Lindsay Lyon of U.S. News has an excellent followup to the study we reported on Tuesday with a thoughtful list of 10 tips for parents.
Archive for the ‘Studies’ Category
MySpace Dangers: 10 Tips for Concerned Parents
Friday, January 9th, 2009Shocker: Kids talk about sex, drugs, and violence
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009In a 2007 study that probably surprised no one, 54% of 18 to 20 year-olds mentioned or had pictures of “risky” behavior on their MySpace page.
When the young adults were warned about the potential risks of having such material posted, 42% removed the risky references from their page. It turns out they were more likely to remove sexual references, perhaps to avoid further embarrassment.
For those that are interested, the studies will appear in the January edition of the American Medical Association’s journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Bebo Overtakes MySpace in the UK
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007According to ComScore, the social networking site Bebo has overtaken MySpace as the most popular social networking website in the UK.
Could this be a sign of things to come in the USA as well?
Kids are Oblivious to Privacy Issues
Saturday, February 24th, 2007A recent InSafe survey shows that a whopping 57% of all teens post private, sensitive information on their MySpace and Bebo profiles. Of those teens, 33% of them didn’t even know if their profiles were public or private.
Kids under 10 years old were the most oblivious to privacy issues. Privacy awareness increased for kids 10 to 13 years old, and steadily decreased for teens 14-18.
Parents: The best thing you can do is to have a talk with your kids, and it’s never too early to have that conversation … unless your child is really, really young. Once they start using the computer, it’s best to set some ground rules and use monitoring software to keep an eye on them.
A quick Google search brings up some helpful tips from Microsoft: A Parent’s Guide to Online Safety. All ages from 2 to 17 are covered.