Hello All,
I am looking into creating some type of "media safety" curriculum for the kids that I work with as a family counselor on a psychiatric unit. I have a couple of questions.
First, where is the best place to get hard facts on how many kids are harmed by a stranger they met online. I get the idea that the numbers are lower than the hype would lead one to believe, but good stats should be kept by law enforcement - where do I look?
Secondly, does anyone know how to tap into grants which would support the production of curriculum for internet (media)safety?
I would also love to connnect with anyone out there who has developed or is in the process of developing curriculum. I'm looking to address subjects such as: cyberbullying, safe use of social networking sites, kids unwittingly producing porn., parent media education - etc.
Thank You for this Forum,
JB
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jacer
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4
From:
IL
Registered:
3/2/07
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(19 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Mar 6, 2007 11:11 AM
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Hi. Just wanted to let you all know, I was not happy with my blog's name, so I changed it a few minutes ago. Please make note of the change. Thank you & see you there!! http://internetsafetyadvisor.squarespace.com |
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Anne
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507
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6/26/06
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(18 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Mar 5, 2007 9:59 PM
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Thanks for your post, myinternetsafetycoach1. The numbers of sexual-predation cases are definitely lower than the hype in the news media indicate, and it's time to take the fear and hype out of the public discussion, I feel. The Connecticut state attorney general's office recently told me that there have been 100 cases of child-exploitation cases related to social-networking sites so far. That's 100 too many, but it is small compared the number of online teens who say they've been victimized by cyberbullying: 6.8 million (see this study by two criminologists).
If people are looking for data, here is a brief news item about the "one in seven" figure (for unwanted sexual solicitations of online US youth - not all US youth, BTW), the update to the well-known, widely misrepresented 2000 "one in five" figure from UNH's Crimes Against Children Research Center (CACRC). A close look at the 2000 study by my co-director Larry Magid, who is a sociologist by training showed him what the numbers really meant (this is in our MySpace Unraveled book) - that many, probably most, of the solicitations came from other teens; "none of the solicitations led to an actual sexual contact or assault," the study's authors wrote; and 1 in 33 (3%) of the online teens received solicitations that were "aggressive" (defined by the authors as when solicitors asked the teen to meet somewhere, called on the phone, or sent regular mail, money, or gifts). Bottom line: In that study, the kind of solicitation people probably generally think of as threatening and involving the stereotypical dirty old man - adult-to-teen aggressive solicitations - is actually about 1 in 100. And even the 2nd, 1-in-7 survey released last summer was conducted before the term "social networking" was ever in the media (teens were "blogging." As myinternetsafetycoach1 points out, the research isn't keeping up! The attorney general's 100 cases is about social networking and is current.
You asked about research on porn exposure. The CACRC recently released a fresh analysis of some data it gathered - here's coverage in TechNewsWorld (the article itself in the medical journal Pediatrics costs $12 for 2 days' access). All best,
Anne
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Anne Collier
BlogSafety co-director |
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myinternetsafetycoach1
Posts:
2
From:
California
Registered:
3/5/07
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(17 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Mar 5, 2007 8:27 PM
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You asked about stats regarding kids and the Internet: 1 in 7 minors have received unwanted sexual solicitation online from someone they didn't know, according the latest stats from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. You were wondering if the stats are hyped up. Please keep in mind that whatever stats are quoted come from studies based on polling a certain number of kids. Additionally, because these studies are expensive and take time to conduct, there is a time lag in terms of when the questions were asked of the kids and how long it took to process the info into the study and then release it. That doesn't take into account the fact that technology keeps improving. 4 years ago, students primarily used desk top computers, now they mostly use laptops. Additionally, now there are smart phones with internet connections and streaming video. The risks to a pre-teen and teen safety increases as technology provides more ways for them to communicate with strangers. On the flip side of that however, due to internet safety education, more kids are aware of the dangers. Unfortunately, just because some kids are aware of the dangers, doesn't mean that they will heed the warning signs. When I talk to students, one of the things I teach is how to recognize the signs that they are being groomed by a predator. I also talk about cyber bullying and social networking such as on Myspace.com -- the dangers, their liabilies, and how to be safe. On another note, I'd like to know from you, and whomever else is reading this blog (especially if they are a mental health care professional) what you are seeing as it pertains to youth and their use of cyberporn as a "coming of age" experience and the long range effects this may have on them.
