Ad4dcss/Digital Citizenship

Engineers at the University of Michigan have developed software aimed at turning cell phones into educational tools for K-12 students.

Wauwatosa East High School resource officer who made the arrest says the student refused to stop texting during class Feb. 11 after a teacher told her to stop and the student told the resource officer she didn't have a phone. She continued denying she had a phone, forcing the resource officer to walk back and forth to the classroom twice and find other students who saw her using it, according to the report

Great tips for teens on staying safe online - with links to other sites with helpful information targeting teens.

A 15-year-old girl from central Pennsylvania faces child pornography charges after police say she sent nude pictures of herself over the Internet. The girl has been charged as a juvenile with possessing, distributing and creating child pornography.

A conversation with Chris DeWolfe And Tom Anderson, founders of Myspace.com

East Lothian Internet Safety and Responsible Use for Parents and Families - 2009 Workshops

Children are among the most frequent users of the Internet, yet searching and browsing the web can present many challenges. Studies over the past two decades on how children search were conducted with finite and pre-determined content found in CD-ROM applications, online digital libraries, and web directories. However, with the current popularity of the open Internet and keyword-based interfaces for searching it, more critical analysis of the challenges children face today is needed. This paper presents the findings of an initial study to understand how children ages 7, 9, and 11 search the Internet using keyword interfaces in the home.

Excellent video tutorial by Larry Magid of ConnectSafely.org. It walks users through the process of setting up privacy settings on a Facebook account.

Good advice for blocking bullying online and a public service announcement to spread the message. While the video is in English, the text on the web site is available in over 20 languages. Developed as part of Europe's Information Society portal, the web site celebrates "Safer Internet Day" (Feb 10th) by promoting safer use of the Internet and new online technologies, particularly for children.

A teen posing as a girl on Facebook convinced 30 male classmates to send him nude photos of themselves and then blackmailed them. The student is being held on a $25,000 bond and is now facing a 300 year prison sentence.

A St. Petersburg teacher is accused of sending pornographic pictures of herself to a 14-year-old boy. Police say 32-year-old Christy Lynn Martin admitted she used a cell phone to exchange naked pictures with the boy last weekend.

Sexting is a growing trend amongst teens in the United States, landing individuals in court, on the sex offender registry and for some, in the grave. But it is really a problem with skewed moral views in the United States?

There's been a definite uptick in the number of school districts that have adopted Internet-safety curricula, says Godlis, and because of a recent update to the federal Children's Internet Protection Act, which requires schools receiving money through the federal E-rate program to provide Internet-safety education to students, that number will surely rise.

The latest sad episode of humanity's ugliness allegedly being played out on Facebook's pages has resulted in Facebook itself being sued for $3 million.

A team of online Cyber-Mentors set up to help teenage victims of bullying was deluged with calls for help at its launch yesterday. Hundreds of children and friends of victims logged on to chat to one of 700 specially trained teenagers about their problems.

What preventative steps can we take to reduce the risk of being sued?

This wikipedia tutorial was produced by a group of librarians and present it from an academic standpoint. Good stuff!

Startling statistics from Common Sense Media about kids and nude photo exchanges. 22% of girls admit to having engaged in this practice and 20% of boys! Includes advice for parents.

If adults want to learn how to connect with kids and help them be safer online, we need to understand what really matters to them-and keep the lines of real-world communication open.