EDU305 Child Development Presentation Facebook...Friend or Foe?

1. Facebook…Friend or Foe? Facebook…Friend or Foe? Team C Stephanie-Kaye Baker Mindy Nowacki

2. FACEBOOK Founded in 2004. Began as a social network for teenagers and college students In 2006, opened the site to everyone over 13. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3645840&page=1

3. TEAM RESEARCH Combed through our individual Facebook accounts. Reviewed the minor friends we had as friends. Found the following information interesting.

4. Our Minor Facebook Friends

5. Amount of People “Friended”

6. OUR RESULTS LED US TO INVESTIGATE INTO THE EFFECTS OF FACEBOOK ON OUR CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS. The results…SHOCKING!

7. EFFECTS OF FACEBOOK Cyberbullying Manipulation by predators Too much time on computer Deceit – Lie about birthdates to gain access Unable to communicate face-to-face

8. Cyberbullying

9. MCCALL MIDDLE SCHOOL Wednesday, October 6, 2010 McCall Middle School Winchester, MA Interim Principal Skip Marotta learned that a Facebook page called the “Winchester Page” displayed nine pictures of unidentified students. Hurtful and offensive comments as captions. Police investigation followed and pending. http://www.wickedlocal.com/winchester/news/x1423339853/Police-investigating-McCall-Facebook-incident

10. Not the first incident handled by the administration at McCall Middle School. Not the first incident this year! January 2010 – Student created a fake Facebook account in the name of a teacher. June 2010 – Sixth graders were involved in calling people names on a social networking site. “This incident is an example of the harm that internet misuse can inflict on a community. This is no prank-it is cyber bullying and it is against the law.” INTERIM PRINCIPAL SKIP MAROTTA http://www.wickedlocal.com/winchester/news/x1423339853/Police-investigating-McCall-Facebook-incident

11. CYBERBULLYING According to wiredsafety.org: “When a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones.” http://www.wiredsafety.org/cyberstalking_harassment/cyberbullying.html

12. Children could also want to be like their friends doing inappropriate activities; smoking pot, smoking cigarettes, drinking, having sexual relations, etc. This could cause children to skip the “Fidelity” stage from Erikson and go into the Love: Intimacy vs. Isolation stage. They would then engage into activities that they are not mentally, physically, or emotionally ready for.

13. FOOD FOR THOUGHT School administration is dealing with issues such as cyberbullying that takes place OUTSIDE of school hours. These positions are already underpaid and overworked! Who’s role is it to police and handle these situations?

14. THEORISTS

15. PREDATORS

16. More than 400 million users world wide, of all ages, ethnic groups, religions, education levels, etc. This can have children interact with people who say they are someone who they are not. Ex: a person can say they are Miley Cyrus but could be a 400 pound pedophile in Japan.

17. UNDERCOVER FACEBOOK OBSERVATIONS Mark Williams-Thomas Police detective specializing in major crime Masters in criminology Began a child protection consult agency Photograph depicted a cute, slim, 5 foot 2 inch brunette with interests in dance and music. Created a profile on Facebook. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1256793/I-posed-girl-14-online-What-followed-sicken-you.html

18. “Within 90 seconds, a middle-aged man wanted to perform a sex act in front of me.” Sex offenders existed before the internet. Now, the internet provides the opportunity to privacy and anonymity. Men aren’t lurking in hopes of finding young children. They are actively pursuing young girls Some tried to verify if he was a true young girl by asking questions like hobbies and school attended. Kids may be savvy and aware…their nature is to be trustworthy. A breeding ground for pedophiles that are clever, devious, and manipulative. A new tactic is to introduce a victim to another teenager the aggressor says is a friend. Really another pedophile or another fake Facebook account by same pedophile. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1256793/I-posed-girl-14-online-What-followed-sicken-you.html

19. “Once we taught children that strangers held the greatest danger, but in the world of instant intimacy that is cyberspace, teenagers don’t consider these men to be strangers; they think they are friends.” That’s TERRIFYING! 25% of girls and 14% of boys who make contact with someone online will go on to meet them in person! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1256793/I-posed-girl-14-online-What-followed-sicken-you.html

20. THEORISTS

21. ALL THE SINGLE LADIES Crystal Jacquez, managing editor of GuysThatLie.com Pedophiles are surfing social networking sites looking for pages of “proud single mothers” looking to attract men to love not only them but their children. Unfortunately, this is all too often true! The single moms befriend these men who are wonderful with children. Only to find out too late that they are predators. GuysThatLie.com = online background site http://www.singlemothers.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=96:why-pedophiles-love-single-moms&catid=35:articles-andstories&Itemid=118

22. WHO ASSAULTS CHILDREN UNDER 6 YEARS OLD According to the Offender Characteristics, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics 48.6% Trusted family members 3.1% Strangers 48.3% Trusted family acquaintances (Otherwise known as Facebook friends!) http://www.singlemothers.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=96:why-pedophiles-love-single-moms&catid=35:articles-andstories&Itemid=118

23. IMPACT ON STUDENTS

24. IMPACTS ON STUDENTS ChildrenOnline.org surveyed the internet behaviors of thousands of independent school children and teens. They learned quite a bit about Facebook. Facebook is one of the 2 most popular sites for students grades 4-12. (The other site is You Tube.) The following are their conclusions. http://www.nais.org/resources/article.cfm?ItemNumber=151505

