I just got back from a trip to the east coast. I presented a full day
workshop on cyberbullying in Rochester NY (275+ folks) and then a briefing
that was supposed to be for congressional staff in DC, but was attended by
the DC policy wonks, not staff. Then two presentations at a conference in
Maryland.
EVERY place I went there was evidence of incredible Internet fear mongering!
A lady in Rochester said a FBI agent presented on Internet safety in Buffalo
and said social networking sites are so horrible no teen should be using
these sites.
At the briefing, the Representative, Rep Bean, who has a pretty good bill
pending, said that predators are tracking down teens from the personal
information they are posting online and sneaking into their room at night.
NO evidence this is occurring! Teens are going to meet with these guys and
we need to address this situation. But we have to do so based on the facts.
I have been involved in this field for over 12 years and I have never seen
one news report of an Internet predator who has tracked down and abducted a
teen. I will not say ³never will happen² but there is no current evidence
that this is occurring. And the news WOULD report this if it were.
he NetSmartz/NCMEC folks are going around telling folks that 1 in 7 young
people are sexually solicited online and (horrors) they are not reporting
this to adults! This is based on 2005 data. The study did not even ask about
social networking sites. Most of the inappropriate contacts were in chat
rooms, which are far more dangerous than social networking sites. 43% of the
solicitations came from other teens and 30% came from folks who
self-identified as 18 to 25, so you know damned well that this also included
lots of teens. Only 9% from folks identified as adults over 25. Of concern!
But what were the teens doing in these places in the first place. 16% of the
sexual solicitations came from females and it appears that most of them were
under 18. So more female teens soliciting sex online than dirty old men.
Teens responded to the situations by leaving the site, blocking the person,
telling the person to stop, or ignoring the person. Some are telling
friends. Most are not telling adults. Why did they not tell adults? Because
³it was not serious enough!² They had it under control.
The IKeepSafe who are now partnering with DARE the ³just say no² program
that has been proven time and time again to be totally ineffective!!! - and
have their cute little Faux Paws cat telling kids not to talk with or go to
meet with online strangers. Well for one, these materials are aimed at
elementary students and there is no evidence predators are targeting them.
Second, if we have 8 year olds hopping a bus to meet an online stranger at
the mall, there are some pretty significant family problems to begin with.
But we do have 8 year olds waddling around Club Penguin in their little
penguin avatars talking with online strangers. And they are perfectly SAFE!
Stranger danger messages ARE NOT EFFECTIVE!!! We know this. We have to help
ALL young people learn to recognize the signs of a dangerous stranger.
I presented on cyberbullying in both locations. Cyberbullying is causing
more kids far more harm than sexual predation. Some kids are being
emotionally devastated, canıt go to school, some are even committing
suicide. But the last thing you are ever going to hear me say is ³Social
networking is bad. Young people are being cyberbullied on social networking
sites and through instant messaging. Keep them off these technologies."
What is the other major reason teens are not telling adults??? Because
adults are running about screaming ³the sky is falling - social networking
is evil² and teens, most of whom are making pretty good choices online,
think we are all nuts. But the even bigger problem is that sometimes they
really do get into difficult situations and they really do need to share
that something bad is happening online. And the fear mongering is getting in
the way of this. They pretty much know that adults are being primed to
overreact and will. They know adults do not understand and fear this
environment - and they are pretty sure the adults will not know what to do
or will make matters worse. Or that adults will restrict their access, like
the FBI advises. Which for teens is akin to excommunication. So we are
leaving them to deal with difficult situations on their own.
And do not get me started on the state AGıs plan to fix all of these
problems by requiring sites to do age verification. AGH!!!
Be prepared. I am going to have to become more politically vocal on these
issues. The fear mongering is undermining the kinds of relationships we need
with kids to help them stay safe and learn to make safe and responsible
choices. The biggest thing we have to fear about the Internet right now is
the fear mongering itself. (roughly quoting someone ;-))
Oh, part of this is also financial. They all want money - federal $$ - to
support their fear mongering programs.
Nancy
--
Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
http://csriu.org
http://cyberbully.org
http://cyber-safe-kids.com
nwillard@csriu.org
Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social
Aggression, Threats, and Distress (Research Press)
Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Learn to Use the
Internet Safely and Responsibly (Jossey-Bass)
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