Everything I know about protecting children I learned from

a visit to Nairobi National Park

Larry MagidCo-director

ConnectSafely.org

larry@connectsafely.org

Photos taken by Larry Magid in Nairobi Nat’l Park on Sept 24, 2011

Some children need to be rescued or protected

But all children …

Need to be nurtured

Encouraged to nurture themselves

To present themselves properly

Pay attention to what’s around them

Get support from peers

To stand tall

And allowed to be free

We are in the midst of a global information & social revolution, led by youth

Of course there are risks in life, so…

Who can best protect youth?

Government?

Parents?

Law enforcement?

Or young people themselves?

4 Types of Online Safety• Physical safety – freedom from physical harm• Psychological safety – freedom from cruelty,

harassment, and exposure to potentially disturbing material

• Reputational and legal safety – freedom from unwanted social, academic, professional, and legal consequences that could affect you for a lifetime

• Identity, property, and community safety – freedom from theft of identity & property

Items 1 through 3 are from Anne Collier’s NetFamilyNews

The ‘Net effect’For the most part, the online world is pretty much like the “real world,” but there are a few special things to think about

• It can be permanent• Material can be copied and pasted• Lots of people can see it• You don’t know for sure who’s seeing it

AND

• Disinhibition: Lack of visual cues reducesempathy

Source: adapted from danah boyd: Taken out of Context, 2008

Make Net safety relevant to youth in the context of how they use social media, learn, and live their lives.

View youth as participants and stakeholders in positive Internet use rather than potential victims, and empower them to protect themselves.

Promote good citizenship

Teach new media literacy

Understand the value of informal learning

Be accurate and honest about risks

Encourage industry to engage in best practices, including promoting good citizenship in the communities they run

Elements of Online Safety 3.0

os3.ConnectSafely.org

Fences have their place but …

To keep kids safe around all water, we teach kids to swim

Ultimately, the best filter runs between the child’s ears, not on a

device

Protection that lasts a lifetime

Training wheels for young kids

Putting risks into perspective

Illustration: CustumeHum.com (Creative Commons License)

• There is a difference between risk and harm

• Fear messaging & exaggerating risk can backfire

• Fear paralyzes & can lead to irrational decisions

Building resilience through digital skills

• Encouraging children to do more online will improve their digital skill set.

• Teaching safety skills is likely to improve other skills, while teaching instrumental and informational skills will also improve safety skills.

• Inequalities in digital skills persist – in terms of SES, age and, to a lesser degree, gender. So efforts to overcome these are needed.

• Low skills among younger children are a priority for teachers and parents, as ever younger children go online

Predator panic

Illustration: CustumeHum.com (Creative Commons License)

• A few years ago the American media was infatuated by the grave risk to children online

• But the risk was highly exaggerated

• Media and politicians confused “unwanted sexual solicitation” with predation

Source: Updated Trends in Child Maltreatment, 2008: Finkelhor, Jones and Shattuck: Crimes Against Children Research Center

51% Decline (during the period of the Web’s existence)

The rise of the web in the U.S. has not resulted in increased victimization of children

Blue line represents 58% decline in child sex abuse from 1992 to 2008

Moving right alongThe Internet Safety Technical Task Force found that:

“Bullying and harassment, most often by peers, are the most salient threats that minors face, both online and offline.”

Which naturally leads to ….

Cyberbullying Panic!

“85% of 12 and 13 year-olds have had experience with cyberbullying,” according to one claim

Most children are neither victims nor monsters

* EU Kids Online

• Not every interaction that makes kids uncomfortable is bullying

• While some are very vulnerable, most children are reasonably resilient.

• Across Europe, 6% of 9 to 16-year-old internet users have been bullied online. 3% confess to having bullied others. *

• Far more have been bullied offline, with 19 per cent saying they have been bullied at all – and 12 per cent have bullied someone else*

How you treat others affects your risk

* EU Kids Online +Internet Safety Technology Taskforce

“Among those who do not bully others, being bullied is relatively rare 8% offline only, and 4% online”*

“Youth who engage in online aggressive behavior by making rude or nasty comments or frequently embarrassing others are more than twice as likely to report online interpersonal victimization.” +

Social norms approach• People emulate how they think their peers

behave• If people think their friends don’t smoke,

they’re less likely to smoke.• Same is true with over-eating, excessive alcohol

use and other negative behaviors, including bullying*

*Assessing Bullying in New Jersey Secondary Schools: Applying the Social Norms Model to Adolescent Violence: Craig, Perkins 2008

Example of positive norming

Source: Assessing Bullying in New Jersey Secondary Schools: Applying the Social Norms Model to Adolescent Violence: Craig, Perkins 2008

The End

Thank you!

Larry Magidlarry@connectsafely.org

os3.connectsafely.org