Thank you.
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myinternetsafetycoach1
Posts:
2
From:
California
Registered:
3/5/07
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(16 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Mar 5, 2007 8:12 PM
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I'm glad that you're interested in Internet safety for your students. Are you also going to be providing information for the parents? If you go to my website at www.myinternetsafetycoach.com you will find helpful articles and information. Regarding curriculum, you should visit www.isafe.org. They have curriculum for schools already developed. They received a Congressional appropriation to fund this. If you have any questions, or if I can help you in any way, please email me at suzanne@myinternetsafetycoach.com. I am an internet safety education speaker/trainer/consultant and have received a Congressional Merit Award for my work. I speak/train/consult with teachers/schools/parents/students/emmployees and give "in-service" trainings. Take care.
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jacer
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4
From:
IL
Registered:
3/2/07
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(15 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Mar 3, 2007 7:38 PM
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Awesome!!
Will check it out now!!
Thank you!
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bigdogdaddy
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5
From:
Turlock, CA
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2/24/07
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(14 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Mar 3, 2007 6:29 PM
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JB, If you can edit a word processing document, you can add to a wiki. Just click the "edit" button! They are VERY easy to create at wikispaces.com. Also, I am looking for any kind of materials to use in teaching lessons on these topics -- audio, video, worksheets, webquests, etc. If anyone has actually curricular materials to share, please add it to this wiki. THANKS!! http://teaching4thefuture.wikispaces.com |
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JB
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17
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2/8/07
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(13 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Mar 3, 2007 2:43 AM
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Strong Work Bigdogdaddy! I have no idea how to create a wiki. This should be a great resource. Now...the hard part. Creating material that kids will acutally listen to. I checked out the internetsafety queens site - it is wonderful. Great to know so many smart people are working on this issue.
JB
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bigdogdaddy
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5
From:
Turlock, CA
Registered:
2/24/07
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(12 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Mar 2, 2007 8:02 PM
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Jacer, I have added your blog site to the links page on my wiki page on the topic. Please consider sharing some (or all) of your lesson plans on my (OUR) wiki, http://teaching4thefuture.wikispaces.com. Contributions to http://teaching4thefuture.wikispaces.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.5 License. Thanks!! |
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jacer
Posts:
4
From:
IL
Registered:
3/2/07
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(11 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Mar 2, 2007 6:22 PM
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Hi. Great posts! For the past two years, I have spent countless hours on Internet Safety research. Two years ago, while sitting on a keyboarding curriculum committee, I began looking into Internet Safety issues--as Internet Safety, per say, in our area, was practically non-existant. I went ahead and created and developed a highly personalized, interactive and fun Internet Safety curriculum for all my 2nd and 3rd grade students. It was a four week plan. This year, I extended that curriculum to seven weeks, including cyber bullying and other important subject matter. While many teachers or schools use particular curriculms, such as iSafe or cybersmart, I wanted to do something that was, as I said, personal and something I created on my own. The kids love it!! As I felt the timing was "right" this fall, due in part to the news media and the Dateline series, I felt the urgent need to pursue this passion of mine, and the position Regional Office of Education Internet Safety Coordinator was created. I also put together numerous presentations for parents as well. I put together a team of local people, of which I chair, and we have been extremely busy--putting on a successful Parent Night and assemblies, etc. I have been working the past week and a half, on a blog. Please feel free to take a look at it for more information. Internet Safety is something that is not just a job for me, it is my passion. Education and awareness is criticial in keeping our children safe online. All of us, parents, educators, law enforcement and children, need to educate one another in this important arena. Good luck to you! http://internetsafetyqueen.squarespace.com |
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bigdogdaddy
Posts:
5
From:
Turlock, CA
Registered:
2/24/07
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(10 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Mar 2, 2007 6:19 PM
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I have now setup a wiki to aggregate curricular materials and links related to Internet Safety and Media Awareness at http://teaching4thefuture.wikispaces.com. ALL educators are invited to contribute to it. Have you created curricular materials? Do you have a good link relating to these topics? What skills would you include in such a curriculum? Well, just ADD IT TO THE WIKI for all educators to benefit. Contributions to http://teaching4thefuture.wikispaces.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.5 License. Thanks!! |
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Anne
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507
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6/26/06
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(9 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Feb 27, 2007 10:01 AM
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Congratulations on finding that screening tool! We're in touch with the UNH folk often and should've thought they'd have a set of questions. Thanks, I understand now the simple practical reasons for needing to add something to the screening toolset. I do think going forward, though, that all caregivers logically will be drilling down past some huge generalized thing called "the Internet" (or, worse, "computers") to ask questions about behaviors and actions on the Internet, and what distinctions there are, if any, between online and offline behaviors and activity. I think that, if there are significant distinctions, problems or risks are more likely. Thanks so much for keeping us posted on your progress, JB!
