A US law about children's online services can really only regulate US-based children's online services. It might influence foreign regulators but it has no jurisdiction over sites and services based outside the US and can't stop US users from leaving compliant services and going to noncompliant ones outside the US (or in it, for that matter). So, by the global nature of the Internet, there's no … [Read more...] about Today’s Net, kids & COPPA: Our comment to the FTC
Internet safety
Peering thoughtfully through this window into our kids’ lives
Back in 2005, a friend in Massachusetts referred to his daughters' constant instant messaging (remember that?!) as "a window into their lives that I wouldn't have otherwise. [My daughter] leaves her computer on a table beside my desk, and I get to watch a bunch of this stuff happening. Sort of like me working while she and a friend talk right inside her open bedroom door while I am working on the … [Read more...] about Peering thoughtfully through this window into our kids’ lives
How anonymity’s a safety factor: 1 clear example
People sometimes fear or vilify online anonymity, and there are well-lighted places like Facebook where reliance on offline identity is a safety factor, but we seem often to forget that anonymity is a safety factor too, one that long predates the Internet. Well-known examples are political and human-rights activists in many parts of the world now and throughout history. Another example was … [Read more...] about How anonymity’s a safety factor: 1 clear example
Kids & teens not only ok, but smart!: Study
Now for the good news in the youth part of a report from Ottawa-based MediaSmarts's report "Talking to Youth and Parents about Life Online" (yesterday I highlighted the parents piece). Well, mostly good news. It sounds as if "Internet safety education" has made the youngest among the 11-to-17-year-olds MediaSmarts talked with pretty paranoid: "From [11- and 12-year-olds'] perspective, the Internet … [Read more...] about Kids & teens not only ok, but smart!: Study
WHAT has ‘online safety’ wrought (with parents)?!
Thankfully, the youth part of "Talking to Youth and Parents about Life Online" had a whole lot of good news in it, because my heart sank when I read this first paragraph on parents' views of online kids in this study from Canada's premier digital and media literacy organization: "The parents we spoke with were beleaguered by fear of danger and exhausted from the burden of constant vigilance. … [Read more...] about WHAT has ‘online safety’ wrought (with parents)?!