Parenting 2.

0: Help Parents
With Digital Issues And Fears
Rita Oates, PhD
President, Oates Associates
Formerly ed tech director,
Miami-Dade County Schools
@ritaoates
ritaoates@gmail.com
www.ritaoates.com

eRev15

Session description
Did your mama talk to you about sexting,
cyberbullying, and watching what you post on
Facebook? Parents today have new parenting
challenges and issues, created by technology at
school and home. See how you can help parents
understand real issues, fears and challenges for
families in a 2.0 world.
Resources for schools and families will be
shared. The core presentation is based on
sessions at school PTA meetings, Wired Safety
and Wired Moms.

Help parents understand:

BYOD and 1:1
their parental involvement in student
success in learning
what digital citizenship means for them
If we as educators help parents understand
and use digital media better at home, they
are more likely to support robust use of
digital tools in schooland for funding
technology for school.

Parent Education
Provide resources
Work with PTA or other parent
groups, give 5-min. tip at start of
each PTA meeting
Encourage parental involvement at
home, ask parents to talk to kids
and share values
Share ideas and successes

What are your biggest fears

for your child in this wired world?

What are your biggest fears

for your child in this wired world?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Predators meet my child online and do something

awful
My credit card number is stolen after my child buys
something (without my permission)
My child shares family information with strangers
My child sees graphic porn
My child sees gruesome photos
My child takes and shares an indecent photo
Info on my child will create a problem when hes older
Other things?

Parent Fears in Australia

Parents main concerns about their
children using the internet:
coming into contact with sexually
explicit material (89%)
being targeted by online predators (86%)
being infected by viruses and spyware (86%)

Children are naive to internet dangers

Parents dont possess technological know
how to implement effective safety
measures
- June 2010

Aussie Kids Do More than

Parents Realize Online
32% have seen images of naked people
29% have:
seen violent images
played games rated MA15+
been contacted by someone they dont know

17% have been asked for personal details

14% have been teased or bullied online
7% have had someone post pictures or
videos without their permission

U.S. Parents of Online Teens:

81% are concerned about how much
information advertisers can learn about
their childs online behavior
46% are very concerned

72% are concerned about how their child

interacts online with people they do not
know
53% of parents are very concerned
Parents, Teens, and Online Privacy: Pew

U.S. Parents of Online Teens:

69% are concerned about how their childs
online activity might affect their future
academic or employment opportunities
44% are very concerned

69% are concerned about how their child

manages his or her reputation online
49% are very concerned

Parents of Teens Who Use

Social Networking Sites Are:
59% have talked with their child because
they were concerned about something
posted to their profile or account.
46% of parents of all online teens

39% have helped their child set up privacy

settings for a social networking site.
31% of parents of all online teens

2015 Data on Student Use

24% of teens (ages 13-17) go online
almost constantly, facilitated by the
widespread availability of smartphones.
92% of teens go online daily
56% of teens go online several times daily
12% report once-a-day use
6% of teens report going online weekly
2% go online less often.

Teen Use of Smartphones

70% of teens have or have access to a
smartphone
30% have a basic phone
12% of teens say they have no cell phone of
any type.

85% of African-American teens have a

smartphone
71% of both white and Hispanic teens.

Teens Go Online
91% of teens go online from mobile
devices at least occasionally.
94% go online daily or more often.
Teens who dont access the internet via
mobile devices tend to go online less
frequently. Some 68% go online at least daily.

