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
resilience
From Europe, Top 10 online-risk myths
The EU Kids Online researchers look at young people's Internet use in a child-centric, contextual way and confirm how individual their Net use is. The individuality of their online experiences is a theme I've seen over and over in North American research too over the past 10 years, as a journalist and as a member of two national Net-safety task forces, highlighting the importance of a … [Read more...] about From Europe, Top 10 online-risk myths
Ultra safe playgrounds turn out to be not so safe
This story in Australia isn't about technology, but consider children's online safety as you read, ok? News.com.au reports that playground equipment has become so safe as to increase harm to children. How can that be? Super-safe playgrounds keep children from learning calculated risk-taking. "Playground injuries were often a result of children being poorly coordinated because they did not know how … [Read more...] about Ultra safe playgrounds turn out to be not so safe
Top EU policymaker on trusting our online kids
It's amazing to hear a policymaker say this: "We cannot, and should not, put our children and youngsters in a digital glass cage, hoping they will never encounter any harmful or illegal content online. This will simply not work." That was Neelie Kroes, European Commission vice president and the EU's top legislator for digital issues, in a speech marking International Missing Children's Day (May … [Read more...] about Top EU policymaker on trusting our online kids
Notes from a conference on bullying
The only way really to change a school culture to one that's respectful and safe is to get everybody involved, and everybody has to include students, of course, because it's their school, their workplace and they represent the vast majority of the people there. "So how do we involve them?" I asked Stan Davis of the Youth Voice Project on a panel I was moderating at the International Bullying … [Read more...] about Notes from a conference on bullying