Generation XXX
Deseret News, December 13, 2007
‘Gen XXX’ findings surprisingBy Tad Walch
PROVO — Men are by far the main consumers in the mammoth worldwide porn industry, but today’s college women are surprisingly permissive about pornography, according to a new Brigham Young University study.
The BYU researchers discovered that 49 percent of the female college students they surveyed find pornography acceptable. Only 37 percent of their own fathers agreed.That information is groundbreaking because it is a subject that hasn’t been addressed by family or development journals, said Jeffrey Arnett, editor of the Journal of Adolescent Research, which published the study.
The study of 813 college students at six American colleges and universities — BYU was not included — is titled “Generation XXX: Pornography Acceptance and Use Among Emerging Adults.”
The research found that 86 percent of college men and 31 percent of college women viewed pornographic material in the previous year. Men said they used it far more frequently — 48 percent used it at least weekly while 3 percent of women did.Still, Arnett said, “One-third of female students said they’d used it. That surprised me it was that high.”
The key question asked of students and their parents was if they agreed or disagreed that viewing pornography is an acceptable way to express one’s sexuality. Lead author Jason Carroll, a BYU family life professor, offered two explanations for high acceptance among college women and men, 67 percent of whom agreed.
“One is that this is a life-course finding,” Carroll said, “that we captured them at a high point in time and their acceptance will decrease and they’ll be like their parents. The other argument is that because of the proliferation of pornography, this generation has a unique acceptance of pornography different from their parents, and that it will last. I think there is a compelling argument that is the case.”
Arnett rarely publishes quantitative, or statistical, studies. He prefers qualitative data based on subjective interviews. He made an exception this time.
“This is a hugely important issue,” he said, “given that pornography is so massively popular on the Internet. There are questions about how will it affect people’s sexuality and their views of gender roles, and how is that going to affect relationships between men and women. Maybe it will just be a form of entertainment. We just don’t know yet.”
Arnett and Carroll said BYU’s findings raised as many questions as they answered.Pornography was not a centerpiece of a larger BYU study on emerging adulthood that, as reported last week in the Deseret Morning News, showed college students and their parents no longer see 18-to-25-year-olds as adults. The BYU team regretted not including several more questions on attitudes about pornography.
For example, Carroll said it isn’t clear whether college women were saying pornography is more acceptable for women or whether they are growing more permissive about men using it.
The study does indicate, without establishing a causal relationship, that women who are more accepting about pornography appear more prone to risky behavior.
“If they say pornography is an acceptable way to express one’s sexuality, they have elevated levels of binge drinking and are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior and have multiple partners in the last 12 months,” Carroll said. “That’s just by being accepting of pornography, let alone using it.”
Carroll said the BYU team is involved in a study in Seattle that could yield more information about how pornography affects couple formation and marriages.
“Only 50 percent of women are accepting but 90 percent of men are reporting some level of usage,” he said. “We know very little about what happens to pornography patterns during couple formation. Do women become accepting? Are more couples using it together? Do men stop using it when they are in a relationship? Do men keep using but hide it from their spouse? We have no evidence.
“It’s an area where there could be some real tension because men’s and women’s approaches to pornography are so different.”
Arnett would like to see researchers do some qualitative work, interviewing subjects personally about when they use pornography, what sort of Web sites they access, if there are some things they don’t find acceptable and whether they use it more when they aren’t in a sexual relationship.
Pornography is a $13 billion industry in the United States, $100 billion worldwide, according to the study. One-fourth of all Internet searches — 68 million per day — are for pornography. The United States hosted 244 million adult Web pages in 2006, according to Ogden-based TopTen Reviews.
Those statistics make it clear that researchers need more information about pornography’s impact on the development of children, relationships and families, Carroll said.
That is even more true as the next revolution in pornography begins to crest.
“Internet and pay-per-view movies broke down social barriers to pornography use, making it seem more anonymous,” he said. “Now we’re entering the pocket-porn movement as society becomes more wireless. Parental monitoring used to be about taking care of Internet use at home. Now a group of 16- or 17-year-old boys could go out for the night and as long as one of them has a handheld device with Internet access, they have access to pornography.
“Parental monitoring becomes impossible, and that puts a high value on helping children improve their ability to self-monitor.”
_______________________________________E-mail: twalch@desnews.com
‘Gen XXX’ findings surprisingBy Tad Walch
PROVO — Men are by far the main consumers in the mammoth worldwide porn industry, but today’s college women are surprisingly permissive about pornography, according to a new Brigham Young University study.
The BYU researchers discovered that 49 percent of the female college students they surveyed find pornography acceptable. Only 37 percent of their own fathers agreed.That information is groundbreaking because it is a subject that hasn’t been addressed by family or development journals, said Jeffrey Arnett, editor of the Journal of Adolescent Research, which published the study.
The study of 813 college students at six American colleges and universities — BYU was not included — is titled “Generation XXX: Pornography Acceptance and Use Among Emerging Adults.”
The research found that 86 percent of college men and 31 percent of college women viewed pornographic material in the previous year. Men said they used it far more frequently — 48 percent used it at least weekly while 3 percent of women did.Still, Arnett said, “One-third of female students said they’d used it. That surprised me it was that high.”
The key question asked of students and their parents was if they agreed or disagreed that viewing pornography is an acceptable way to express one’s sexuality. Lead author Jason Carroll, a BYU family life professor, offered two explanations for high acceptance among college women and men, 67 percent of whom agreed.
“One is that this is a life-course finding,” Carroll said, “that we captured them at a high point in time and their acceptance will decrease and they’ll be like their parents. The other argument is that because of the proliferation of pornography, this generation has a unique acceptance of pornography different from their parents, and that it will last. I think there is a compelling argument that is the case.”
Arnett rarely publishes quantitative, or statistical, studies. He prefers qualitative data based on subjective interviews. He made an exception this time.
“This is a hugely important issue,” he said, “given that pornography is so massively popular on the Internet. There are questions about how will it affect people’s sexuality and their views of gender roles, and how is that going to affect relationships between men and women. Maybe it will just be a form of entertainment. We just don’t know yet.”
Arnett and Carroll said BYU’s findings raised as many questions as they answered.Pornography was not a centerpiece of a larger BYU study on emerging adulthood that, as reported last week in the Deseret Morning News, showed college students and their parents no longer see 18-to-25-year-olds as adults. The BYU team regretted not including several more questions on attitudes about pornography.
For example, Carroll said it isn’t clear whether college women were saying pornography is more acceptable for women or whether they are growing more permissive about men using it.
The study does indicate, without establishing a causal relationship, that women who are more accepting about pornography appear more prone to risky behavior.
“If they say pornography is an acceptable way to express one’s sexuality, they have elevated levels of binge drinking and are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior and have multiple partners in the last 12 months,” Carroll said. “That’s just by being accepting of pornography, let alone using it.”
Carroll said the BYU team is involved in a study in Seattle that could yield more information about how pornography affects couple formation and marriages.
