Digital Primary School Kids:
Safe, Smart, and Responsible

Who is the digital native?
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Kids today are consuming and
creating a lot of media
Media - 1960
15 Hours a Week
Media Today
45 Hours a Week
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Media today is mobile and user generated
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Media is about entertainment, education, and
socializing
• 96% of online
tweens and teens
have used social
networking
technologies like
setting up profiles,
blogging, or
chatting.
• In 2007, 24% of
U.S. children and
teens visited virtual
worlds like Webkinz
and Club Penguin.
By 2011, an
estimated 53% will
do so.
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Digital Media: The Possibilities
• Fun and entertaining
• Express themselves and be creative
• Explore their identity
• Keep in touch with friends and family
• Social support/instant community
• Educational
o Digital citizenship
o Learn about different cultures and ideas
o Connect to and collaborate with others
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Digital Media: The Perils
• Addiction
• Inappropriate content
• Cyberbullying
• Commercialism
• Strangers/Predators
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Addiction
Warning signs for computer
addiction include: missing meals,
losing sleep, dropping activities,
skipping showers, and missing
homework assignments or school.
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Inappropriate Content
More than 40% of
tweens and teens
have come across
nudity and
pornography on the
Internet.
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Cyberbullying
30-40% of kids
admit to being
cyberbullied, but
most kids don’t
report their
victimization.
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Commercialism
Advertisers will spend $150 million in virtual
worlds by 2012, 10 times what was spent in 2006
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What can you do to help
your kids be safe, smart,
and responsible media
users and creators?
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Media Tips: The Basics
• Embrace their world and keep the lines of
communication open
• Encourage balanced use
• Keep media out of kids’ bedrooms
• Have some rules about the kinds of sites
they can visit and what they can download
• Research and review parental controls
and privacy settings
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Teach Internet Safety
• Don’t share personal information like name, school, age, or address
• Never send pictures to strangers
• Keep passwords private (except for parents)
• Don’t open any mail or content from strangers
• If something mean or creepy happens, get a grown-up immediately
• Explain that whatever they put on the Internet is permanent and can be
passed along by others to others
• Determine together who they can “friend” and chat with
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Cyberbullying… on the receiving end
• Don't assume your kids
will talk to you about being
bullied
• Don't respond
• Sign off and block the bully CYBERBULLYING
• Change contact information
• Save all bullying messages
• Report bullying to school and
company that hosts the site (if a
false profile)
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Cyberbullying…on the delivering end
• Talk with your child about why it’s important to
treat others with respect. If they wouldn’t say
something to someone’s face, they shouldn’t say it
through media.
• Ask your child how they would feel if they were
the victim of a cyberbully. Discuss the importance of
treating others the way you want to be treated.
• Explain what could happen (e.g. suspension, expulsion,
arrest or a lawsuit) if s/he is caught cyberbullying.
• Establish rules and consequences.
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Commercialism
• Point out all the ways that
marketers target them:
- Surveys/Quizzes
- Advergames
- Pop-ups
- Product Placement
• Use the coins (in games and
virtual worlds) to teach the
value of money
• Talk about how spending is
encouraged
• Tell your kids never to click on
an ad or fill out a form without
your permission
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Common Sense Media
• Easy-to-use, detailed
information on media
titles
• Can sort by age, media
type, release date
• Recommended lists
by age and stage
• News and research
• Parenting tips and tools
• Weekly newsletter
www.commonsensemedia.org
www.commonsensemedia.org 18

Improve the media landscape….
one decision,
one family,
one community
at a time.
primaryschool.qataracademy.wikispaces.net
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