Note the phrase "social media safety" in the headline. There are many more milestones in Internet safety education overall, but here are two vital ones for youth safety in social media since its early days in the middle of the last decade: Milestone 1: the finding of the Berkman Center's Internet Safety Technical Task Force (now Berkman Klein Center) that not all young people are equally at … [Read more...] about Two milestones in social media safety ed
Risk & Safety
‘Compassion mobs’ & other digital-age nonviolence stands
You've probably heard the phrase "kill 'em with kindness" for disarming detractors, well in social media it's more like swamping – flooding – public, sometimes collective, cruelty with kindness, acceptance, respect, etc. That was a powerful tactic used by students I wrote about in Part 1 of this series, but it has been practiced to huge ripple effect by students in Nova Scotia, Iowa, Minnesota, … [Read more...] about ‘Compassion mobs’ & other digital-age nonviolence stands
‘Only rarely’ is cyberbullying sole factor in teen suicide: Study
A just-released study from the American Academy of Pediatrics found that cyberbullying is "only rarely the sole factor identified in teen suicides." The study's author, John LeBlanc, MD, was quoted in the press release as saying that "cyberbullying is a factor in some suicides, but almost always there are other factors such as mental illness or face-to-face bullying. Cyberbullying usually occurs … [Read more...] about ‘Only rarely’ is cyberbullying sole factor in teen suicide: Study
What defeats cyberbullying: Viral kindness
This is how it's done in social media. Viral kindness. If social cruelty can get piled on in social media, so can compassion. Just watch "We Are All Daniel Cui," which shows how more than 100 students at Hillsborough High School in northern California defeated cyberbullying by swamping it with support for soccer goalie Daniel Cui, after somebody in his school created a "Worst Goalie Ever" page. … [Read more...] about What defeats cyberbullying: Viral kindness
To keep advertisers from tracking your kids’ phones
A lot of people find targeted advertising creepy – and just plain wrong if targeted at kids, especially little ones. Well, if your kids have iPhones and they have the latest operating-system software, iOS 6, then you can help them turn off apps' ability to "learn" their interests and target ads at them. Apple calls the setting "Limit Ad Tracking." My ConnectSafely co-director Larry Magid explains … [Read more...] about To keep advertisers from tracking your kids’ phones