“Only 50 percent of women are accepting but 90 percent of men are reporting some level of usage,” he said. “We know very little about what happens to pornography patterns during couple formation. Do women become accepting? Are more couples using it together? Do men stop using it when they are in a relationship? Do men keep using but hide it from their spouse? We have no evidence.
“It’s an area where there could be some real tension because men’s and women’s approaches to pornography are so different.”
Arnett would like to see researchers do some qualitative work, interviewing subjects personally about when they use pornography, what sort of Web sites they access, if there are some things they don’t find acceptable and whether they use it more when they aren’t in a sexual relationship.
Pornography is a $13 billion industry in the United States, $100 billion worldwide, according to the study. One-fourth of all Internet searches — 68 million per day — are for pornography. The United States hosted 244 million adult Web pages in 2006, according to Ogden-based TopTen Reviews.
Those statistics make it clear that researchers need more information about pornography’s impact on the development of children, relationships and families, Carroll said.
That is even more true as the next revolution in pornography begins to crest.
“Internet and pay-per-view movies broke down social barriers to pornography use, making it seem more anonymous,” he said. “Now we’re entering the pocket-porn movement as society becomes more wireless. Parental monitoring used to be about taking care of Internet use at home. Now a group of 16- or 17-year-old boys could go out for the night and as long as one of them has a handheld device with Internet access, they have access to pornography.
“Parental monitoring becomes impossible, and that puts a high value on helping children improve their ability to self-monitor.”
_______________________________________E-mail: twalch@desnews.com
New Review Website Recommendation
I just stumbled upon a great website that gives you their take, as well as other parent reviews of videos, music, movies, books, and video games. It looks like a great place to check out what your kids might be interested in. It is www.commonsensemedia.org. The link is also on the side bar. Below is their mission statement.
Mission
Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the media and entertainment lives of kids and families.
We exist because media and entertainment profoundly impact the social, emotional, and physical development of our nation's children. As a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization, we provide trustworthy information and tools, as well as an independent forum, so that families can have a choice and a voice about the media they consume.
Our Beliefs
Media is fun and our kids love it. We also know that kids now spend so much time absorbing its messages and images that it has become "the other parent" in their lives. We started this organization because we know families need trustworthy information to help manage their kids' media lives. We're posting our beliefs here so that all our users can know the underlying principles that guide our philosophy and mission.
Ten Common Sense Beliefs
We believe in media sanity, not censorship.
We believe that media has truly become "the other parent" in our kids' lives, powerfully affecting their mental, physical, and social development.
We believe in teaching our kids to be savvy media interpreters -- we can’t cover their eyes but we can teach them to see.
We believe parents should have a choice and a voice about the media our kids consume. Every family is different but all need information.
We believe that the price for free and open media is a bit of extra homework for families. Parents need to know about media content and need to manage media use.
We believe that through informed decision making, we can improve the media landscape one decision at a time.
We believe appropriate regulations about right time, right place, and right manner exist. They need to be upheld by our elected and appointed leaders.
We believe in age-appropriate media and that the media industry needs to act responsibly as it creates and markets content for each audience.
We believe ratings systems should be independent and transparent for all media.
We believe in diversity of programming and media ownership.
Mission
Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the media and entertainment lives of kids and families.
We exist because media and entertainment profoundly impact the social, emotional, and physical development of our nation's children. As a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization, we provide trustworthy information and tools, as well as an independent forum, so that families can have a choice and a voice about the media they consume.
Our Beliefs
Media is fun and our kids love it. We also know that kids now spend so much time absorbing its messages and images that it has become "the other parent" in their lives. We started this organization because we know families need trustworthy information to help manage their kids' media lives. We're posting our beliefs here so that all our users can know the underlying principles that guide our philosophy and mission.
Ten Common Sense Beliefs
We believe in media sanity, not censorship.
We believe that media has truly become "the other parent" in our kids' lives, powerfully affecting their mental, physical, and social development.
We believe in teaching our kids to be savvy media interpreters -- we can’t cover their eyes but we can teach them to see.
We believe parents should have a choice and a voice about the media our kids consume. Every family is different but all need information.
We believe that the price for free and open media is a bit of extra homework for families. Parents need to know about media content and need to manage media use.
We believe that through informed decision making, we can improve the media landscape one decision at a time.
We believe appropriate regulations about right time, right place, and right manner exist. They need to be upheld by our elected and appointed leaders.
We believe in age-appropriate media and that the media industry needs to act responsibly as it creates and markets content for each audience.
We believe ratings systems should be independent and transparent for all media.
We believe in diversity of programming and media ownership.
More Info Coming
I will be updating this with more information this weekend. I will have the Brite Information along with the www.strengthenthefamily.net info. Check back.
Youth Internet Use Statistics
K-1st grade students access the Internet using various devices for a variety of purposes, including playing online games and communicating with other people. Online gaming is increasingly popular among younger students. (Rochester Institute of Technology, 2008)
48 percent of students K-1st grade level interact with people on Web sites, while 50 percent indicate that their parents watch them when they use a computer, leaving the other half of those youngsters more prone to being exposed to predation behaviors or other threats posed by online strangers or even persons they know or regard as friends. (Rochester Institute of Technology, 2008)
48 percent of K-1st reported viewing online content that made them feel uncomfortable, of which 72 percent reported the experience to a grownup, meaning that one in four children did not. (Rochester Institute of Technology, 2008)
32 percent of teens clear the browser history to hide what they do online from their parents. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
16 percent have created private e-mail addresses or social networking profiles to hide what they do online from their parents. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
63 percent of teens said they know how to hide what they do online from their parents. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
43 percent have closed or minimized the browser at the sound of a parental step. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
11 percent have unlocked/disabled/ parental/filtering controls. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
52 percent of teens have given out personal information online to someone they don't know offline including personal photos and/or physical descriptions of themselves (24 percent). Double the number of teen girls have shared photos or physical descriptions of themselves online as boys. (34 percent girls vs. 15 percent boys) (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
20 percent of teens have engaged in cyberbullying behaviors, including posting mean or hurtful information or embarrassing pictures, spreading rumors, publicizing private communications, sending anonymous e-mails or cyberpranking someone. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
Nine percent of teens have used the Internet to cheat at school. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
A quarter of teens would be shocked (24 percent), one in five would feel hurt (19 percent) and 34 percent would feel offended if they found out their mother was keeping track of what they do online without their knowledge or permission. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
Looking at a general picture of teen internet adoption, American teens are more wired now than ever before. According to our latest survey, 93 percent of all Americans between 12 and 17 years old use the internet. In 2004, 87 percent were internet users, and in 2000, 73 percent of teens went online. (Lenhart, Amanda and Madden, Mary. Teens, Privacy, and Online Social Networks. Pew Internet and American Life Project, April 18, 2007 http://www.pewinternet.org/pdf...rivacy_SNS_Report_Final.pdf).
