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| Youth
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Overview of Youth Safety Online by Jayne Cravens from the Virtual Volunteering Project Most people, including youth, have a fun, safe trip on the information superhighway. Although most online experiences are positive, cyberspace does have a dark side: It includes people who attempt to exploit children and others through the Internet as well as materials on the Internet that are adult-oriented and inappropriate for children. Fear of exploitation and abuse or fear of exposure to inappropriate material shouldn't prevent a school, youth group, community-based organization or parents from allowing youth to use the Internet. An organization can use various simple measures to ensure the safety of youth online. Although some highly publicized cases of abuse involving computers have occurred, reported cases of harassment and abuse because of a child's online activities are infrequent. Of course, like most crimes against children, many cases go unreported, especially if the child is engaged in an activity that he or she does not want to discuss with a parent. Child Safety on the Information Highway by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, notes that the fact that crimes are being committed online . . . is not a reason to avoid using these services. To tell children to stop using these services would be like telling them to forgo attending college because students are sometimes victimized on campus. A better strategy would be for children to learn how to be "street smart" in order to better safeguard themselves in any potentially dangerous situation. A fear-based approach to online safety guidelines is not advisable for organizations; a culture of fear can lead to so much distrust that it defeats the purpose and benefits of the Internet and positive online interactivity. There is risk in any program, whether online or face-to-face. Exercising common sense, adapting your existing offline prevention systems to cyberspace, following the law, educating participants, establishing good tracking of children's online activities, and supervising online interactions are the best online safety measures. Most important, the most effective way to prevent youth from using the Internet for inappropriate activities is to teach them how to use the Internet and related technologies within the context of well-organized, purposeful and engaging activities in an adult-supervised environment. In other words, if children learn how to use the Internet and multimedia technologies in ways that are positive, constructive and meaningful, they will have considerably less interest--and opportunity--to use the Internet for negative or meaningless activity. Protecting Children's Privacy As a result of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which was passed by Congress in 1998, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted new rules on how privacy policies should be posted and what companies need to do to comply with the new prohibition on collecting personal information from young people without a parent's permission. The rules took effect in April 2000 and require that all Web sites that gather information from children under age 13 first gain "verifiable parental consent." For computer use in schools, the rules allow teachers to act as parents' agents or intermediaries. The FTC allows Web sites to vary how they gain permission, depending on what information is being gathered and how it will be used. For example, Web sites will be required to use reliable forms of consent, like postal mail, fax, credit card or "digital signatures" before children can participate in chat rooms or give out personal information that will be made available to third parties. If the site is only using the information internally, however, the operators will be able to accept email from parents, as long as a follow up email or call is made to them. Several exceptions to the rules exist; for more information about the FTC's rules, visit the FTC Web site. Browse our recent discussion list thread on “MySpace/ friendster/ online communities/” [1/2 - 1/9, 2006]:
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| Other Resources Helping Parents and Youth Navigate the Internet
Teens Hang out at MySpace
Youth Culture and New Technologies- Risks
Review on Steve Johnson’s "Everthing Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Making You Smarter"
MySpace Invaders
The MySpace Generation
Highlights of the Youth Internet Safety Survey
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