1/3 of Students Online

Constantly
African-American and Hispanic youth
report more frequent internet use than
white teens, 32-34% almost constantly
34% of African-American teens report
going online almost constantly
32% of Hispanic teens
19% of white teens

Organizations Can Help

PTA
NEA
Wired Safety
Wired Moms: Taking back the Net!
Teen Angels and Tween Angels
Netsmartz
Groups Study Internet Safety, Suggest Policy
Parental settings on AOL, Internet Explorer,
Cable (help parents learn to do this!)
Others from list compiled by CTAP4

4-minute Videos in Spanish

for parents on tech issues

Cellular phone
Social networks
Using tech
Using internet

http://santillanacompartir.com.co/blog
padres/category/videos/#.VZUm_vlViko

Annotated Resources
June 2010 report includes annotated sites
about internet safety
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/reports/2010/O
STWG_Final_Report_060410.pdf
Pages 34-49
This presentation adds to and
updates this list

NEA study of bullying in school

Bullying takes many forms
School staff reported:
Verbal 59%
Social/relational 50%
Physical 39%
Cyberbullying 17%
http://www.nea.org/home/neabullyfree.html

www.netsmartz.org

Parents: Check these out

http://

How to start discussion with

your child

http://www.wiredsafety.org

Main Charge for Task Force

Assess online
dangers to children
Find scalable
technological
solutions to keep
children safe
Focus on age
verification for
minors
No involvement of
parents or educators

Task Force Major Risk Findings

Public perception of
predators and
victims is not
accurate
Only about 3% of
teens are at risk from
predators
Significant threat from
peer harassment and
cyberbullying
Need for further study

To Catch a Predator says

Predators
Dont hide age
Dont hide purpose
Dont even have to
push buttons

The Victim
Risk taker
Teen in adult chat room
(Not a social network)
Willing to talk about
sex
More than willingly to
meet for sex
Just as likely to be at
risk off-line

What the Task Force Found

Most Predators
Dont hide age
Dont hide purpose
Do know how to push
the right buttons

Most Victims
Risk takers
Troubled teens
Broken homes or little
parental involvement
Go willingly to
meetings
Just as likely to be at
risk off-line

Tech tools can be helpful

Role-based access control (RBAC)
Teacher
Parent
Student
Under 13
Older than 13

Other trusted adult

Learn what technology CAN do

Filter for problem words, bullying
Set school tools for your policies

Cyberbullying
Chat, IM and email are
most commonly used to
bully
ALL of these are included
in social networks
Initial reactions are
frustration, anger, sadness
Progressive reactions are
30-85% victimized
5% reported to
anxiety, fear, physical
parents
illness, absenteeism,
About 50% tell friends
violence, or suicide
Schools using moderated
communication tools help
decrease bullying

http://www.stopcyberbullying.org

Who is that online person?

Video tells important story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=TZlUGbgR8jE

School Policies Relating to

Cyberbullying
Recommendation to schools:
The school's acceptable use policy can
reserve the right to discipline the student for
actions taken off-campus if they are
intended to have an effect on a student or
they adversely affect the safety and wellbeing of student while in school.
This makes it a contractual, not a
constitutional, issue.
First Amendment Rights of free speech are
not then at risk.

Best way to curb cyberbullying

Encourage bystanders to have the
courage to intervene, not to take part
"We must focus on peer leadership, or
bystander, strategies," says Nancy Willard.
"Peers can support the bullydirectly or by
their silenceor challenge the bully by
refusing to take part."

Adult influence important!

Emphasize the behavior of the
students, regardless of the technology
they're using.
Children are not developmentally ready to
consistently make good decisions about
how they use technology
Adults can and must provide insight in
human relations, behavior, and effective
problem-solving

Watch videos and discuss with your

children at home

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVOqeqP4DLA

SuperSafeKiddo (SSK)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRlXfs0SYk8

Wired Moms Wired Safety.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXFQVo3UnaQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=393Mab4z95E

http://www.teenangels.org

Stop. Think. Connect.

http://stopthinkconnect.org/

Common Sense Media

https://www.commonsensemedia.org

Facebook and Other General

Market Social Networks
Check the privacy settings
When children are grade 5 or older, do it
together
Google yourself and your child and see
what is said
Apply basic etiquette to the new medium
Once posted, its always available
Wayback siteshows internet pages on
previous daysNOTHING is ever really
deleted from the Internet

