Kids Online: A Survey

Everybody knows that the Internet is jam-packed with adult predators trying to meet innocent children and take advantage of them. Like, just watch "To Catch a Predator," in which week after week they lure a bunch of the dumbest no-good losers on the planet to a meeting with an underage kid who turns out to be the cops and a TV crew instead. It's every parent's nightmare, and the horror stories are out there.

But what is the real situation? How often does this sort of thing actually happen? The National School Boards Association, with Grunwald Associates LLC, conducted a survey to find out a little bit about what's actually going on with kids and the Internet.

Overall, an astonishing 96 percent of students with online access report that they have ever used any social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communities, such as Facebook, MySpace and services designed specifically for younger children, such as Webkins and the chat sections of Nick.com. CREATING & CONNECTING//Research and Guidelines on Online Social — and Educational — Networking

Ninety-sex percent -- that's basically all of them. I know my kids can hardly imagine a world where you're not instant-messaging with a half-dozen people at once, while you're fixing up your MySpace and watching TV ... oh, and texting on the cell-phone.

It was not so many years ago, when mine were in grade school, that the general situation was that the kids knew a lot more about computers than their teachers did. I don't think it's like that any more, but there's no doubt, they've grown up in this environment, the net is like air to them. We can't even imagine what that's like, being a kid in the Age of the Internet.

The survey finds that about a fifth of the kids are what they call "nonconformists." These are the ones who break the safety rules occasionally, and are more likely to be using other advanced and new technology; they are also seen by their peers as leaders.

There is a lot of information here about how schools are dealing with all this. For instance, most schools (69 percent) have student web site programs, and nearly all school districts assign homework that requires the Internet to complete. They also mostly have some rules about instant messaging and social networking on the school computers, and most require parents to sign some sort of agreement before their kids can go online at school.

But that's not really the stuff we worry about. There is a dark side out there -- how does that affect our kids?

• One in five students (20 percent) say they have seen inappropriate pictures on social networking sites in the last three months; 11 percent of parents, referring to their own children over the last six months, concur.
  
  
• Nearly one in five students (18 percent) say they have seen inappropriate language on social networking sites; 16 percent of parents concur.
  
  
• Personally directed incidents, which are of serious concern to students, parents and educators, are relatively rare. About one in 14 students (7 percent) say someone has asked them for information about their personal identity on a social networking site; 6 percent of parents concur. About one in 14 students (7 percent) say they’ve experienced selfdefined cyberbullying; 5 percent of parents concur. About one in 25 students (4 percent) say they’ve had conversations on social networking sites that made them uncomfortable; 3 percent of parents concur. Fewer than one in 30 students (3 percent) say unwelcome strangers have tried repeatedly to communicate with them online; 3 percent of parents concur. Only about one in 50 students (2 percent) say a stranger they met online tried to meet them in person; 2 percent of parents concur. Only .08 percent of all students say they’ve actually met someone in person from an online encounter without their parents’ permission.

I don't know, 0.08 percent -- that's nearly one kid in a thousand has gone to meet somebody in person without telling their parents. Sounds like a lot to me. But then, we're imagining some creepy adult, I think most of the time it's actually another kid.

The survey report ends up with a series of thought-provoking recommendations. Here are the section headings:

• Consider using social networking for staff communications and professional development.
  
• Find ways to harness the educational value of social networking.
  
• Ensure equitable access.
  
• Pay attention to the nonconformists.
  
• Reexamine social networking policies.
  
• Encourage social networking companies to increase educational value.

The lesson here is first, it isn't as bad out there as you might think. Yeah the kids are online day and night, but mostly, remember, they're talking to each other. Second, these researchers suggest that adults can learn from the students as well as trying to direct them away from danger. This new technology catches on among the young first -- it is very interesting that they conclude that schools should use these techniques for their own communications and staff development.

Third, these "nonconformists" are an interesting breed. They are well-adjusted, smart, popular, technically savvy -- and their grades are mediocre to bad. They get more out of the social world of the Internet than they do from traditional academics. These are the young people who will be the leaders in ten or twenty years, we ought to make sure we don't lose them by restricting them and restraining them in ways that only make sense if you're a paranoid, ignorant, and old-fashioned grown-up. We need to keep them in the system, learning, going on to college and maybe beyond, these are the exact kids you want to succeed in life. They're the ones who take the risks; yeah, that scares us, they're doing things we can't comprehend, but we need to capitalize on that impetuous energy and turn it into something positive.

I suggest you click on that link and browse through that interesting document. It's about twelve pages of solid information, something all parents should be keeping an eye on.