25. Time Using Facebook takes time. Often, a LOT of time! Some children have difficulting separating from their social life. Some have a rise in anxiety level without a cell phone for just a few hours! NOT HEALTHY! http://www.nais.org/resources/article.cfm?ItemNumber=151505

26. Privacy There is a false sense of privacy. Students could be expelled from school/college. Many students post embarrassing, humiliating, and hurtful content in both text, photos, and videos. Students have been denied admission to colleges, internships, jobs, etc. Students and families can be sued for slander and defamation of character. More than 20% of colleges and universities search social networks for their admissions candidates. http://www.nais.org/resources/article.cfm?ItemNumber=151505

27. Scams Students are knowledgeable about how to use technology. They are naïve and easily manipulative. Phishers sent out posts/emails that said “OMG! There are some photos of you on this website!” Many teens have accounts phished. Target teens to trick into giving out credit card and personal information. Scams can also put spyware on family/school computer. http://www.nais.org/resources/article.cfm?ItemNumber=151505

28. Immorality More and more kids are saying mean and hurtful things. Instead of time healing all wounds, they are broadcasted online never to go away. Research shows that children thrive best in environments filled with love, communication, structure, and boundaries. These are not found online. The internet is our generation’s version of the “wild-wild-west.” http://www.nais.org/resources/article.cfm?ItemNumber=151505

29. Interpersonal Telecommunications technologies (including Facebook) are used to avoid difficult face-to-face conversations. Children are turning to the internet to build and make friendships. Far to inexperienced to be a healthy and safe relationship online. Just because Facebook says anyone 14 years or older can use Facebook, doesn’t mean they should! The definition of “friend” has changed with these new social networking sites. No longer understand how to be a good friend. http://www.nais.org/resources/article.cfm?ItemNumber=151505

30. This can also have children grow up too fast. They could miss a stage like the “Fidelity: Identity vs. Role Confusion” stage from Erikson. They could lie on their facebook profile & then become confused as to what is reality & what is fiction.

31. EFFECTS TO THE BRAIN

32. SCREEN TIME Regular physical exercise didn’t offset the negative effects of too much time in front of the computer. Two hour time limit is a sensible guideline. No negative effects were observed when studying children engaging in other sedentary activities such as reading and doing homework. Children with two hours TV and two hours computer time daily double the risk of psychological difficulties. Kids with more than two hours of screen time AND exercised had better scores in emotional and peer situations. However, had worse scores for hyperactivity. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/too-screen-time-not-good-for-childrens-mental-health.html#

33. FACEBOOK’S ROLE Facebook allows users to report sex offenders. Must have proper documentation to prove conviction.

34. PARENT’S ROLE Parents must monitor their children’s online activities just as they do for their offline activities. 400 million active users on Facebook. 93% of kids ages 12-17 use internet. Cris Clapp Logan, Director of Communication at Enough is Enough, said, “Parents are still the first line of defense. They can’t leave it up to Facebook or up to their filtering and monitoring software.” “You wouldn’t let your young child who can’t swim hang out near the pool unsupervized, so why let them surf the internet alone?” states Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills. In order to supervise your children online, parents must first understand technology and the internet. Parents: Don’t take away internet access! Kids will not be comfortable coming to parents in the future with online situations. Facebook shouldn’t be viewed negatively. It can be used for collaboration, communication, and learning. http://news.medill.onrtwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=163293

35. DON’T THINK IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOUR FAMILY? YOUR CLASSROOM?

36. STATISTICS 95% of parents don’t know the lingo kids use to alert those they are talking to that their parents are watching. 20% of children age 10-17 have been solicited sexually online; OR 1 in 5 kids! 75% of youth who received an online sexual solicitation didn’t tell parent(s) One-third of kids have been contacted by a stranger. Of these third, one-half were considered inappropriate. 81% of parents of online youth believe children don’t protect information enough 76% of parents don’t have computer rules 4,000,000 children are posting content to the Web daily 14% have actually met face-to-face with a person they have met online 1 out of 17 kids have been harassed, threatened, or bullied Most kids will not report inappropriate internet contact for fear of losing internet privileges 61% of 13-17 year olds have a personal profile page on social networking sites 44% of online teens with profiles like Facebook have been contacted by a stranger compared to 16% of those without profiles. 45% have been asked for personal information from people they do not know 71% have reported receiving messages from someone they don’t know http://www.netlingo.com/tips/cyber-safety-statistics.php

37. THEORISTS Too young to make clear judgements. Too young to think through reprecussions. Too young to see the big picture. Too naïve. Too trusting. Unable to see all details.

38. To counteract negative media influences, you can talk about them to your students, give them examples of good media verses bad media, good publicity verses bad. You could talk about good choices verses bad choices, give them examples—Lindsay Lohan and being unable to follow her probation rules verses Oprah giving money to the victims of hurricanes—which is the better choice?

39. Any questions?

40. In conclusion Facebook isn’t a bad form of media.Children need monitored and access based on maturity and understanding of risks.Parents MUST be active participant in monitoring children’s online involvement.Parents need to understand Facebook.Parents need to stay abreast of new computer technology.