Anne
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Anne Collier
BlogSafety co-director
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JB
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17
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2/8/07
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(8 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Feb 27, 2007 9:28 AM
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Bigdogdaddy,
Thanks for your recent post. The idea of a wiki regarding this subject is a great one. Let's keep in contact. I have nothing right now! I am at step one. Three weeks ago, I had not really given the subject much thought. But, every kid I spoke with in our hospital setting had something called a "My Space" account and I started asking around - only to find out that many of the staff did as well. I clearly have a lot of catching up to do. Right now I am not close to producing anything - but I am researching with every spare moment I have. Our audiences may be different - private Catholic school versus clinical population of kids in an acute psychiatric crisis, but, I'm sure that many of the excercises, discussions and lessons could be similar - or the same.
Thank You,
JB
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JB
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17
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2/8/07
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(7 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Feb 27, 2007 9:18 AM
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Thanks Again Anne,
I think I have found a tool which we could use, or a modified version of it. It was given to me by the nice people at UNH - Dr. Finkelhor and Kimberly Mitchel. They developed the Problematic Internet Use Assessment tool which is highly corrolated with subscales on the Trauma Symptom Inventory. Perhaps they would not object to the instrument being uploaded to this site? Not sure. I have spoke with our hospital administrator and it is possible we may be able to use the scale in collaboration with UNH in a research project. Very exciting. We will see.
I have never thought about the idea of "folding" internet usage questions into the intake process. The questions are naturally asked - but informally - and different questions clinician to clinician. I guess it would be easier at this point to have a set of questions for our intake which we could just tack on to the intake process, rather than recreating the entire assessment with the internet questions included. However, some day - when we revamp our entire intake form - we could easily include internet questions throughout the process. That was a very interesting and valid point. I would like to talk more about it.
Thank You,
JB
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Anne
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507
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6/26/06
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(6 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Feb 26, 2007 9:39 AM
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JB, I just spoke with Dr. Jason Burrow-Sanchez on the counseling psychology faculty at U. of Utah. Had met him in a televised "town meeting" on online safety we participated in together. I asked him your question about a "screening tool," and he said he's not aware of any but said he would suggest taking models that have been developed for, e.g., substance abuse and other in vivo risks or behaviors and adapt them. For example, he would ask questions like how much time the adolescent spent online, whether s/he was meeting people online whom s/he hadn't met offline, had online "friends" who had impact on their "real life" and what sorts of impact.
This was just off the top of his head, but I think it illustrates 1) his understanding of adolescent social activity online (see social media researcher danah boyd's interview here) and 2) an important shift that's going on right now: growing recognition that Internet behavior/activity isn't something separate or in addition to "real life." So would it be more effective to fold Net-related questions into, for example, substance-abuse or eating-disorder or sexual-history screening tools? Does that make sense to you?
Anne
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Anne Collier
BlogSafety co-director |
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Anne
Posts:
507
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6/26/06
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(5 of 19)
Re: Internet Safety Curriculum
Feb 24, 2007 10:57 PM
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Have you guys surfed any of the well-known tech educators' blogs, people like David Warlick, Wesley Fryer, Vicki Davis? Here's David's blog - scroll down, and in the right-hand column, you'll find other tech educators blogging at TechLearning.com. Would it help to get in touch with any of them? They have some intelligent things to say about how technology should be taught in schools. What I hear them and others saying increasingly is that Internet safety is just part of what needs to be included in many different subjects, utilizing teachable moments as well as set curricula. Vicki Davis recently blogged about the need to include ethics in technology classes.
Anne
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Anne Collier
BlogSafety co-director |
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