Remember Formspring.me? Three years ago some terrible trolling that reportedly involved teens in New Jersey made the site, which announced it was shutting down* last month, a national news story in the US. Teens' viral adoption of Formspring and its format (ask a question, get an anonymous answer) reportedly took the site by surprise. Disturbing news coverage and letters sent home by school … [Read more...] about Social cruelty on Ask.fm & the whack-a-mole tendency
Internet safety
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
Online risk in kids’ own words: A research milestone
Up until now, the vast majority of studies about youth online risk have presented kid respondents with risks pre-determined by adults – for example, "the four main risks on the public policy agenda," as the authors of a new report from EU Kids Online put it. Rarely do surveys of and about children ask the kids about risk from their own perspective.* So this is news: With its new report "In … [Read more...] about Online risk in kids’ own words: A research milestone
Tech parenting smarts from teens: Australian study
Perfect for making Safer Internet Day 2013 smarter is a new study from Australia about how Net safety works best: open communication and growing competency on the part of parents every bit as much as kids. That's really boiling down an insightful study from the "Living Labs" at University of Western Sydney that paired up teens and peers' parents in front of computer screens to gain insights into … [Read more...] about Tech parenting smarts from teens: Australian study
Study on long-neglected factor in Net safety: Resilience
As a society, we've been talking about youth online risk for years, but we've only just begun to talk about young people's resilience, which is what helps them keep risk from turning into harm. It's important to know, as the authors of an important new report note, that resilience – the ability to deal with negative experiences without being upset by them – doesn't come from avoiding risk, online … [Read more...] about Study on long-neglected factor in Net safety: Resilience