Kids & Technology

Let me begin by saying I am a parent of a teenager
and I am a HUGE fan of technology!

Mind you, I don’t know how to use it all but what I do know how to use, I do it eagerly and without regret. I blame my eagerness for all things technological on growing up without it (Pong does not count as technology.)

While technology is one of my most favorite things, I am aware that it can become damaging . . . for me and for kids. Too much of anything usually isn’t a good thing.

Last year, Disney conducted a survey of 11,500 parents about their kids’ technology habits. The overwhelming result found from the survey was the fact that parents can’t keep up with the technology their kids are exposed too at younger and younger ages. Forty-eight percent of respondents aged 25-34 said their children began using a cell phone at age five or younger and 80 percent said they were worried about online safety and their children. (Visit Disney’s website www.family.go.com for ways to monitor the Internet and follow new technology.)

With online social sites like Facebook and MySpace, chat rooms and websites that encourage the use of avatars, today’s kids are connected to a whole new level of communication – far beyond the pay phones, beepers and typewriters today’s parents were accustomed to as children. They are also connected to a whole new level of dangers. News stories of kids tracked down by some creep who took notice of their school name on their MySpace page; cyber suicide that becomes a reality and sexting are giving technology and today’s kids a bad name. But, it doesn’t have to.

There is one thing that can make a difference between bad technology and good technology . . . the parents.

If you don’t know the meaning of words like blog, social site, texting, PDA, emoticon, cyber-bullying, MMOs, PRW, avatar, chat, sexting or IM you need to do some research (or look to the info box below for definitions.) Reality is – whether an adult agrees with the new technology popping up every other day, it’s there and you can bet their kids know about it. Becoming technologically savvy allows parents to stay more involved in their kid’s lives than if they were not and the information below can help.

Internet

• Just because a kid knows how to get on the Internet doesn’t mean they should do it without being monitored because it is w-a-a-a-a-y too easy to get unsavory information on the World Wide Web. For example, after typing the word ‘sex’ into a popular online search engine, more than 100 million sites came up. Some are for the recent “Sex in the City” movie, while others are actually for information on sexual health. Unfortunately the first five sites listed are for free sex videos, free porn and free XXX videos. It’s that simple to view whether you are in elementary school or a grown adult.
  
  
• Find parental control software that can help maintain some Internet safety. ConsumerSearch.com recommends software such as Safe Eyes, CyberPatrol and Net Nanny.
  
  
• Keep the computer in a viewable place (as opposed to in the bedroom behind closed doors) so that you can take a quick glance at what is being viewed.
  
  
• Educate children on safe Internet use like never posting personal information on public pages including phone number, address, full name, school or email.

Cell Phones

• Cell phones are great for keeping track of your kids, letting them know you are running late or for use in case of an emergency, but they are also a direct link to identity thieves, predators, cyber-bullies, spammers and scammers. Teach your kids to only give mobile numbers to people they know and trust and never reply to a text message from someone they do not know.
  
  
• Teach kids to respect others by not giving out a friend’s cell phone number unless they have permission and to never take pictures of someone without permission. Distributing pictures from a cell phone makes the possibilities of where they end up endless.
  
  
• Texting, like chatting and email, can make people feel more comfortable with those they are texting and don’t know quicker than if they were talking in person. Moving into a relationship too quickly via text is common, but dangerous. Teach teens to play it safe, and never meet someone they have only been texting in person without an adult companion.
  
  
• Be careful what you say when texting. Words can be taken the wrong way or forwarded on to others. Bullying and spamming are common among texters for a reason. They have the ability to reach an unlimited amount of users within seconds.

Virtual Worlds

• There is a whole new world out there and you can bet your kids are part of it or at least know someone who is. Virtual worlds are online environments that allow users to interact with thousands of other people in real time.
  
  
• Virtual worlds most often come in two forms, MMOs (massively multiplayer online games) and social virtual worlds. The first allows users to compete for objectives and goals. Social virtual worlds allow them to chat and expand their online life.
  
  
• According to eMarketer.com, approximately 8.2 million kids ages 3 to 17-years-old log on a virtual world each month.
  
  
• You probably don’t want your kids becoming something in a virtual world you wouldn’t want them to become in the real world, and it’s pretty easy for them to become anything in the virtual world. Because online worlds cannot monitor everyone that joins their sites, it is the parents’ responsibility to make sure their kids are staying away from questionable areas.
  
  

Technology Speak

Blog
Shortened version of weblog, a type of website maintained by individuals with regular entries. A lot of great, mindless and sometimes creepy information blogged daily.

Social Networking Sites
(Facebook, MySpace, etc.)
Web-based services that allow individuals to maintain public or semi-public profiles within a network while sharing connections with an unlimited amount of users. Also the quickest way for your high school ex to find you.

Texting
The process of communicating via plain text messages over a cellular network using a short message service. Often wrongly used to quit a job, break up with a boyfriend/girlfriend or call in sick.

PDA
A hand-held, electronic device for storing personal information. Think the calendar on your refrigerator times a million.

Emoticon
A string of text characters used after a sentence in emails and text messages representing a facial expression to convey the sort of emotion that plain text does not.
:-) or : ) or =) Smile or happy
;-) or ; ) Winking and smiling
:-( Sad
:D or :-D or =D Big smile
>:-( Angry
>:-) Evil smile
:-x No comment or My lips are sealed

Cyber-bullying
The use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated and hostile behavior by an individual or group that is intended to harm others. And it does harm others, spreading like wildfire.

MMOs
Massively multiplayer online games which allow hundreds of thousands of users to play simultaneously. Competition on a whole new level.

PRW
Acronym – parents are watching, usually used when texting or chatting to let others know they can’t say anything that might make mom or dad mad. If caught they might say it means Public Refrigerated Warehousing.

Avatar
An electronic image that represents and is manipulated by a computer user usually in a virtual world. Like Glamour Shots and the Simpsons put together.

Chat
A typed informal discussion via internet or cell phone. Usually leading to TMI – too much information.

Sexting
Sex texting by sending or receiving a text message that has sexual content or sexually based pictures and video. Phone sex on steroids.

IMing
Instant messaging through the exchange of text messages by means of a software application in real-time. That’s not always research they are doing on the computer.