Cyberspace The Challenge For Parents

1
CyberspaceThe Challenge For Parents
A practical guide to the Internet

• Ed Kellett MSc. E Commerce

2
Cyberspace

• The Internet An Introduction
• (1) (Lower case "i"nternet) A large network made
  up of a number of smaller networks.(2) (Upper
  case "I"nternet) The largest network in the
  world. It is made up of more than 350 million
  computers in more than 100 countries covering
  commercial, academic and government endeavors.
  Originally developed for the U.S. military, the
  Internet became widely used for academic and
  commercial research. Users had access to
  unpublished data and journals on a variety of
  subjects. Today, the "Net" has become
  commercialized into a worldwide information
  highway, providing data and commentary on every
  subject and product on earth.

3

• The Internet is a fantastic resource of
  information.
• Researching areas of interest
• Electronic Commerce
• E Mail
• Internet Communities
• Booking Flights
• etc

4
Internet

• How is the Internet Regulated?
• Its not!
• Regulation of domain names .ie in Ireland is
  limited to company names or peoples names.
• There must be a legal document to support the
  registration of these domain names
• Whereas .com / .net are not bound by any
  legislation
• Furthermore there is little regulation of content
  and information can be posted anonymously from
  almost anywhere in the world

5

• This has a number of implications
• Freedom of speech
• Negative Information uploaded
• Pornography
• Hate Sites
• Cyber-predators
• Cyber-bullying
• Online Gambling

6

• Areas of particular concern
• Pornography
• As much of the research demonstrates, there is a
  modest to strong correlation between exposure to
  pornography and deviant activity by individuals.
  Child-centered studies show that children are
  affected at least as much as adults are.
• One researcher who argues that pornography harms
  children puts it this way, "A child's sexual
  development occurs gradually through childhood.
  Exposure to pornography shapes children's sexual
  perspective by providing them information on
  sexual activity. However, the type of information
  provided by pornography does not provide children
  with a normal sexual perspective.
• THE HARMFUL EFFECTS ON CHILDREN OF EXPOSURE TO
  PORNOGRAPHY by Peter Stock

7

• Chat Rooms
• A chat room or chatroom is an online site in
  which people can chat online (talk by
  broadcasting messages to people on the same site
  in real time). Sometimes these venues are
  moderated either by limiting who is allowed to
  speak (not common), or by having moderation
  volunteers patrol the venue watching for
  disruptive or otherwise undesirable behavior.
• Chat rooms are often confused (especially by the
  popular media) with discussion groups or online
  forums, which are significantly different, since
  they do not take place in real time and messages
  are posted for discussion / debate.
• Often Chat Rooms contain a number of different
  Rooms. Teenage Room, Sports Room, Adult Room.
  There is no regulation as such of chat rooms and
  no way of identifying chat room users. This is
  where the danger of Cyber-Predators arises.

8

• Online Communities and Cyber Bullying
• There are a number of communities which, although
  offer an often positive way for kids to
  communicate, can also lead to what is now known
  as Cyber-Bullying. The most well known are
• Bebo.com
• MySpace.com
• Hi5.com

9
(No Transcript)
10

• Cyberbullying
• How prevalent is it?
• Very. 90 of the middle school students we
  polled admitted to having had their feelings hurt
  online. 75 of the preteen and young teen
  students we polled reported being involved
  directly or indirectly in a cyberbullying
  incident. They were either the cyberbully, the
  victim or a close friend of one or the other.
  Sixty percent have heard of or seen a website
  bashing another student in their school, and 45
  have visited a bashing website. Forty percent
  have either had their password stolen and changed
  by a bully (locking them out of their own
  account) or had communications sent to others
  posing as them. Many studies that ask kids if
  they have been cyberbullied fall short of
  measuring the real problem for failing to define
  the scope of the issue.
• Source Bebo.com/safetytips

11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13

• These sites can create the forum from which users
  post information about each other on their own
  personalised pages or on friends pages.
• This does lead to a form of bullying.
• Students start forums for discussion
• Not dissimilar to graffiti
• (but more accessible to children and instant)
• The Internet will be a mobile based technology
  within a few short years.
• Upwards of 80 of Rockbrook Students have bebo
  accounts (my estimate)
• Bebo is blocked in the school premises for the
  above reasons