Home computers are still overwhelmingly located in open family areas of the home; 74 percent of teens now say the computer they use is in a public place in the home, compared with 73 percent in 2004 and 70 percent in 2000. (Lenhart, Amanda and Madden, Mary. Teens, Privacy, and Online Social Networks. Pew Internet and American Life Project, April 18, 2007 http://www.pewinternet.org/pdf...rivacy_SNS_Report_Final.pdf).
A large majority of teens (71 percent) have established online profiles (including those on social networking sites such as MySpace, Friendster and Xanga), up from 61 percent in 2006. (National teen Internet survey was funded by Cox Communications in partnership with NCMEC and John Walsh and was conducted in March 2007 among 1,070 teens age 13 to 17. The research was conducted online by TRU. http://www.cox.com/TakeCharge/...ocs/survey_results_2007.ppt).
65 percent of high school students admit to unsafe, inappropriate, or illegal activities online (Market Wire. November 6, 2006. i-SAFE Inc. December 12, 2006 http://www.marketwire.com/mw/r...e_html_b1?release_id=180330).
38 percent of high school students sometimes hide their online activities from their parents (Market Wire. November 6, 2006. i-SAFE Inc. December 12, 2006 http://www.marketwire.com/mw/r...e_html_b1?release_id=180330).
The risks to children, particularly teenagers, in cyberspace include exposure to unwanted exposure to sexual material (1 in 3 youth) and harassment -- threatening or other offensive behavior directed at them (1 in 11 youth). (Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. 2006. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Crimes Against Children Research Center, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. December 4, 2006. http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV138.pdf).
31 percent of 7th to 12th-graders pretended to be older to get onto a website. (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts. Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
Nearly one-third (31percent) of 8- to 18-year-olds have a computer in their bedroom, and one in five (20 percent) have an Internet connection there (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts. Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
Three in four (74 percent) young people have a home Internet connection (31 percent have high-speed access). Nearly one-third (31 percent) have a computer in their bedroom, and one in five (20 percent) have an Internet connection there. In a typical day, about half of young people (48 percent) go online from home, 20 percent from school, and 16 percent from someplace else (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts. Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
Among the 96 percent of young people who have ever gone online, 65 percent say they go online most often from home, 14 percent from school, 7 percent from a friend's house, and 2 percent from a library or other location (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts. Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
One in ten young people (13 percent) reports having a handheld device that connects to the Internet (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Study, March 2005).
The most common recreational activities young people engage in on the computer are playing games and communicating through instant messaging (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. (Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts, Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
YOUTH AND INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY
Of students aged 13 and 14 from schools across Alberta, Canada, 90 percent of males and 70 percent of females reported accessing sexually explicit media content at least once. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
Of students aged 13 and 14 from schools across Alberta, Canada, 4 percent reported viewing pornography on the Internet; 41 percent saw it on video or DVD and 57 percent saw it on a specialty TV channel. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
The study revealed that boys do the majority of deliberate viewing, and a significant minority now plans social time around viewing porn with male friends. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
Porn has become a major presence in the lives of youth, and while a majority of teens surveys said their parents expressed concern about sexual content, that concern has not led to discussion or supervision, and few parents are using available technology to block sexual content. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
The author of the study, Sonya Thompson concluded that parents need to improve dialogue with their children and their own awareness level. They need to be the ones setting the boundaries in the house. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
Overall, boys aged 13 and 14 living in rural areas are the most likely of their age group to access pornography. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
Forty-two percent of Internet users aged 10 to 17 surveyed said they had seen online pornography in a recent 12-month span. Of those, 66 percent said they did not want to view the images and had not sought them out. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The results come from a telephone survey of 1,500 Internet users aged 10 to 17 conducted in 2005, with their parents' consent. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-257.)
In the survey, most kids who reported unwanted exposure were aged 13 to 17. Still, sizable numbers of 10- and 11-year-olds also had unwanted exposure -- 17 percent of boys and 16 percent of girls that age. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-257.)
More than one-third of 16- and 17-year-old boys surveyed said they had intentionally visited X-rated sites in the past year. Among girls the same age, 8 percent had done so. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-25.)
Overall, 34 percent had unwanted exposure to online pornography, up from 25 percent in a similar survey conducted in 1999 and 2000. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-257.)
Online use that put kids at the highest risk for unwanted exposure to pornography was using file-sharing programs to download images. However, they also stumbled onto X-rated images through other "normal" Internet use, the researchers said, including talking online with friends, visiting chat rooms and playing games. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-257.)
Filtering and blocking software helped prevent exposure, but was not 100 percent effective, the researchers said. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-257.)In 2000, more than one-third of youth Internet users (34 percent) saw sexual material online they did not want to see in the past year compared to one-quarter (25 percent) in 2005 (Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. 2006. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Crimes Against Children Research Center, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. December 4, 2006. http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV138.pdf).
More than three-quarters of the unwanted exposures (79 percent) happened at home. Nine (9) percent happened at school, 5 percent happened at friends' homes, and 5 percent happened in other places including libraries (Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. 2006. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Crimes Against Children Research Center, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. December 4, 2006. http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV138.pdf).
According to a New Zealand Internal Affairs study, the largest single age group viewing child pornography is young people aged 15 to 19, accounting for a quarter of 202 convicted child porn users. (New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs. Internet Traders of Child Pornography: Profiling Research. By Caroline Sullivan. October 2005. January 10, 2006. http://www.dia.govt.nz/pubform...text-align:right'/a>).
70 percent have accidentally come across pornography on the Web (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts. Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
More than 11 million teens regularly view porn online ("Protecting Kids Online." Editorial, The Washington Post, July 1, 2004).In 26 percent of cases where youth accidentally stumbled into pornographic websites, the youth stated being exposed to another sex website when they were attempting to exit the initial website. (Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., and Wolak, J. "Victimization of Youths on the Internet." The Victimization of Children: Emerging Issues, Ed. J.L. Mullings, J.W. Marquart, and D.J. Hartley. New York: Haworth Maltreatment & Trauma Press, 2003).
23 percent of youth were "very" or "extremely" upset by exposures to sexual content online. (Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., and Wolak, J. "Victimization of Youths on the Internet." The Victimization of Children: Emerging Issues, Ed. J.L. Mullings, J.W. Marquart, and D.J. Hartley. New York: Haworth Maltreatment & Trauma Press, 2003).
Adolescents' access to sexual and reproductive health information is minimally affected by pornography-blocking software when installed at moderate settings while blocking 90 percent of pornographic content. (Richardson, C.R., Resnick, P.J., Hansen, D.L., Derry, H.A., & Rideout, V.J. "Does pornography-blocking software block access to health information on the Internet?" Journal of the American Medical Association, 288 (22), 2002): 2887-2894).
Nine out of 10 children aged between eight and 16 have viewed pornography on the Internet. In most cases, the sex sites were accessed unintentionally when a child, often in the process of doing homework, used a seemingly innocent sounding word to search for information or pictures. (London School of Economics January 2002).
