“It’s all chat rooms and predators” – that single sentiment sums up an attitude that many parents have had for years – an attitude which has held back the progress of cyber-safety for far too long. Because it is simply not the case.

Predators sure do exist – but kids are far more likely to experience bullying, addiction, security and privacy issues, than ever be even contacted by a predator. And the vast majority of kids never visit chat rooms – they speak strictly to their friends, on MSN.

It is a very positive one. It has revolutionised the way kids communicate, recreate and learn. But that’s not to say it’s problem-free. Instead of demonising it, recognising its importance, the issues, and considering how they should be dealt with so technology can be used as positively as possible, is the best way to go, I think.

First of all, what do kids do? Generally, for younger kids, below around the age of 12, activities involve limited communication with friends through email, MSN and mobiles, web-surfing for leisure and learning, gaming, and maybe downloading music. For teens, these activities are expanded to more substantial communication with their friends, use of social networking sites, downloading and listening to music, and for some, gambling, interacting in online forums and downloading, installing and changing software and settings.

Girls are more focused on the communicative side of technology, while boys are more into doing things with the technology itself as well. And they’re not all done at separate times, but together – talking to 10 people, downloading music and checking your Facebook is the way it works.

And the social aspect of it is very important – how would you have liked to have been banned from hanging out at the milk bar when you were a kid? It would have been devastating.

Firstly, addiction – when technology becomes more than a tool; your life revolves around it – compromising wellbeing, social and academic performance. With a significant proportion of teenagers’ lives being overtaken by games such as the World of Warcraft, the phenomenon taking place behind closed doors in the middle of the night is much vaster than many think.

Secondly, privacy – few employers these days don’t conduct an investigation into applicants by searching for them on the Internet, and what they find may influence their decisions. And with almost all teens having a social networking profile, they will be able to find quite a bit. It can also be a big safety risk as well.

Thirdly, bullying – the latest research conducted by Professor Donna Cross at the Edith Cowan University in WA has found around 10% of Australian kids have experienced cyber bullying – usually through MSN, mobiles, social networking sites and email. The effects are compounded because there is no relief; it can be in front of an audience of other people, and every time it is viewed, it is like being bullied again.

Fourthly, security – with ad-ware leaving computers crawling at snail speed, people stealing wireless Internet, and kids getting into other kids’ accounts, finding out their password and secret question, there are many aspects.

Finally, downloading illegal things and viewing inappropriate content.

But they can mostly be overcome.

For addiction, having a substantial real world social life and a break between using technology and other activities is the key. Keeping the computer out of bedrooms, in a more public place is also very important. It is good to keep mobile phones off overnight as well.

For privacy – Googling your name, and thinking how things will be viewed before they are posted is important – to get an idea of what your Net footprint is. Keeping your profiles private, and not revealing a detailed location is also essential.

For bullying – you should not respond, but save the evidence, block and delete the offender, report abuse to the administrators of the website or service and tell the relevant people in the real world, whether that be friends, parents, teachers or police, if necessary. Seventy-eight percent of kids won’t tell their parents if they’re being bullied for fear of being disconnected, so it is important that you let your child know you’re not going to do this – rather, not worry, and work through these steps to resolve the situation so they can use technology in a positive way again.

For security – having an anti-spyware program, keeping everything up to date, putting a password on wireless connections, and having long and complex passwords for accounts which are kept secret is the key.

If you download music, turn off uploading because that is usually very illegal – and try to buy the things you really like.

And finally, having a filter may be effective for younger kids, but older ones will just get around it. Again, keeping the computer in an open area will be the best thing you can do to stop access to inappropriate content – but whether that is really harmful anyway I don’t know.

As I said at the outset, technology is fundamentally a very positive thing – so if you consider the issues and thinkb4uclick, the likelihood is that its dark side will remain undercover.

Tom Wood

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