14

• Practical Tips for parents
• Computer Programs
• There are a number of programs available for
  purchase to help monitor content from the Net
• K9 Web Protection - a free family tool from a
  company that designs corporation level web
  filters and blocks.
• SafeEyes - This is what some schools are
  installing.
• CyberPatrol - Perhaps the most used program at
  home. This program also can control access to
  programs installed on the computer.
• ContentProtect - Includes a remote control
  feature.
• Integrated Tools - If you are a AOL, MSN or
  Earthlink subscriber, or you own Norton Internet
  Security or ZoneAlarm Internet Security, you
  already have some parental control tools, as they
  are integrated into the software.
• Net Nanny is also a popular toolNet Nanny is
  parental control software that provides Internet
  monitoring, web site filtering, time limits, chat
  recording, and privacy control

15

• Internet Explorer Content Restricter and Block
  Specific Web Sites
• Steps
• Ensure that you have Internet Explorer 6 (IE6)
  installed.
• Open IE and in the Help menu click About Internet
  Explorer.
• Check if the version number is 6.xxx..
• If necessary, download and install Internet
  Explorer 6.
• Open IE's Internet Options menu item under Tools.
  
• Choose the Content tab and click on the Enable
  button.
• Turn on 'Content Advisor'

16
(No Transcript)
17

• Select filter settings for the categories shown
  Language, Nudity, Sex, Violence. The further
  right you push the slider, the more content is
  allowed.
• Change the Rating Settings to block types of
  content

18

• Click on the Approved Sites tab. Here you can
  type in any specific websites that you might want
  to be treated specially. You can come back and
  change this list later, perhaps after feedback
  from your family.
• 'Approved Sites' list
• 6. Navigate to the General tab, and click on
  Create Password. This will set you up as
  Administrator, and prevent other users from
  altering the Content Advisor settings.

19

• Putting in a Supervisor Password
• 7. Click OK until you've exited the wizard. Now
  you have enabled Content Advisor and can rest
  assured that your family can only view rated
  webpages.

20

• If your children (or any other Internet browser
  in your home) feel that their Internet options
  are being limited, spend some time reminding them
  what happens to computers that are completely
  unprotected, and present the Internet filter as
  just another part of a good security setup.
• Restricting a child's web usage when they are
  used to unrestricted access may result in
  negative behavior. Try to to install an Internet
  filter at an early stage to get them used to it.

21

• 8 Things you can do today to protect your
  children on the internet
• 1. Place the computer in a common area of the
  house. Do not let your children have free access
  to the computer and the internet at all hours and
  without any supervision.
• 2. Take personal responsibility for ensuring your
  child's safety. Define for your family what is
  acceptable internet use and what is not.
• 3. Educate yourself in the key issues surrounding
  internet use.
• Look for local resources like computer or
  internet classes at a community college, night
  classes at a local high school, etc.
• Learn how to use the tools your children use on
  the internet like chatrooms, instant messaging
  (IM), internet service providers (ISPs), e-mail
  and message boards.
• Identify websites that you would like your
  children to explore.
• Identify websites that you would like your
  children to avoid.
• Learn the internet habits of your children and
  their friends.
• Learn the danger areas for children using the
  internet.
• Use existing online resources to further your
  internet education. See the links page on this
  site for some starters!

22

• Talk with your children specifically about using
  the internet. Clearly communicate your goals and
  values, your expectations and what you consider
  to be acceptable uses of the internet. Spend time
  using the internet with them. Talk about the fun
  things as well as the dangers.
• Set parameters and agree to ground rules.
• Enforce the rules.
• Revisit the ground rules periodically to make
  sure they match up with your children's ages and
  maturity.
• Post the ground rules in a place visible to both
  you and your children.
• Learn about technology tools like filtering
  software or other safe-guarding programs or
  options.
• Maintain control by keeping all internet accounts
  in your name and control all passwords.

23

• The End
• Questions?