Informed citizens sometimes forget that the reason why negative, tragic or just plain-old bad news is news is because it's the exception to the rule. That's why it's newsworthy. And this is true whether we're hearing about airplane crashes or online bullying. Sometimes the news is unspeakably tragic, but it's still the exception, not the rule. It's not an event from which we can extrapolate what … [Read more...] about Factors in good policymaking about youth & digital media
Sonia Livingstone
Timely for Safer Internet Day: Game-changing insight into Internet risk
One of the milestones of Internet safety was the distinction between risk and harm made by the pan-European researchers of EU Kids Online back in 2011. "Risk must be distinguished from harm,” they wrote in a report based on surveys of more than 25,000 9-to-16-year-olds in 25 countries. “As with riding a bike or crossing the road, everyday activities online carry a risk of harm, but this harm is … [Read more...] about Timely for Safer Internet Day: Game-changing insight into Internet risk
Neutralize the ‘negativity bias’ against kids’ Net use
This post is not about technology. It's about how we (humankind) have been wiring our brains to think about technology. We have quite a hole to climb out of. Not only are our brains already "wired to scout for the bad stuff," the Huffington Post reports, referring to what neuropsychologist and author Rick Hanson calls our "negativity bias." We've been reinforcing that bias with at least 15 years … [Read more...] about Neutralize the ‘negativity bias’ against kids’ Net use
Connected learning reality check from the UK & US
By the sound of it, there are significant barriers to connected learning in UK schools too – maybe bigger ones. I'm referring to hurdles pointed out by Sonia Livingstone at the London School of Economics in a presentation she gave for the Connected Learning Research Network about "The Class," her ethnographic study of the connected lives of British middle-schoolers. For the past year, Sonia and … [Read more...] about Connected learning reality check from the UK & US
What is online risk?: Helpful clarity from Europe
To survey 9-to-16-year-olds and their parents in 25 countries, UK-based EU Kids Online came up with questions and definitions that people of all ages and many cultures and languages could understand – bringing a useful sense of definition to youth advocates worldwide. Here are the online "risk factors" about which all the researchers (based throughout Europe) asked their young respondents: Have … [Read more...] about What is online risk?: Helpful clarity from Europe