safety

'Frontline' on 'Growing Up Online'

When PBS's Frontline reported on "Growing Up Online" this week, it called the gulf between kids who grew up with technology and their parents "the greatest generation gap since rock 'n' roll." That's a bitter pill to swallow for adults in their '30s and '40s who have been involved in computers for 20-plus years, but I have to say I agree with their assessment. Maybe we kicked it old school with Pong and the Atari 2600. Or we had a Commodore 64 or a Macintosh with a whopping 512K of memory. We may have even written code since we were teens ourselves, but that's nothing compared to growing up with ubiquitous access to cell phones, media, and social networking.

Producer Caitlin McNally describes this shift in thinking that exists even between her, as a twentysomething, and the teens she interviewed:

Despite the research we did, I don't think I was prepared when we started talking to kids for the extent to which the Internet and other electronic communication has permeated all aspects of being a teenager. Almost every kid expressed the utter importance of being connected with friends all the time and how unthinkable a life without that connection would be. I think a lot of kids were bemused by our list of questions about 'life online,' because they don't sit around thinking about the Internet in their lives. It's just there, always, another tool for them to use or place for them to go.

Kids Web Menu, an 'Internet' portal for tots

Tense, nervy parents, it's time to relax. Kids Web Menu is a new, free solution for letting young kids surf the 'Net, chaperon-free.

How is that possible with all the dangers! And predators! And viruses out there!? By strictly limiting the tykes to 40 preapproved partner sites, that's how. Kids Web Menu takes the sandbox approach in an icon-rich app that lets parents approve content, and password-protect their choices. What's left for children is an interactive layout of either slowly rotating 3D blocks or a scrapbook where apps appear like photos, such as Webkinz, Sports Illustrated for … Read more

MySpace takes a step toward safety

I've been writing about parenting and technology long enough for themes to begin to emerge. Like Lou Dobbs talking again and again about the "War on the Middle Class," I am going to keep following the evolving story about kids and online safety, and supporting the idea that "Safe Product Design is Good Product Design."

Monday's announcement that MySpace has unveiled a new safety plan, working in cooperation with 49 attorneys general, is a step in the right direction. However, it did draw the predictable criticism epitomized by this reader comment on The Social blog:

A Novel Idea...: reader comment from jltnol Posted on: January 14, 2008, 2:24 PM PST Story: MySpace agrees to social-networking safety plan

Why can't parents just do what the [sic] are supposed to do? Part of parenting is knowing what your kids are up to all the time.

If you can't do it then hire a baby sitter who can.

You need a license to drive and a license to fish, but anybody can have a child.

Go Figure.

Wonderful! Another chance to hone my argument against such an unrealistic point of view. This is like saying, "You had a kid, so it's your job to drive safely. Why should car makers have to provide seat belts and antilock brakes? If you don't like it, don't drive at all."

Parents can't know exactly what their kids are up to at all times, especially when the category "kids" includes teenagers. In fact, I bet that if I told you that I maintained absolute surveillance on a 15-year-old at all times, you'd think I was a paranoid, hyperinvolved parent.… Read more

Texas AG: MySpace safety plan is smoke and mirrors

The Lone Star State is the sole holdout in MySpace.com's comprehensive partnership with the rest of the country's attorneys general, and now Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has come out and explained why.

"We believe that social-networking sites, including MySpace.com, do not adequately protect young users," Abbott wrote Monday in an open letter directed to MySpace co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe. "As a result, Texas is unable to join the 'joint statement' that MySpace.com and other state attorneys general issued this week."

The reason, he said, is that he does not … Read more

MySpace agrees to social-networking safety plan

NEW YORK--A coalition of law enforcement authorities and representatives from social-networking site MySpace.com gathered Monday morning to unveil an extensive new plan for ensuring the safety of minors on the Internet.

Under the agreement, MySpace has pledged to work with the attorneys general on a set of principles to combat harmful material on social-networking sites (pornography, harassment, cyberbullying, and identity theft, among other issues), better educate parents and schools about online threats, cooperate with law enforcement officials around the country, as well as develop new technology for age and identity verification on social-networking sites.

"Today's announcement is … Read more

MySpace to address Net safety at press conference

This story has been updated to confirm the content of the press conference.

MySpace.com has informed media that it will be making a "major announcement in regards to Internet safety" on Monday morning at a midtown New York hotel.

No other information was immediately provided except that MySpace's chief security officer, Hemanshu Nigam, will be on hand, along with other representatives from the News Corp.-owned social-networking site.

Somewhat surprisingly, MySpace representatives have confirmed to CNET News.com that the content of the press conference does not deal with anything involving the situation surrounding the death of 13-year-old Megan Meier. … Read more

Report: MySpace issued subpoena in teen suicide case

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that social network MySpace was issued a subpoena in the investigation of a 13-year-old girl's 2006 suicide that involved harassment through a fabricated profile on the News Corp.-owned site. The article also said that "witnesses in the case" had additionally received subpoaenas.

Representatives from MySpace were not immediately available for comment or confirmation. The social network is no stranger to court orders, having been subpoenaed by multiple state attorneys general last year over sex offender concerns.

But the tragic case of Megan Meier's suicide is a very different situation; … Read more

The scoop on new air travel battery rules

On December 28, an Associated Press story was making the rounds that said in part:

To help reduce the risk of fires, air travelers will no longer be able to pack loose lithium batteries in checked luggage beginning January 1, the Transportation Department said Friday.

Passengers can still check baggage with lithium batteries, if they are installed in electronic devices, such as cameras, cell phones, and laptop computers. If packed in plastic bags, batteries may be in carry-on baggage. The limit is two batteries per passenger.

This caused me to perk up at my computer. After all, I routinely travel … Read more

When will kids' online safety be taken seriously?

I've been writing (parent.thesis) for about six months now, and the New Year seems like a good time to reflect on the themes that have developed. I love technology, and at the same time, I am cautious when it comes to kids and tech. Here are the three issues that are really bugging me right now:

Disconnect between product design and online safety Commercialization of kids online Information control, privacy, and data mining

Purdue pursues smarter tires

Your car may already be able to tell you if the tire pressure is too low. Now researchers at Purdue University say they can make a tire into one big sensor that will also tell you things like how the treads are wearing, whether the tires are balanced, and where that little nail has slipped into the rubber. It works because of the materials used throughout the tire, as well as a chip that monitors the status and relays the information to the driver. But before you go looking for this at your local Sears auto center, you might first … Read more