Teens Give the Best Advice

It's actually nice to hear Internet safety advice coming from teens themselves instead of law enforcement, lawyers or other adult "safety experts." I guess Cox Communications and The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children had a "Teen Summit on Internet Safety" where they actually listened to what teens had to say on this issue. I thought their advice made a lot of sense. From the press release:

- Become an experienced Internet user. Parents and guardians should become more knowledgeable about the Internet to better understand chat lingo and other communication vehicles used by teens. One teen delegate said, "Before a parent can talk about MySpace they need to first know what it is."

- Keep the lines of communication open by not overreacting. Teens usually do not tell their parents or guardians when they accidentally encounter an inappropriate image or solicitation online. Teens fear that the parent or guardian will think they did something to cause the message to be sent, which may lead to the parent restricting access to the Internet. The National survey also shows that only one in five teens who receive an unsolicited message will tell an adult.

- Talk about Internet safety, now. Several teen delegates said they knew of a peer who had a face-to-face meeting with someone they had met online. The survey also found 30% are considering such an encounter while 14% have already met in person with someone they met online. The survey also shows that when parents and guardians talk to their teens about Internet safety, their exposure to potential threats decline and they make safer online decisions.

- Teach Internet safety to elementary-aged students. Children should be taught Internet safety as soon as they begin to use a computer. Parents should not wait until middle and high school to talk about Internet safety because teens may have already developed bad Internet habits.

- Ask an older responsible teen to be an Internet mentor. Parents and guardians should pair their children with a trusted teen mentor to reinforce the parent's instructions about Internet safety.

- Encourage schools to play a role in teaching Internet safety. Teens need to hear about the importance of Internet safety from their parents, guardians, teen mentors and teachers.

Reasons teens engage in unsafe online behavior

- Teens view the Internet as a way to meet new people. Teens are willing to talk with people they've met first online because they view the purpose of the social networking and other Internet forms of communication as a way to meet new people. The teens said that it has become an accepted practice to talk to people online that they don't know. In the National survey, 40% of teens reported they usually reply and chat with someone they don't know.

- Teens have a false sense of security. Some teens are knowledgeable about the dangers of sharing too much information such as photos, first and last name, city and state in blogs and personal profiles. But teens don't believe they are personally at risk of a predator making a face-to-face contact. One teen delegate summed it up by saying "They just don't think it can happen to them."

- Teens view the Internet as a socially safe environment. Teens feel free to act differently online compared to their actions in real life, and exhibit more outgoing and bold personality traits. One teen shared that one of his classmates is shy at school and has very few friends but talks to many people online and has numerous "virtual" friends.

In related Totally Wired stuff:

Larry Magid on DOPEY…I mean DOPA and how the House got it wrong (CBSNews.com)

NPR continues its reporting on "young people and the media" with experts concluding that "most parents are clueless about the media lives of their children."

College orientation now includes skits about what not to do on Facebook (USA Today)

P.S. First time author reaction - How cool is this???

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.