[LM_NET] FW: a story about our event

[Nancy Willard <nwillard@CSRIU.ORG>]

Hi all,

Last week I presented in DC at a what was supposed to be a briefing for
congressional staff. Several staff members were present. The room was packed
with DC policy ³wonks.² But we did get some media coverage, which is below.
At least the policy wonks heard what they needed to hear. I have
collaborated with Larry Magid for years and think he is wonderful. I just
had the opportunity to meet Sharon Cindrich and was really impressed. She is
especially good in communicating to parents of elementary age students.

So just a suggestion (about which I have total conflict of interest).  I
think school libraries ought to have all of our books available for parents
to check out. We all are on the Web 2.0 Internet safety path. And parents
need practical guidance ­ not more fear mongering.

All best.

Nancy
 

WASHINGTON INTERNET DAILY

October 04, 2007 Thursday


Media, Attorneys General Exaggerate Online Dangers, Authors Say

SECTION: Vol. 8 No. 192

LENGTH: 459 words

The media and many state attorneys general are scaring parents with
exaggerated data and hype about online predators and porn, authors of books
on Internet safety told a Wednesday news conference in Washington organized
by Progress & Freedom Foundation. Bills addressing online safety for kids
should take a reasoned, "education first, legislate later" approach, they
said.

Online child safety is of "national importance" and needs "a national
response," said Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Ill. Bean's SaferNet Act (HR-3461),
reintroduced this Congress, would widen the FTC anti-identity theft campaign
On Guard Online to include Internet safety for children. It also would
create a clearinghouse to coordinate federal and private efforts. Bean said
she's "building new sponsorship" for the bill and has secured hearings on it
with Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., and the Internet Subcommittee. Rep. Cliff
Stearns, R-Fla., is also "interested in seeing those hearings happen," she
said.

The bill could help parents separate fact from fiction, said Larry Magid,
author of MySpace Unraveled. Parents "tend to be a bit paralyzed," in no
small part thanks to TV shows that "imply that there's a predator behind
every keyboard," he said. Media and parents must "look realistically" at
data. It's "not true" that 1 child in 5 has been approached by a predator,
as a "major news Web site" recently reported. What 1 in 5 received was "an
unwanted solicitation," perhaps from another teen, he said. Calls by the
Connecticut attorney general and others for age verification technologies on
social networking and other sites are pointless, he said.

Sharon Cindrich, author of Keeping Up with Your Tech- Savvy Kids agreed that
"parents are wracked with fear" to the point of keeping kids from going
online as long as they can. Parents are "missing an amazing opportunity
early on at 4 years old to... teach very basic Internet skills," she said.
Now, "kids are worried, afraid parents are going to freak out" if they ask
for advice after an unwanted sexual solicitation or other incident, she
said.

Nancy Willard, author of Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens, said policy
must "shift" from filtering to education, she said. Web monitoring works
better than filtering, but develop of effective monitoring tool has been
delayed because "Congress acted too fast in getting to a solution," she
said. The U.S. must "totally redo how we're doing the Internet in schools,"
but making Internet safety a requirement of e-rate funding, as Alaska
Republican Sen. Ted Stevens' bill would, is a mistake, she said. At-risk
kids need attention from school counselors, teachers and other
professionals, she said. "None of the current pending legislation is going
to do that," she said. --- Alexis Fabbri


-- 
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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