48 percent of students K-1st grade level interact with people on Web sites, while 50 percent indicate that their parents watch them when they use a computer, leaving the other half of those youngsters more prone to being exposed to predation behaviors or other threats posed by online strangers or even persons they know or regard as friends. (Rochester Institute of Technology, 2008)
48 percent of K-1st reported viewing online content that made them feel uncomfortable, of which 72 percent reported the experience to a grownup, meaning that one in four children did not. (Rochester Institute of Technology, 2008)
32 percent of teens clear the browser history to hide what they do online from their parents. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
16 percent have created private e-mail addresses or social networking profiles to hide what they do online from their parents. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
63 percent of teens said they know how to hide what they do online from their parents. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
43 percent have closed or minimized the browser at the sound of a parental step. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
11 percent have unlocked/disabled/ parental/filtering controls. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
52 percent of teens have given out personal information online to someone they don't know offline including personal photos and/or physical descriptions of themselves (24 percent). Double the number of teen girls have shared photos or physical descriptions of themselves online as boys. (34 percent girls vs. 15 percent boys) (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
20 percent of teens have engaged in cyberbullying behaviors, including posting mean or hurtful information or embarrassing pictures, spreading rumors, publicizing private communications, sending anonymous e-mails or cyberpranking someone. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
Nine percent of teens have used the Internet to cheat at school. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
A quarter of teens would be shocked (24 percent), one in five would feel hurt (19 percent) and 34 percent would feel offended if they found out their mother was keeping track of what they do online without their knowledge or permission. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
Looking at a general picture of teen internet adoption, American teens are more wired now than ever before. According to our latest survey, 93 percent of all Americans between 12 and 17 years old use the internet. In 2004, 87 percent were internet users, and in 2000, 73 percent of teens went online. (Lenhart, Amanda and Madden, Mary. Teens, Privacy, and Online Social Networks. Pew Internet and American Life Project, April 18, 2007 http://www.pewinternet.org/pdf...rivacy_SNS_Report_Final.pdf).
Home computers are still overwhelmingly located in open family areas of the home; 74 percent of teens now say the computer they use is in a public place in the home, compared with 73 percent in 2004 and 70 percent in 2000. (Lenhart, Amanda and Madden, Mary. Teens, Privacy, and Online Social Networks. Pew Internet and American Life Project, April 18, 2007 http://www.pewinternet.org/pdf...rivacy_SNS_Report_Final.pdf).
A large majority of teens (71 percent) have established online profiles (including those on social networking sites such as MySpace, Friendster and Xanga), up from 61 percent in 2006. (National teen Internet survey was funded by Cox Communications in partnership with NCMEC and John Walsh and was conducted in March 2007 among 1,070 teens age 13 to 17. The research was conducted online by TRU. http://www.cox.com/TakeCharge/...ocs/survey_results_2007.ppt).
65 percent of high school students admit to unsafe, inappropriate, or illegal activities online (Market Wire. November 6, 2006. i-SAFE Inc. December 12, 2006 http://www.marketwire.com/mw/r...e_html_b1?release_id=180330).
38 percent of high school students sometimes hide their online activities from their parents (Market Wire. November 6, 2006. i-SAFE Inc. December 12, 2006 http://www.marketwire.com/mw/r...e_html_b1?release_id=180330).
The risks to children, particularly teenagers, in cyberspace include exposure to unwanted exposure to sexual material (1 in 3 youth) and harassment -- threatening or other offensive behavior directed at them (1 in 11 youth). (Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. 2006. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Crimes Against Children Research Center, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. December 4, 2006. http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV138.pdf).
31 percent of 7th to 12th-graders pretended to be older to get onto a website. (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts. Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
Nearly one-third (31percent) of 8- to 18-year-olds have a computer in their bedroom, and one in five (20 percent) have an Internet connection there (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts. Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
Three in four (74 percent) young people have a home Internet connection (31 percent have high-speed access). Nearly one-third (31 percent) have a computer in their bedroom, and one in five (20 percent) have an Internet connection there. In a typical day, about half of young people (48 percent) go online from home, 20 percent from school, and 16 percent from someplace else (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts. Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
Among the 96 percent of young people who have ever gone online, 65 percent say they go online most often from home, 14 percent from school, 7 percent from a friend's house, and 2 percent from a library or other location (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts. Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
One in ten young people (13 percent) reports having a handheld device that connects to the Internet (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Study, March 2005).
The most common recreational activities young people engage in on the computer are playing games and communicating through instant messaging (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. (Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts, Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
YOUTH AND INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY
Of students aged 13 and 14 from schools across Alberta, Canada, 90 percent of males and 70 percent of females reported accessing sexually explicit media content at least once. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
Of students aged 13 and 14 from schools across Alberta, Canada, 4 percent reported viewing pornography on the Internet; 41 percent saw it on video or DVD and 57 percent saw it on a specialty TV channel. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
The study revealed that boys do the majority of deliberate viewing, and a significant minority now plans social time around viewing porn with male friends. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
Porn has become a major presence in the lives of youth, and while a majority of teens surveys said their parents expressed concern about sexual content, that concern has not led to discussion or supervision, and few parents are using available technology to block sexual content. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
The author of the study, Sonya Thompson concluded that parents need to improve dialogue with their children and their own awareness level. They need to be the ones setting the boundaries in the house. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
Overall, boys aged 13 and 14 living in rural areas are the most likely of their age group to access pornography. (Thompson, Sonya. "Study Shows 1 in 3 Boys Heavy Porn Users". University of Alberta Study, 5 March 2007, http://www.healthnews-stat/com...0&keys=porn-rural-teens.)
Forty-two percent of Internet users aged 10 to 17 surveyed said they had seen online pornography in a recent 12-month span. Of those, 66 percent said they did not want to view the images and had not sought them out. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The results come from a telephone survey of 1,500 Internet users aged 10 to 17 conducted in 2005, with their parents' consent. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-257.)
In the survey, most kids who reported unwanted exposure were aged 13 to 17. Still, sizable numbers of 10- and 11-year-olds also had unwanted exposure -- 17 percent of boys and 16 percent of girls that age. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-257.)
More than one-third of 16- and 17-year-old boys surveyed said they had intentionally visited X-rated sites in the past year. Among girls the same age, 8 percent had done so. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-25.)
Overall, 34 percent had unwanted exposure to online pornography, up from 25 percent in a similar survey conducted in 1999 and 2000. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-257.)
Online use that put kids at the highest risk for unwanted exposure to pornography was using file-sharing programs to download images. However, they also stumbled onto X-rated images through other "normal" Internet use, the researchers said, including talking online with friends, visiting chat rooms and playing games. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-257.)
Filtering and blocking software helped prevent exposure, but was not 100 percent effective, the researchers said. (Wolak, Janis, et al. "Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users." Pediatrics 119 (2007); 247-257.)In 2000, more than one-third of youth Internet users (34 percent) saw sexual material online they did not want to see in the past year compared to one-quarter (25 percent) in 2005 (Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. 2006. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Crimes Against Children Research Center, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. December 4, 2006. http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV138.pdf).
