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Dear Subscribers:

It's good to be back! We're starting a new project this week, and we'd like your help. The working title is, "Great Things Kids Do on the Internet: Contributions Made, Lessons Learned." Whether you're a parent, an educator, or both, we'd appreciate hearing about the online experiences of your kids and/or kids you know of whose stories should be heard. Please see our first item below for details. Here's our lineup for this final full week of May:


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Vanguard Compact Binoculars (Reg price $58.97, $18.97 after new Instant Rebate)
Reader Rabbit's 2nd Grade (Reg price $29.99, FREE after mail-in rebate)
Fisherman's Dream Pocket Tool (Reg price $42.95, $12.95 after new Instant Rebate)
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Email us: Great Things Kids Do on the Internet!

The Internet in the hands of children can be - in many cases is - an empowering, life-changing thing. In the media we all hear about the dangers the Internet represents to children, and online-safety education is essential. But in these still-early days of the medium we don't hear enough about contributions kids are making and the life lessons they're learning through their use of the Net. These stories - of ordinary kids worldwide, not just the Net's child prodigies - need to be on record, too. That's the goal of this project, because we all, kids and grownups, can learn a lot from each other's online experiences. We'd like to hear your stories (via feedback@netfamilynews.org), and we plan to publish as many as possible.

The stories can be about your own online kids (at home or school - relatives or students under age 18), or they can be about children you know of with whom you can help us make contact. Emails should be a few paragraphs at most, briefly describing the project or lesson-learning experience. Once we pick a story, we'll do a phone interview with the child and a parent or teacher, then write it for publication. We're seeking two types of stories:

We'll read every email you send on this. Please include "online kids project" in the "Subject" field of the email. Thank you in advance for any help you can give us!

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Family Tech: Monitoring online kids

Is it parenting or spying to monitor our children's online activities? That's the question SafeKids.com's Larry Magid asks, and answers, in his latest Family Tech column for the San Jose Mercury News. It's also a question one of you emailed us recently, and - in our April 27 issue - we published some great responses several of you sent in, as well as that of Internet security expert Winn Schwartau, author of "Internet & Computer Ethics for Kids (and Parents & Teachers Who Haven't Got a Clue)."

The question was also put to 800 parents in a recent nationwide US survey by Telocity (broadband Internet service provider) and Stanford University. Interestingly, the survey found that 72% of parents say it's acceptable to read their kids' email without permission, and "59% of mothers and 51% of fathers say a parent should monitor children's Web browsing at all times." USAToday ran an item on the survey, and the actual findings can be found at Telocity.com.

As the father of two teenagers as well as a specialist in kids' online-safety issues, Larry brings some level-headed perspective to this discussion. His piece's thorough treatment of the subject is definitely worth a read. After considering the parenting part of dealing with the Internet and children's sexual curiosity, Larry gives the specifics of how to check out where a child's been on the Web with or without monitoring software. He gives step-by-step instructions on how to view Web browser history or the "cache" on the computer your child uses. "Although sophisticated kids can cover their tracks by clearing the cache," he writes, "my guess is that most kids don't bother unless they're going out of their way to hide where they've been. If that's the case, the history will be blank and even that will tell you something."

Monitoring software tested

Larry's column also describes two monitoring software products he's tested - Spector and FamilyCAM - how they work and what they'll tell you if you install them on the kids' PC. Several others are reviewed side-by-side at Software4Parents.com. For example, Ghost Recorder, unlike Spector, monitors remotely (i.e., when a child is online at home while a parent is at work) and can email reports to the parent. Another product called Online Recorder monitors online activity in AOL as well, including AOL chat and Instant Messenger.

You might be interested to know that at least one school has chosen monitoring over filtering to comply with the US Child Internet Protection Act, passed last December. According to the New York Times, students at Shoshone High School in Idaho, say they aren't messing around with online porn because they know their school has installed monitoring software called eSniff. Originally designed for corporate use, eSniff, Inc., and other such software makers are now going after the school market. Privacy concerns are being raised, but schools are weighing various ways to comply with CIPA, which - though now being challenged in court by the American Library Association and civil liberties organizations - requires schools and libraries receiving federal e-rate subsidies to choose a "technology protection measure" to protect minors from inappropriate online material. So far, Shoshone High thinks monitoring is the way to go.

BTW, 91% of parents in the survey mentioned above said parents should limit their children's time online. If parents want to supplment family rules for online and computer time, another type of software does that. An example is PC Time Cop, which we gave a brief writeup in the March 2 issue (item No. 4 under "The latest online-safety resources: E-playgrounds").

But tell us what products, family policies, or combination thereof works best for your family! Parents are so often each other's best advisers, especially as we pioneer this new online territory together.

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For Memorial Day: Beyond the blockbuster

Many Americans are aware of how Hollywood is marking Memorial Day this year, with the release of the film "Pearl Harbor." For those interested in going a bit more in-depth on the subject, NationalGeographic.com now provides multiple means of doing so: an interview with author and historian Stephen Ambrose; an "online memory book," a searchable archive of survivors' own stories; an interactive map of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack; a timeline; and other features.

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Web News Briefs

  1. COPA's coming up again

    We will soon be hearing more about the Child Online Protection Act of 1998. According to this week's USIIA Bulletin, "The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by the Justice Department that could keep the Child Online Protection Act alive." The USIIA says the high court will announce its ruling in October. Except for the part of the act that established the COPA Commission, which completed its children's-Internet-safety report to the US Congress late last year, the law had been blocked from enforcement by the US Court of Appeals, which ruled it unconstitutional. According to ZDNet (introducing a piece by Reuters), "The law, intended to protect minors from Internet pornography, requires commercial Web sites to verify the age of users before allowing them to see minor-inappropriate content." In an opinion by the federal appeals court that barred COPA, a judge said porn sites had no effective way of screening out minors. Here's CNET's story on this.

