The decision most probably settles the question of whether state laws can ban sales of violent videogames without violating the First Amendment. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court has struck down a California law that "tried to make the sale or rental of mature-rated video games to underage consumers an illegal offense punishable by fine," Time reported. It was a landmark decision because, in a … [Read more...] about Supreme Court: Videogames, as other arts, are protected speech
Risk & Safety
FB & Google+ videochat + kids: Should we worry?
Based on old fears around online chat and Webcams, should all the news about videochat in Facebook and the new very social Google+ concern parents (when the latter goes public)? Not really. Not the sort of engaged parents who tend to be concerned, and definitely not those who approach these things from the kid out instead of from the technology or the headlines in (see this). In other words, it … [Read more...] about FB & Google+ videochat + kids: Should we worry?
Important new resource for online risk prevention
A third major mile marker in our collective (global) understanding of how to mitigate youth online risk just fell into place: "Munch, Poke, Ping: Vulnerable Young People, Social Media and E-Safety," a brand-new report to Britain's Training & Development Agency (TDA), the agency responsible for the training and development of that country's school workforce, including counselors and social … [Read more...] about Important new resource for online risk prevention
LGBT youth & cyberbullying: Study
The Cyberbullying Research Center has added its own data to our growing understanding of bullying related to sexual orientation. The researchers, Profs. Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin, found that 72% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) students have been targeted by bullying at some point in their lives, compared to 63% of heterosexual students, with an "even more striking" … [Read more...] about LGBT youth & cyberbullying: Study
We need to work out the social norms of social media: Why?
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about David Brooks's column on today's version of evolution and the new survival of the fittest: survival of the most cooperative, whereby people develop moral communities and the social norms that help those communities succeed. Then I watched Brooks's TED Talk about a new humanism that's emerging which expands on that. It's not the right-leaning … [Read more...] about We need to work out the social norms of social media: Why?