Everything I know about protecting children I learned from a visit to Nairobi National Park

Everything I know about protecting children I learned from a visit to Nairobi National Park
Larry Magid
Co-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?
Law enforcement?
Parents?

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 danahboyd: Taken out of Context, 2008

Elements of Online Safety 3.0
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
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
There is a difference between risk and harm
Fear messaging & exaggerating risk can backfire
Fear paralyzes & can lead to irrational decisions
Illustration: CustumeHum.com (Creative Commons License)

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
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
Illustration: CustumeHum.com (Creative Commons License)

The rise of the web in the U.S. has not resulted in increased victimization of children
51% Decline (during the period of the Web’s existence)
Blue line represents 58% decline in child sex abuse from 1992 to 2008
Source: Updated Trends in Child Maltreatment, 2008: Finkelhor, Jones and Shattuck: Crimes Against Children Research Center

Moving right along
The 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
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*
* EU Kids Online

How you treat others affects your risk
“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.” +
* EU Kids Online +Internet Safety Technology Taskforce

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 Magid
larry@connectsafely.org
os3.connectsafely.org

http://www.safekids.com	31713
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Everything I know about protecting children I learned from a visit to Nairobi National Park

by Larry Magid on Sep 28, 2011

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