Social Learning Networks

Companies in the education market have
designed social networks that are:
Private
Safe
Observe CIPA and FERPA
Encourage the best part of social networking
Protect students and teachers from the
problems of general market tools NOT
designed for education

Sextingcell phones and cameras

Images can be quickly copied and sent to
many people
Cant really ever erase an image
Text messages can be retrievedas Gov.
of SC and Tiger found out
Felony sex offender at age 18
Dont say it, dont send it unless
you would be willing to have it on
the 6 PM news

Video for Students and Parents

A Geeky Momma's Blog by Lee Kolbert
http://www.leekolbert.com/2011/01/lessonto-share-and-then-create.html
from a blog by a Palm Beach Co. teacher
in Boca Raton, Florida
Common Craft video to use with students
and parents

Common Craft: Protecting

Reputations Online

TRUSTe certification:
Child Privacy
Adobe
Apple
Microsoft
Cisco
Electronic Arts

Education-focused sites
with TRUSTe certification
Cahootie
Brightstorm
Course Hero
Disney Internet
Education Planet
ePals
GoTrybe

Kidzrocket
Leafcutter
Leapfrog
Schoolwires
Thinkquest
Togetherville
Vantage Learning

What Would You Like to

Suggest to Parents?

Parenting Guidelines
Know what your children are doing
Work with them to discuss limits,
responsibilities
Talk about problems from the news, from
work, from others (without revealing a
neighbors name)

Setting Limits for Children

What happens if they cross the line?
Lose cell phone for a month? A semester?
Get additional chores?

Can you enforce the punishment? Be consistent.

Some kids will push the limits; others observe and
dont.
Ask kids to suggest the guidelines and punishments;
they may actually be tougher on themselves than you
would be!
Talk with others and decide what the community
does and what you will do.
Discuss with your children. Their actions have
consequences!
You are the parent. You pay the bills. You can see
what they are doing!

Increase Communication with

Distant Relatives and Friends
Email, share photos, even Facebook
friends with Grandma, Aunt Tilly
Relationships and sharing between teens and
distant grandparents is becoming a trend

Encourage appropriate communication

with known individuals, not Im going to
have a thousand friends!

Frightening Things for Parents

Not admitted to collegebecause
daughter emailed application from
hotsexxxychick@aol.com
Applied for job, but Facebook page shows
using illegal substance, bragging about
stealing something from another
employer, etc. .and employers ARE
checking up on people every way they can
today
Embarrassing or untrue photos/videos

Parenting 2.0 in a Wired World

Enough is enoughkeep time on digital
activities in balance with sports, scouts,
other activities
Caution kids that written communications
dont have the cues from face-to-face
communication.
Think about it, read it out loud before sending.
Save it and wait a while if you arent sure
about it.

Invite your children to keep you informed

they will surprise you!

Parenting 2.0 in a Wired World

Be an informed parent
Spend time at WiredSafety site
Look at the Flash videos
Share video stories with your children
and talk about them
Children want to know what you think and
watch how you act!
Model behaviors you wish them to use

Benefits of Online World are

Terrific!
More teens and tweens are creating
content and connecting online for
educational benefits, offering schools new
opportunities to use technology
National School Boards Association Study

Students report that one of the most

common topics of conversation on the
social networking scene is education

Students Report
They are spending almost as much time using
social networking services and Web sites as
they spend watching television.
Among teens who use social networking sites,
that amounts to:
A decrease in amount of TV watching (which is
passive) and an increase in communication online
(which is active)
About 9 hours a week online
10 hours a week watching television

Do you have a parent page on your

website? http://dadeschools.net

Permission granted to use

these slides with others
This sessions slides are uploaded to
www.scribd.com under Rita Oates as
author and tagged with eRev15.
Contact information:
Rita Oates, PhD
ritaoates@gmail.com
Twitter: @ritaoates
www.ritaoates.com