  2. Teens' safety worries vs. parents'

    Online chat is of greater concern to both parents and teenagers than general Web surfing is. According to a recent Harris Interactive survey for the Safe America Foundation and Excite@Home, some 67% of parents are concerned about their teens' safety in chatrooms, while 54% have concerns about teen Web surfing. "In contrast," the Harris press release says, "only 27% of online teens are concerned about their own safety when in chat rooms and 19% when surfing the Web. Here are other useful findings:

    • 24% of teens have had a stranger try to arrange an in-person meeting with them offline.
    • 11% of online parents whose teens use the Net at home have installed monitoring software and 16% report installing filtering blocking software.
    • 83% of parents believe it is extremely or very important for parents to establish rules for their kids' Net use; 21% of online teens feel the same way.
    • 78% of online parents think that filtering software should be installed in public libraries; 59% of online teens agree.

  3. US school connectivity: Two updates

    Our thanks to ConnectforKids.org for pointing out the latest US Education Department survey of Net connectivity in schools, "Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2000" (in pdf format). According to CFK, the survey found that "almost all public schools in the United States, even high-poverty schools, are connected to the Internet, but gaps between poverty and affluent schools persist when it comes to the increased availability of computers linked to the Internet in the individual classroom."

    Meanwhile, the US General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a report titled "Schools and Libraries Program: Update on E-Rate Funding." About it, the USIIA Bulletin reports that the Federal Communications Commission, which administers the e-rate, "has fixed the subsidy level at $2.25 billion per year." The New York Times reports that it's fixed at that level because the e-rate "remains so politically sensitive that its supporters are not pushing for additonal money to meet the growing demand for fear they will upset the program's fragile balance of support." Even so, school and library e-rate requests "are now far outstripping the resources available," the Times adds. (As for how to find the GAO report, sigh, the site is in "frames," so we can't give you a direct URL. To get to it, go to gao.gov, click on "GAO Reports." Under "Recent Reports & Testimony," click on "listed by subject." Scroll down to and click on "Education." The fifth one down is the e-rate update of May 11, "GAO-01-672.")

  4. Porn & the search engines

    Our thanks to QuickLinks for pointing out a useful update (plus analysis) by The Guardian on where Web search engines/directories Yahoo.com, Altavista.com, Microsoft Network, and Lycos.com stand on pornography. Yahoo!, which The Guardian looks at in depth, "has now publicly back-peddled on a plan to expand its adult materials." The reports says MSN has "already gone the whole hog and removed any evidence of adult-related merchandise," Lycos is "re-evaluating" its porn policy," and AltaVista is "one of the few that seems to offer no-holds-barred access to pornographic material. For a discussion on the ethics of mixing porn and business, here are highlights from one at Internet.com's "ISP-Planet" discussion list.

  5. Teens speak: In a site, then a book

    Something that could only happen since the Web's been around: a book published by a grownup publishing company that was written by young participants in online conversations at Bolt.com and edited by a high school student and a college student. Wired News briefly reviews "Tagbook: The Bolt Book of Questions and Answers." Bolt.com is a Web site targeting teens that claims more than 4 million registered users. The Wired piece also looks at other books, e-books, and hybrids thereof.

  6. Games across the Net

    Sega was the pioneer in cross-Internet console gaming, but Dreamcast is no longer (here's a Wired News update specifically on Sega-after-Dreamcast). Now AOL and Sony are teaming up to move the trend forward. According to WashingtonPost.com, Sony Computer Entertainment and AOL Time Warner Inc. will "provide AOL service through Internet-connected PlayStation 2 game consoles," adding AOL instant messaging, chat, and email to the console game experience. ZDNet says it's Sony's "AOL of spades" trump card against competitors Nintendo and Microsoft. Meanwhile, CNET reports that all three are trying hard to figure out what to do with the Internet.

  7. Child in possession of child porn

    The story is a sad confirmation that connected computers do not belong in children's bedrooms. TheRegister.com reports on the sentencing of a 13-year-old boy found in possession of pornography (more than 300 images, including child porn, on the computer in his room). The story says the police were surprised to find they were apprehending a child.

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New surfing data, top Web sites: US, UK, Australia

While 25-to-34-year-olds are the largest age group online, 18-to-24-year-olds and people 55 and up are the fastest-growing Net-user groups, according to the latest report by Net market research Jupiter Media Metrix. Recent surveys in the UK echo these findings: The news on young surfers there is that the number of them under 17 has grown by 44% in the six months before March (to nearly 1.5 million, 1.24 million of them 11-16), reports Nua Internet Surveys. Connected UK seniors say that being online has strengthened their relationships with their family and friends. Nua reports that "90% said email was the biggest benefit of going online, and 80% said that going online had been an 'empowering and liberating experience.' "

[JMM also reports on the top Web sites for last month. Napster moved down 5 notches to 19th most popular site. The most notable newcomers of April included EllisIslandRecords.org (genealogy records from former US immigration entry point Ellis Island) and bargain-hunting sites SavingsFinder.com and BargainandHaggle.com. Among the newcomers to the JMM Top 50 were New York Times Digital, Flipside Sites (gaming/gambling), Colonize.com (direct-marketing email people can sign up for), Homestead.com (Web publishing services), and AmericanExpress.com.]

And there are new numbers on another English-speaking Net-using country: One-third of all Australian households are connected now, according to that country's Bureau of Statistics (via Nua Internet Surveys), and 53% have at least one computer. "Families with dependent children were most likely to have computer and Internet access," Nua adds.

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P.O. Box 1283
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That does it for this week. Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Anne Collier, Editor

Net Family News


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