More than three-quarters of the unwanted exposures (79 percent) happened at home. Nine (9) percent happened at school, 5 percent happened at friends' homes, and 5 percent happened in other places including libraries (Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. 2006. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Crimes Against Children Research Center, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. December 4, 2006. http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV138.pdf).
According to a New Zealand Internal Affairs study, the largest single age group viewing child pornography is young people aged 15 to 19, accounting for a quarter of 202 convicted child porn users. (New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs. Internet Traders of Child Pornography: Profiling Research. By Caroline Sullivan. October 2005. January 10, 2006. http://www.dia.govt.nz/pubform...text-align:right'/a>).
70 percent have accidentally come across pornography on the Web (Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-Olds. Victoria Rideout, Donald F. Roberts. Ulla G. Foehr. March 2005. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 17 November 2006, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/up...f-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf).
More than 11 million teens regularly view porn online ("Protecting Kids Online." Editorial, The Washington Post, July 1, 2004).In 26 percent of cases where youth accidentally stumbled into pornographic websites, the youth stated being exposed to another sex website when they were attempting to exit the initial website. (Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., and Wolak, J. "Victimization of Youths on the Internet." The Victimization of Children: Emerging Issues, Ed. J.L. Mullings, J.W. Marquart, and D.J. Hartley. New York: Haworth Maltreatment & Trauma Press, 2003).
23 percent of youth were "very" or "extremely" upset by exposures to sexual content online. (Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., and Wolak, J. "Victimization of Youths on the Internet." The Victimization of Children: Emerging Issues, Ed. J.L. Mullings, J.W. Marquart, and D.J. Hartley. New York: Haworth Maltreatment & Trauma Press, 2003).
Adolescents' access to sexual and reproductive health information is minimally affected by pornography-blocking software when installed at moderate settings while blocking 90 percent of pornographic content. (Richardson, C.R., Resnick, P.J., Hansen, D.L., Derry, H.A., & Rideout, V.J. "Does pornography-blocking software block access to health information on the Internet?" Journal of the American Medical Association, 288 (22), 2002): 2887-2894).
Nine out of 10 children aged between eight and 16 have viewed pornography on the Internet. In most cases, the sex sites were accessed unintentionally when a child, often in the process of doing homework, used a seemingly innocent sounding word to search for information or pictures. (London School of Economics January 2002).
My Pick for Movie Filtering - Clearplay
We have used this dvd player for at least five years. We won't watch a movie without it. I love the freedom from worry - worry that a swear word, innappropriate scene, or offensive violence will pop up. We still are picky about what we watch, but many movies "that have just one bad scene" or "just a few swear words" can now be watched without being exposed to that "one bad scene" or "those few swear words." Go to www.clearplay.com to learn more or buy. I love to promote products that I think are great!
Taken from the Clearplay website:
"The next time you watch a movie with your kids–watch it stress free. Don’t worry if the next scene or string of dialog will have you scrambling to cover your child’s eyes and ears. ClearPlay, our “TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award” winner, filters out offensive dialog such as curse words and sexual references as well as scenes with sexual situations and extreme violence.
ClearPlay offers a whopping 2000+ movie filters from the 1970’s to the Present and adds new filters as movies are released on DVD. ClearPlay continually updates its library so you can always find the movies you are looking for. With ClearPlay you can use the DVDs you’ve owned for years, buy new ones or rent them from your local video store.
Along with the purchase of a ClearPlay DVD Player, you will receive a free one–year subscription to download filters. Even before you sign up for the free subscription, you can download free filters for 250 movies.
ClearPlay is different from businesses like CleanFlicks and Family Flix (found to be illegal by a 2006 District of Colorado court ruling) because ClearPlay uses legal technology that doesn’t physically alter the DVD or make copies. The technology works in tandem with the coding on DVDs. You can download as many filters as you want, but unless you play the actual DVD, you can’t watch the movie and the filtering doesn’t work.
How ClearPlay works:
Purchase the ClearPlay DVD player.
Create an account on the ClearPlay website.
Download 250 free movie filters with your ClearPlay FilterStik.
Place the FilterStik into the USB port on the front of the ClearPlay DVD player.
Watch the movie(s) of your choice.
Sign up for a subscription (the first year is free) for unlimited movie filters for $7.95 a month or $79.50 a year. "
Taken from the Clearplay website:
"The next time you watch a movie with your kids–watch it stress free. Don’t worry if the next scene or string of dialog will have you scrambling to cover your child’s eyes and ears. ClearPlay, our “TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award” winner, filters out offensive dialog such as curse words and sexual references as well as scenes with sexual situations and extreme violence.
ClearPlay offers a whopping 2000+ movie filters from the 1970’s to the Present and adds new filters as movies are released on DVD. ClearPlay continually updates its library so you can always find the movies you are looking for. With ClearPlay you can use the DVDs you’ve owned for years, buy new ones or rent them from your local video store.
Along with the purchase of a ClearPlay DVD Player, you will receive a free one–year subscription to download filters. Even before you sign up for the free subscription, you can download free filters for 250 movies.
ClearPlay is different from businesses like CleanFlicks and Family Flix (found to be illegal by a 2006 District of Colorado court ruling) because ClearPlay uses legal technology that doesn’t physically alter the DVD or make copies. The technology works in tandem with the coding on DVDs. You can download as many filters as you want, but unless you play the actual DVD, you can’t watch the movie and the filtering doesn’t work.
How ClearPlay works:
Purchase the ClearPlay DVD player.
Create an account on the ClearPlay website.
Download 250 free movie filters with your ClearPlay FilterStik.
Place the FilterStik into the USB port on the front of the ClearPlay DVD player.
Watch the movie(s) of your choice.
Sign up for a subscription (the first year is free) for unlimited movie filters for $7.95 a month or $79.50 a year. "
Age Appropriate Guidelines for Internet Usage
Age-Based Guidelines
Guidelines for 2 to 4-year olds
This is the age when children start interacting with the computer in the presence of a parent or sibling. According to a 2005 report from the National Center for Education Statistics in the U.S., 67 percent of preschool-age children use a computer and 23 percent use the Internet.
Kids at this age:
· Will accept media content at face-value
· Don't have the critical thinking skills to be online alone
· May be frightened be media images, both real and fictional
· May be frightened by realistic portrayals of violence, threats or dangers
· Risk moving from appropriate to inappropriate sites through hyperlinks
Guidelines:
· Always sit with your child at the computer (EIE recommends that children at this age not be exposed to the Internet).
· Parents can begin teaching basic computer skills by introducing age-appropriate games and educational programs.
Guidelines for 4 to 7-year olds
Five- to seven-year-old children have a positive outlook and an accepting nature. They take pride in their new reading and counting skills and love to converse and share ideas. They are eager to behave well, are trusting and do not tend to question authority.
