions to use social-networking sites." Bebo and Facebook have a minimum-age requirement of 13 and MySpace of 14. In its coverage, The Telegraph zoomed in on what parents are … [Read more...] about UK data on youth meeting strangers online
1 in 5 Oz youth cyberbullied
Twenty-two percent of Australian youth have been harassed or bullied online, according to Australia's annually Youth Poll. Even so, "the internet plays a critical role in the lives of 15-to-20-year-olds, with 64% having a social network site, The Age cites the survey as finding. The 22% cyberbullying figure compares to about 33% in the US (for more US data, see "Cyberbullying: Clarity needed"). … [Read more...] about 1 in 5 Oz youth cyberbullied
UK: 2 valuable views on Net safety, Part 1
Two milestone documents out of the UK - one a 200-page report requested by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and called "The Byron Review" after its lead author, clinical psychologist and TV personality, Dr. Tanya Brown, and the other a set of guidelines for social-networking-service best practices issued by the Home Office itself - have just been released. With the exception of references to British … [Read more...] about UK: 2 valuable views on Net safety, Part 1