Professional Documents
Culture Documents
0:
How to Help Parents
with Digital Issues and
Fears
Parenting 2.0:
How to Help Parents
with Digital Issues and Fears
Rita Oates, PhD
Formerly ed tech director,
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
VP, Education Markets, ePals Inc.
Session description
• Did your mama talk to you about sexting,
cyberbullying, and watching what you post on
Facebook? Parents today have a whole new set of
challenges and issues, raised by technology at
school and home. Learn how you can help parents
understand the real issues, fears and challenges
and support them in being great parents in a 2.0
world. Resources for schools and families will be
shared, and the core presentation is based on
presentations at school PTA meetings, Wired
Safety and Wired Moms.
What are your biggest fears
for your child in this wired world?
What are your biggest fears
for your child in this wired world?
1. Predators meet my child online and do something
awful
2. My credit card number is stolen after my child buys
something (without my permission)
3. My child shares family information with strangers
4. My child sees graphic porn
5. My child sees gruesome photos
6. My child takes and shares an indecent photo
7. Info on my child will create a problem when he’s older
8. Other things?
Parent Fears in Australia
• Parents’ main concerns about their children using
the internet:
– coming into contact with sexually explicit material
(89%)
– being targeted by online predators (86%)
– being infected by viruses and spyware (86%)
• Children are naive to internet dangers
• Parents don’t possess technological know how to
implement effective safety measures
- June 2010
Aussie Kids do More than
Parents Realize Online
32% have seen images of naked people
29% have:
– seen violent images
– played games rated MA15+
– been contacted by someone they don’t know
17% have been asked for personal details
14% have been teased or bullied online
7% have had someone post pictures or videos without their
permission
Organizations Exist to Help
• PTA
• Wired Safety
• Wired Moms: Taking back the Net!
– Safeguarding all kids in cyberspace
• Teen Angels and Tween Angels
• Groups Study Internet Safety, Suggest Policy
• Parental settings on AOL, Internet Explorer,
Cable
• Others from list compiled by CTAP4
Annotated Resources
• June 2010 report includes annotated sites
about internet safety
• http://www.ntia.doc.gov/reports/2010/OST
WG_Final_Report_060410.pdf
• Pages 34-49
Parent Education
• Provide resources
• Work with PTA and other parent groups
• Encourage parental involvement at home
http://www.wiredsafety.org
Task Force Report from
Harvard
Main Charge for Task Force
• Assess online
dangers to children
• Find scalable
technological
solutions to keep
children safe
• Focus on age
verification for
minors
Filters are NOT the whole story
• Role-based computing
– Teacher
– Parent
– Student
• Under 13
• Older than 13
– Other trusted adult
SchoolMail365 Policies: NYC DOE
Policies governing the ability to discover and email groups of individuals
le SchoolMail 365
Communication Policy
Policies Teachers Moderators Students Parents
Teachers can email with: In same district In same school In same class In same school
Moderators can email with: In same school In same school In same school In same school
Parents can email with: In same school In same school In same Family None
Students in grades >=6 can email with: In same school In same school In same school In same Family
Students in grades < 6 can email with: In same school In same school In same grade In same Family
Education-focused sites
with TRUSTe certification
Cahootie Kidzrocket
Brightstorm Leafcutter
Course Hero Leapfrog
Disney Internet Schoolwires
Education Planet Thinkquest
ePals Togetherville
GoTrybe Vantage Learning
What Would You Like to
Suggest to Parents?
Parenting Guidelines
• Know what your children are doing
• Work with them to discuss limits,
responsibilities
• Talk about problems from the news, from
work, from others (without revealing a
neighbor’s name)
Setting Limits for Children
• What happens if they cross the line?
– Lose cell phone for a month? A semester?
– Get additional chores?
• Can you enforce the punishment? Be consistent.
– Some kids will push the limits; others observe and
don’t.
– Ask kids to suggest the guidelines and punishments;
they may actually be tougher on themselves than you
would be!
– Talk with others and decide what the “community” does
and what you will do.
– Discuss with your children. Their actions have
consequences!
– You are the parent. You pay the bills. You can see
what they are doing!
Increase Communication with
Distant Relatives and Friends
• Facebook friends with Grandma, Aunt Tilly
– Relationships and sharing between teens and
distant grandparents is becoming a trend
• Encourage appropriate communication
with known individuals, not “I’m going to
have a thousand friends!”
Frightening Things for Parents
• Not admitted to college…because daughter
emailed application from
hotsexxxychick@aol.com
• Applied for job, but Facebook page shows using
illegal substance, bragging about stealing
something from another employer, etc. ….and
employers ARE checking up on people every
way they can today
• Embarrassing or untrue photos/videos posted
and “go viral”
Parenting 2.0 in a Wired World
• Enough is enough…keep time on digital
activities in balance with sports, scouts,
other activities
• Caution kids that written communications
don’t have the “cues” from face-to-face
communication.
– Think about it, read it out loud before sending.
– Save it and wait a while if you aren’t sure
about it.
• Invite your children to keep you informed
…they will surprise you!
Parenting 2.0 in a Wired World
• Spend Some Time with WiredSafety
– Look at the Flash videos
– Share video stories with your children
and talk about them
• Children want to know what you think and
watch how you act!
• Be an informed parent
• Model behaviors you wish them to use
Benefits of Online World are
Terrific!
• More teens and ‘tweens are creating
content and connecting online for
educational benefits, offering schools new
opportunities to use technology
– National School Boards Association Study
• Students report that one of the most
common topics of conversation on the
social networking scene is education
Students Report…
• They are spending almost as much time using
social networking services and Web sites as
they spend watching television.
• Among teens who use social networking sites,
that amounts to:
– About 9 hours a week online
– 10 hours a week watching television
– A decrease in amount of TV watching (which is
passive) and an increase in communication online
(which is active)
Permission granted to use
these slides with others
This session’s slides are uploaded to
www.scribd.com under “Rita Oates” as
author.
Contact information:
Rita Oates
roates@corp.epals.com
Twitter: @ritaoates