Kids at this age may be very capable at using computers (i.e. following commands, using the mouse, and playing computer games). They are, however, highly dependent on adults or older children to help them find Web sites, interpret online information or send e-mail.
Kids at This Age:
· Will accept media content at face value
· Don't have the critical thinking skills to be online alone
· May be frightened by media images, both real and fictional
· May be frightened by realistic portrayals of violence, threats or dangers
· May be exposed to search results that link to inappropriate Web sites
· Are vulnerable to online marketers who encourage them to give out personal information through surveys, contests and registration forms
· Risk moving from appropriate to inappropriate sites through hyperlinks
Guidelines:
· Always sit with your kids at this age when they are online.
· If introduced to the Internet, parents can choose to:
· Use kid-friendly search engines or ones with parental controls.
· Set age-appropriate filtering at the most restrictive level ideally a protected environment with pre-approved content (offered by many ISP's, AOL and Vista)
· Create a personalized online environment by limiting your kids to their list of favorite or "bookmarked" sites.
· Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area where you can easily monitor your kids' activities.
· Start teaching kids about privacy. Tell them never to give out information about themselves or their family when online.
· Have your kids use an online nickname if a site encourages them to submit their names to "personalize" the Web content.
· Don't let your kids use instant messaging, e-mail, chat rooms or message boards at this age.
· Encourage them to come to you if they come across anything online that makes them feel uncomfortable or threatened. (Stay calm if this happens; otherwise, they won't turn to you for help when they need it.)
Guidelines for 8 to 10-year olds
Eight- to ten-year-old kids have a strong sense of family. They are interested in the activities of older kids in their lives; they are starting to develop a sense of their own moral and gender identity; and they tend to be trusting and not question authority.
Surfing for fun and playing interactive games are favorite online activities at this age. They are using e-mail and may also experiment with instant messaging, chat rooms and message boards (online forums), although the use of these programs are strongly discouraged at this age.
Kids at this Age:
· Are curious and interested in discovering new information
· Lack the critical thinking skills to be online alone
· Are vulnerable to online marketers who encourage them to give out personal information through surveys, contests and registration forms
· May be frightened by realistic portrayals of violence, threats or dangers
· May begin to communicate with online acquaintances they may not know in real life
· May be influenced by media images and personalities, especially those that appear "cool" or desirable
· May be exposed to search results with links to inappropriate Web sites
· Are vulnerable to online predators if they use chat rooms, message boards, social networking or instant messaging
Guidelines:
· Create a list of Internet rules with your kids (see Rules 'N ToolsSM Youth Pledge).
· Sit with your kids when they are online or make sure they only visit sites that you have approved.
· Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area where you can easily monitor them.
· Set parental controls at the age-appropriate levels and use filtering and monitoring tools as a complement - not a replacement - for parental supervision.
· Use kid-friendly search engines or search engines with parental controls.
· Do not allow instant messaging at this age.
· Talk to your kids about healthy sexuality in the event they come across sexually-explicit online pornography, either at home, a friend's house, school or library.
· Encourage your kids to come to you if they encounter anything online that makes them feel uncomfortable or threatened. (Stay calm and don't blame the child; otherwise, they won't turn to you for help when they need it.)
· You and your child should have the same e-mail address. Establish a shared family e-mail account with your Internet Service Provider rather than letting your kids have their own accounts.
· Get to know your child's online activities and friends. Talk to your kids about their online friends and activities just as you would about their other activities.
· Teach your kids to always come to you before giving out information through e-mail, message boards, registration forms, personal profiles and online contests. Discuss anonymous behavior.
· Teach them not to interact with people they do not know offline because an online predator can easily disguise him/herself.
· Keep lines of communication open.
· Do not allow instant messaging (IM), chatrooms or social networking sites.
· Check the history file on your computer to see which sites your child has accessed.
Guidelines for 11 to 13-year olds
This is a time of rapid change for children; although children at this age are still quite dependent on their families, they want to experience more independence. Also, relationships with friends become more important, and they can be highly influenced by what their friend are doing online. Kids at this age will be using the Internet to help with schoolwork, download music, e-mail others, play online games, and go to sites of interest. Kids enjoy communicating with friends by instant messaging (IM) and text messaging by cell phone.
Kids at this Age:
· Lack the critical thinking skills to judge the accuracy of online information
· Feel in control when it comes to technology
· Are vulnerable to online marketers who encourage them to give out personal information through surveys, contests and registration forms
· Are at a sensitive time in their sexual development; particularly boys, who may look for pornographic sites at this age and girls who may try to imitate provocative media images and behaviors
· Are interested in building relationships (especially girls) with online acquaintances and are susceptible to crushes on older teens or young men
· This is the most vulnerable age range for victims of sexual predators
· May be bullied or they may be bullying others online
· "Tweens" may begin displaying "risky behavior" online and are very susceptible to peer pressures
· Mean girl scenarios, both online and offline, are common for this age range
Guidelines:
· Create a list of Internet rules with your kids (see Rules 'N ToolsSM Youth Pledge).
· Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area and out of your kids' bedrooms.
· Set parental controls at the age-appropriate levels and use filtering and monitoring tools as a complement - not a replacement - for parental supervision. Use parental controls on all Internet-enabled devices such as cell phones, gaming devices, i-pods and pdas.
· Talk with your kids about their online friends and activities just as you would about their offline activities.
· Teach your child that if they don't know "an online friend" in the offline world, they can't be sure if they are safe and if they are who they claim to be. Instruct your child not to plan a face-to-face with someone they only know online.
· Teach your kids never to give out personal information without your permission when participating in online activities including: using e-mail, chat rooms or instant messaging, filling out registration forms and personal profiles, and entering online contests.
· Encourage them to come to you if they encounter material or messages that make them feel uncomfortable or threatened, and remember to stay calm; otherwise, your kids won't turn to you for help when they need it.
· Insist on access and passwords to your kids' e-mail and instant messaging accounts to make sure that they're not talking to strangers and limit IM to a parent approved buddy list.
· Talk to your kids about ethical behavior. They should not be using the Internet to spread gossip, bully or make threats against others.
· Disallow chatrooms or only allow your kids to use monitored chat rooms on reputable kids' sites.
· Do periodic spot-checks (like checking history files) to monitor your kids' online behaviors.
· Limit time online.
· Do not allow your children to have online profiles or pages on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook who have a minimum age requirement of 14. (Kids can lie about their age and gain access to these sites). Check social networking sites such as Imbee, ClubPenguin, and TweenLand. Follow the Rules 'N ToolsSM Parent's Guideline regarding social networking sites.
· Your children should not post pictures unless under close parental supervision.
· Talk to your kids about healthy sexuality (vs. porn message) in the event they come across sexually-explicit online pornography, either at home, a friend's house, school or library.
Guidelines for 14 - 18-year olds
Older teenagers need both group identity and independence. In late adolescence kids mature and are ready to interact with the world on an intellectual level. Generally, all teens are open to new ideas but lack the life experience to judge their validity.
