internet safety

The annual event started in 2004 as an initiative of the European Commission's Safer Internet Programme. It features school assemblies and major conferences in many countries.

I'm in Moscow to speak at Russia's Safer Internet Day conference. Several members of Russia's parliament, along with other government officials, are expected to participate along with educators, Moscow area schoolchildren and representatives of technology companies including Google … Read more

More than six in 10 (62 percent) of kids reported that they have had a negative experience while online. Those negative experiences include being bullied, responding to an e-mail scam, downloading a virus, or being pressured online to do something that the child thought was wrong.

Cyberbaiting The study also found that a fifth of teachers (21 percent) have personally experienced … Read more

Security firm Trend Micro is launching its second annual "What's Your Story" contest to encourage youth and others to submit short videos on Internet safety and privacy.

Categories include being a good online citizen, using a cell phone wisely, and maintaining your online privacy.

The contest is open to anyone 13 and older in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., including students, teachers, and entire classrooms. In addition to the first-prize winner there will be six $500 prizes. Three will go to the best school entries in each category and three will go to the … Read more

Ever wish you could be a fly on the wall for what your kids post on Facebook and other social media sites? One option would be to get them to friend you, but a lot of kids are reluctant to let that happen. Privacy issues aside, some kids find it uncool to have their parents show up on a friends list.

AOL, in partnership with SocialShield, is launching AOL SafeSocial, a $9.99-per-month service that lets parents monitor their kids' online activities without having to be a "friend."

The service doesn't work in stealth mode. In fact, … Read more

LONDON--Thanks to the volcanic ash pouring out of Iceland, I had some extra time in London last week, giving me an opportunity to try my hand at shuttle diplomacy between Facebook and a British police agency called the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center, or CEOP.

I came to London en route to a tech conference in Spain that was canceled due to the air travel issues and also to give a talk at a Family Online Safety Institute conference in Bahrain that starts Tuesday.

As I wrote recently, CEOP is pressuring Facebook to add a reporting button (some call … Read more

A new curriculum being developed by Common Sense Media is intended to help middle school teachers, parents, and kids themselves "raise a generation of responsible, smart, and safe digital citizens."

The curriculum is based on the digital ethics framework developed by the GoodPlay Project, led by Harvard School of Education professor Howard Gardner.

The curriculum has been tested in pilot programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, Omaha, and New York and will be rolled out nationwide in the fall.

To learn more about this curriculum, I spoke by phone with Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer. You … Read more

commentary In my more than 15 years in the Internet safety field, I've seen a lot of programs designed to teach children how to use the Internet safely, but many have missed the mark because they too often focus on children as victims or at least passive consumers rather than as participants in our digital culture. But in this Web 2.0 world, kids aren't just consuming media, they're creating it and they have collectively embraced social media as a part of their lives. They don't go online; they are online--whether on a PC, a mobile … Read more

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski laid out the "broadband plan for children and families" Friday at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Referring to children as "our most precious national resource," Genachowski said "we must do everything we can to educate and prepare them to thrive in the 21st century and keep them safe." New technologies, he said, "can expose our children to new dangers, and can potentially outpace the ability of parents to guide their children."

Genachowski had a mostly positive view of technology for kids, … Read more

Back-to-school time is an excellent time for kids, parents, and teachers to think and talk about the safe and appropriate use of the Internet and social-networking tools.

My message to parents and teachers is simple: embrace the technology that kids use, recognize that whatever you may lack in technology knowledge you make up in wisdom, and remember that you, too, were once a kid. Your first reaction to kid activity that may be a bit disturbing shouldn't be to freak out and shut down access but to take a deep breath, talk with (and listen to) the kids, and … Read more