Issue no. 379

EU - Eurobarometer: Are Europe's children too confident in tackling online risks? (RAPID)
Can parents trust their 13 year old daughter when she surfs the web? Do they know for sure that their 11 year old son's mobile phone conversation is safe? A Commission survey of children from all over Europe has looked into how they use new media. It shows that the use of internet and mobile phones has become almost self-evident for Europe's young generation. In general, they also know the risks of using the internet and mobile phones. However, when facing trouble online, minors will ask an adult only as a last resort. See Findings from the Eurobarometer on Children's use of online technologies.
Fighting antisocial behavior on social networking sites (IHT)
With social networking sites exploding in growth, most young users are well aware of the risks and the seamy side of the territory, from cyber-bullying, identity theft and encounters with adults posing as children to communities that promote anorexia and bulimia eating disorders as lifestyle choices. With backing from the European Union, which is spending €45 million on an Internet safety program through 2008, a collection of national groups are now focusing specifically on the issue of online sexual grooming.
The Internet's new Dr. Spock? (News.com)
by Stefanie Olsen. All parents question how technology is affecting their kids. Henry Jenkins, a media scholar at MIT, is working on the answer. As director of the comparative media studies program at MIT, Jenkins is working under a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to study how digital environments are influencing children and to develop educational curricula based on his group's findings. (Last year, the MacArthur Foundation said it would invest $50 million over the next five years to build a network of researchers and community activists to work on digital education and new media literacy.)


post by santan...30th...july......