Teens download music, use instant messaging (IM), e-mail, social networking sites and play online games. They also actively use search engines to find information on the Internet. Most of them have visited chat rooms, and many have participated in adult or private chat. Boys in this age group are more likely to push the boundaries - looking for gross humor, gore, gambling, or explicit adult sites.
Kids at this Age:
· Are more critical and selective in their media interests and activities
· Are more likely to receive unwanted sexual comments online
· Receive the highest percentage of pornographic spam
· Are interested in building relationships with online acquaintances (especially true of girls)
· Are more likely to be asked for a real-life meeting by an online acquaintance and more apt to accept
· Are still vulnerable to online marketers who encourage them to give out personal information through surveys, contests and registration forms
· May look for porn sites (boys in particular)
· May be bullied or be bullying others online
· Are more likely to use credit cards online
· May be experimenting with online gambling
Guidelines:
· Create a list of Internet house rules with your teens (see Rules 'N ToolsSM Youth Pledge). You should include the kinds of sites that are off limit.
· Set parental controls at the age-appropriate levels and use filtering and monitoring tools as a complement - not a replacement - for parental supervision. Use on all Internet-enabled devices such as cell phones, gaming devices, i-pods and pdas.
· Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area and out of your teens' bedrooms.
· Talk to them about their online friends and activities just as you would about their offline activities.
· Know which chat rooms or message boards your teens visit, and whom they talk to. Encourage them to use monitored chat rooms.
· Talk to your teens about their IM list and make sure they're not talking to strangers. Your teens should only use pre-approved buddy lists.
· Insist that your kids tell you first if they want to meet an "online friend." Then check out the online friend, and if you feel they are safe, accompany your child to the meeting.
· Teach your teens never to give out personal information without your permission when using e-mail, chat rooms or instant messaging, filling out registration forms and personal profiles, and entering online contests.
· Encourage them to come to you if they encounter material or messages that make them feel uncomfortable or threatened, and remember to stay calm; otherwise, your kids won't turn to you for help when they need it.
· Talk to your teenagers about online pornography and healthy sexuality.
· Help protect them from spam. Tell your teens not to give out their e-mail address online, not to respond to junk mail, and to use e-mail filters.
· Be aware of the Web sites that your teens frequent, and make sure the sites don't contain offensive information or content.
· Teach your kids responsible online behavior. File-sharing and taking text, images or artwork from the Web may infringe on copyright laws.
· Talk to them about ethical behavior. They should not be using the Internet to spread gossip, bully or threaten others.
· Make sure your teens check with you before making financial transactions online, including ordering, buying or selling items.
· Discuss gambling and its potential risks, and remind your teens that it is illegal for them to gamble online.
· Do periodic spot-checks (like checking history files) to monitor your kids' online behaviors.
· Prepare your kids for a college environment where they will have no Internet guidelines.
· Remember that kids are safest if not on social networking sites. Follow the Rules 'N ToolsSM if you allow your teens to use them.
Guidelines for 2 to 4-year olds
This is the age when children start interacting with the computer in the presence of a parent or sibling. According to a 2005 report from the National Center for Education Statistics in the U.S., 67 percent of preschool-age children use a computer and 23 percent use the Internet.
Kids at this age:
· Will accept media content at face-value
· Don't have the critical thinking skills to be online alone
· May be frightened be media images, both real and fictional
· May be frightened by realistic portrayals of violence, threats or dangers
· Risk moving from appropriate to inappropriate sites through hyperlinks
Guidelines:
· Always sit with your child at the computer (EIE recommends that children at this age not be exposed to the Internet).
· Parents can begin teaching basic computer skills by introducing age-appropriate games and educational programs.
Guidelines for 4 to 7-year olds
Five- to seven-year-old children have a positive outlook and an accepting nature. They take pride in their new reading and counting skills and love to converse and share ideas. They are eager to behave well, are trusting and do not tend to question authority.
Kids at this age may be very capable at using computers (i.e. following commands, using the mouse, and playing computer games). They are, however, highly dependent on adults or older children to help them find Web sites, interpret online information or send e-mail.
Kids at This Age:
· Will accept media content at face value
· Don't have the critical thinking skills to be online alone
· May be frightened by media images, both real and fictional
· May be frightened by realistic portrayals of violence, threats or dangers
· May be exposed to search results that link to inappropriate Web sites
· Are vulnerable to online marketers who encourage them to give out personal information through surveys, contests and registration forms
· Risk moving from appropriate to inappropriate sites through hyperlinks
Guidelines:
· Always sit with your kids at this age when they are online.
· If introduced to the Internet, parents can choose to:
· Use kid-friendly search engines or ones with parental controls.
· Set age-appropriate filtering at the most restrictive level ideally a protected environment with pre-approved content (offered by many ISP's, AOL and Vista)
· Create a personalized online environment by limiting your kids to their list of favorite or "bookmarked" sites.
· Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area where you can easily monitor your kids' activities.
· Start teaching kids about privacy. Tell them never to give out information about themselves or their family when online.
· Have your kids use an online nickname if a site encourages them to submit their names to "personalize" the Web content.
· Don't let your kids use instant messaging, e-mail, chat rooms or message boards at this age.
· Encourage them to come to you if they come across anything online that makes them feel uncomfortable or threatened. (Stay calm if this happens; otherwise, they won't turn to you for help when they need it.)
Guidelines for 8 to 10-year olds
Eight- to ten-year-old kids have a strong sense of family. They are interested in the activities of older kids in their lives; they are starting to develop a sense of their own moral and gender identity; and they tend to be trusting and not question authority.
Surfing for fun and playing interactive games are favorite online activities at this age. They are using e-mail and may also experiment with instant messaging, chat rooms and message boards (online forums), although the use of these programs are strongly discouraged at this age.
Kids at this Age:
· Are curious and interested in discovering new information
· Lack the critical thinking skills to be online alone
· Are vulnerable to online marketers who encourage them to give out personal information through surveys, contests and registration forms
· May be frightened by realistic portrayals of violence, threats or dangers
· May begin to communicate with online acquaintances they may not know in real life
· May be influenced by media images and personalities, especially those that appear "cool" or desirable
· May be exposed to search results with links to inappropriate Web sites
· Are vulnerable to online predators if they use chat rooms, message boards, social networking or instant messaging
Guidelines:
· Create a list of Internet rules with your kids (see Rules 'N ToolsSM Youth Pledge).
· Sit with your kids when they are online or make sure they only visit sites that you have approved.
· Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area where you can easily monitor them.
· Set parental controls at the age-appropriate levels and use filtering and monitoring tools as a complement - not a replacement - for parental supervision.
· Use kid-friendly search engines or search engines with parental controls.
· Do not allow instant messaging at this age.
· Talk to your kids about healthy sexuality in the event they come across sexually-explicit online pornography, either at home, a friend's house, school or library.
