This week's big iPhone tracking story offers a great example of how lawmakers don't seek out and react to the best information on kid safety available – and, of course, why parents need to take politicians' pronouncements on the subject with a grain of salt. Too often they are protecting their own interests more than they're protecting children. This week Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass) published a … [Read more...] about iPhone story & how kids’ ‘champions’ in Congress pay attention
online safety
1st look at Facebook’s ‘social [abuse] reporting’
On the social Web, where content is not just communication but behavior as well, safety is a shared experience. A single user can't guarantee it, no matter how optimized his privacy settings and practices are, nor can a site – not when people can tag, copy, forward, and instantly mass-distribute photos of and info about each other. That's why education about civility, citizenship, and safety … [Read more...] about 1st look at Facebook’s ‘social [abuse] reporting’
Virtual world ‘mall’ now has online-safety ‘store’
Everloop, a new social site aimed at kids 8-13, is not just another virtual world. Or social network site. It's not a kids' Facebook or alternative to Whyville.net or LEGO Universe, contrary to what's being reported (see Mashable). But it's also not just an online space. What it is depends on who's looking at it. To kids and parents, it's like a virtual-world and/or social-network mall that's … [Read more...] about Virtual world ‘mall’ now has online-safety ‘store’
Pink shirts in Canada: Ultimate social norms model
Today (Feb. 23) is Pink Shirt Day in Canada, marking a national movement and international model for defeating bullying – all started by two good guys in Nova Scotia, Travis Price and David Shepherd. You've probably heard the story by now, but – when, back in 2007, the then high school seniors noticed a freshman boy was being picked on for wearing a pink shirt – they figured "that's enough ... … [Read more...] about Pink shirts in Canada: Ultimate social norms model
New view of targets & bullies: Study
The latest research on bullying – a series of studies of 3,722 8th-to-10th-graders in three North Carolina counties – found that targets of bullying are not physically or socially weaker or marginalized students so much as social rivals. What's interesting about this is that the focus is shifting from individual traits (how strong or aggressive or marginalized kids are) to where they are in the … [Read more...] about New view of targets & bullies: Study