It's interesting that Daily Beast writer Caitlin Dixon precedes her question "When did we let our guard down?" with the story of sleeping on strangers' couch in Italy after finding them in a couch-surfing site. Yes, she let her guard down (but the people were great hosts). What's interesting, though, is that she compared couch-surfing to connecting with people online. One could argue – and I've … [Read more...] about So we’ve all ‘let our guard down’?
Net use: How young Australians line up with kids in 25 other countries
Australian young people are highly connected people, on the whole. Part of the reason, probably, is that they're such mobile users. They're "disproportionately likely" to be online with a smartphone or other handheld device, according to the AU Kids Online report. "Whereas 46% of Australian [9-to-16-year-olds] say they access the Internet via a smart handheld device other than a basic mobile … [Read more...] about Net use: How young Australians line up with kids in 25 other countries
Tech & media intelligence-gathering in Sydney
"Intelligence" is the word that has come to mind most frequently as I've participated in conversation after conversation with Australians about kids in digital media over the past 10 days. Here's just a sampler of examples: "Cybersafety education saturation": A government is really "hearing" young citizens in Australia. Rosalie O'Neale of the Australian Communications & Media Authority … [Read more...] about Tech & media intelligence-gathering in Sydney
Australian teen panelists on social media: Meaty insights
My visit to Australia for the World Congress on Family Law & Children's Rights has been rich in hospitality and insight – I've had the privilege of talking with people in government, online-safety advocacy, industry, school (students!), primary and secondary education, research, of course many parents and grandparents, and even "Australia's Dr. Phil," as Michael Carr-Gregg has sometimes … [Read more...] about Australian teen panelists on social media: Meaty insights
Cyberbullying ‘neither an epidemic nor a rarity’: Researchers
This has been stated before but not seen (or reported) enough: Cyberbullying is not an epidemic, even though news reports about it seem to have reached epidemic proportions. The last six surveys of "random samples" of students nationwide by two of the US's top researchers on the subject – Profs. Justin Patchin and Sameer Hinduja of the Cyberbullying Research Center – found that 18.8-29.2% … [Read more...] about Cyberbullying ‘neither an epidemic nor a rarity’: Researchers