· Encourage your kids to come to you if they encounter anything online that makes them feel uncomfortable or threatened. (Stay calm and don't blame the child; otherwise, they won't turn to you for help when they need it.)
· You and your child should have the same e-mail address. Establish a shared family e-mail account with your Internet Service Provider rather than letting your kids have their own accounts.
· Get to know your child's online activities and friends. Talk to your kids about their online friends and activities just as you would about their other activities.
· Teach your kids to always come to you before giving out information through e-mail, message boards, registration forms, personal profiles and online contests. Discuss anonymous behavior.
· Teach them not to interact with people they do not know offline because an online predator can easily disguise him/herself.
· Keep lines of communication open.
· Do not allow instant messaging (IM), chatrooms or social networking sites.
· Check the history file on your computer to see which sites your child has accessed.
Guidelines for 11 to 13-year olds
This is a time of rapid change for children; although children at this age are still quite dependent on their families, they want to experience more independence. Also, relationships with friends become more important, and they can be highly influenced by what their friend are doing online. Kids at this age will be using the Internet to help with schoolwork, download music, e-mail others, play online games, and go to sites of interest. Kids enjoy communicating with friends by instant messaging (IM) and text messaging by cell phone.
Kids at this Age:
· Lack the critical thinking skills to judge the accuracy of online information
· Feel in control when it comes to technology
· Are vulnerable to online marketers who encourage them to give out personal information through surveys, contests and registration forms
· Are at a sensitive time in their sexual development; particularly boys, who may look for pornographic sites at this age and girls who may try to imitate provocative media images and behaviors
· Are interested in building relationships (especially girls) with online acquaintances and are susceptible to crushes on older teens or young men
· This is the most vulnerable age range for victims of sexual predators
· May be bullied or they may be bullying others online
· "Tweens" may begin displaying "risky behavior" online and are very susceptible to peer pressures
· Mean girl scenarios, both online and offline, are common for this age range
Guidelines:
· Create a list of Internet rules with your kids (see Rules 'N ToolsSM Youth Pledge).
· Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area and out of your kids' bedrooms.
· Set parental controls at the age-appropriate levels and use filtering and monitoring tools as a complement - not a replacement - for parental supervision. Use parental controls on all Internet-enabled devices such as cell phones, gaming devices, i-pods and pdas.
· Talk with your kids about their online friends and activities just as you would about their offline activities.
· Teach your child that if they don't know "an online friend" in the offline world, they can't be sure if they are safe and if they are who they claim to be. Instruct your child not to plan a face-to-face with someone they only know online.
· Teach your kids never to give out personal information without your permission when participating in online activities including: using e-mail, chat rooms or instant messaging, filling out registration forms and personal profiles, and entering online contests.
· Encourage them to come to you if they encounter material or messages that make them feel uncomfortable or threatened, and remember to stay calm; otherwise, your kids won't turn to you for help when they need it.
· Insist on access and passwords to your kids' e-mail and instant messaging accounts to make sure that they're not talking to strangers and limit IM to a parent approved buddy list.
· Talk to your kids about ethical behavior. They should not be using the Internet to spread gossip, bully or make threats against others.
· Disallow chatrooms or only allow your kids to use monitored chat rooms on reputable kids' sites.
· Do periodic spot-checks (like checking history files) to monitor your kids' online behaviors.
· Limit time online.
· Do not allow your children to have online profiles or pages on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook who have a minimum age requirement of 14. (Kids can lie about their age and gain access to these sites). Check social networking sites such as Imbee, ClubPenguin, and TweenLand. Follow the Rules 'N ToolsSM Parent's Guideline regarding social networking sites.
· Your children should not post pictures unless under close parental supervision.
· Talk to your kids about healthy sexuality (vs. porn message) in the event they come across sexually-explicit online pornography, either at home, a friend's house, school or library.
Guidelines for 14 - 18-year olds
Older teenagers need both group identity and independence. In late adolescence kids mature and are ready to interact with the world on an intellectual level. Generally, all teens are open to new ideas but lack the life experience to judge their validity.
Teens download music, use instant messaging (IM), e-mail, social networking sites and play online games. They also actively use search engines to find information on the Internet. Most of them have visited chat rooms, and many have participated in adult or private chat. Boys in this age group are more likely to push the boundaries - looking for gross humor, gore, gambling, or explicit adult sites.
Kids at this Age:
· Are more critical and selective in their media interests and activities
· Are more likely to receive unwanted sexual comments online
· Receive the highest percentage of pornographic spam
· Are interested in building relationships with online acquaintances (especially true of girls)
· Are more likely to be asked for a real-life meeting by an online acquaintance and more apt to accept
· Are still vulnerable to online marketers who encourage them to give out personal information through surveys, contests and registration forms
· May look for porn sites (boys in particular)
· May be bullied or be bullying others online
· Are more likely to use credit cards online
· May be experimenting with online gambling
Guidelines:
· Create a list of Internet house rules with your teens (see Rules 'N ToolsSM Youth Pledge). You should include the kinds of sites that are off limit.
· Set parental controls at the age-appropriate levels and use filtering and monitoring tools as a complement - not a replacement - for parental supervision. Use on all Internet-enabled devices such as cell phones, gaming devices, i-pods and pdas.
· Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area and out of your teens' bedrooms.
· Talk to them about their online friends and activities just as you would about their offline activities.
· Know which chat rooms or message boards your teens visit, and whom they talk to. Encourage them to use monitored chat rooms.
· Talk to your teens about their IM list and make sure they're not talking to strangers. Your teens should only use pre-approved buddy lists.
· Insist that your kids tell you first if they want to meet an "online friend." Then check out the online friend, and if you feel they are safe, accompany your child to the meeting.
· Teach your teens never to give out personal information without your permission when using e-mail, chat rooms or instant messaging, filling out registration forms and personal profiles, and entering online contests.
· Encourage them to come to you if they encounter material or messages that make them feel uncomfortable or threatened, and remember to stay calm; otherwise, your kids won't turn to you for help when they need it.
· Talk to your teenagers about online pornography and healthy sexuality.
· Help protect them from spam. Tell your teens not to give out their e-mail address online, not to respond to junk mail, and to use e-mail filters.
· Be aware of the Web sites that your teens frequent, and make sure the sites don't contain offensive information or content.
· Teach your kids responsible online behavior. File-sharing and taking text, images or artwork from the Web may infringe on copyright laws.
· Talk to them about ethical behavior. They should not be using the Internet to spread gossip, bully or threaten others.
· Make sure your teens check with you before making financial transactions online, including ordering, buying or selling items.
· Discuss gambling and its potential risks, and remind your teens that it is illegal for them to gamble online.
· Do periodic spot-checks (like checking history files) to monitor your kids' online behaviors.
· Prepare your kids for a college environment where they will have no Internet guidelines.
· Remember that kids are safest if not on social networking sites. Follow the Rules 'N ToolsSM if you allow your teens to use them.
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