It's hard to know exactly how many kids and teens have mobile phones right now, but we do know that over a year ago more than a third (37%) of US 12-to-17-year-olds had smartphones, up from 23% in 2011, and a whopping 78% had some kind of mobile phone. That's from the Pew Internet Project, one of the best US sources on youth and tech. We also know that mobile phones are how young people access … [Read more...] about New from ConnectSafely: ‘A Parents’ Guide to Mobile Phones’
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SID 2014: Teens’ own (wise) perspectives on life with social media
As panelists at Safer Internet Day US 2014 in Washington, D.C., high school students Arielle Ampeh (from Va.), Will Ashe (Va.), Zoe Parks (Ill.), David Rojas Rosario (D.C.), Hannah Thompson (D.C.), and Dursey Wade (Mich.) had a broad-ranging conversation about their experiences in all kinds of social media. But if you watch the video or keep reading, you'll probably notice, as I did sitting in the … [Read more...] about SID 2014: Teens’ own (wise) perspectives on life with social media
Safer Internet Day 2014: The global safety collaborative
What do a high school student who's a bullying prevention activist, two criminology professors and Safer Internet Day (February 11) have in common? They're all sending the same message that safety and wellbeing online takes all of us. The student Aidan McDaniel the student activist says school safety happens from the ground (the students) up. Social cruelty both online and offline isn't a … [Read more...] about Safer Internet Day 2014: The global safety collaborative
Cybersecurity where kids are concerned
Today (October 1) marks the start of the US's National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. It's an increasingly important kind of awareness for everybody to have, because, in this very social media environment, security – of our data, identity and property – is just as "crowd-sourced" as media is now. And we all know that kids are doing as much, if not more, sharing and producing as everybody else. So … [Read more...] about Cybersecurity where kids are concerned
Digital citizenship reality check: Notes from Nairobi’s IGF
Asked how they'd rank "digital citizenship" on a scale of 1 to 10 – with 10 representing "very relevant and meaningful" – a youth panel from Egypt, the US, and UK ranging in age from 15 to 22 gave it a 1, two 3's, a 5, a 6, and an 8. This was in a workshop yesterday involving young people and adults representing the Internet industry, governments, and nonprofit youth organizations from Egypt, New … [Read more...] about Digital citizenship reality check: Notes from Nairobi’s IGF