Did Jessi Slaughter's father think this was parenting, when he went on YouTube with her and threatened the harassers and trolls she had violently threatened too? He certainly made things worse, not better, for her – if his rant was for real (it was laughable to many viewers, based on their comments). The video of the Florida father and daughter, shown at the top of this page at Gawker.com, had … [Read more...] about How an 11-year-old became a meme
Marian Merritt
OSTWG report: Why a ‘living Internet’?
"Youth Safety on a Living Internet," the title of the just-released report of the Online Safety & Technology Working Group (OSTWG), is significant. It says a lot about the state of youth Internet safety because it says a lot about the state of the Internet now. This is not just technology or even "content" we're talking about, as we all know. It's behavior, or sociality, every bit as much as … [Read more...] about OSTWG report: Why a ‘living Internet’?
Early iPad safety tips
It's something to think about – no filtering or other "parental control" tools for a wi-fi-enabled device that can go anywhere a kid can go. I'm referring to the iPad at the moment (because it's so new, there's no such software available for it), but the wi-fi-enabled mobility part is true of most phones that go with kids to school now (I hear a lot of parents didn't think much about … [Read more...] about Early iPad safety tips
Tools & sites aimed at better kid time online
There seems to be this firewall between kids' products that kids like and kids' products that parents like. It's rare and amazing when that wall collapses, but I think what helps is when the product, while passing parental muster, is just plain useful to kids. Kid-friendly online utilitiesChildren's Web browser Kidzui meets those criteria – after all, kids need to browse the Web, and a lot of … [Read more...] about Tools & sites aimed at better kid time online