Generation Y & Technology: What’s Going On? Presented by: Dr. Holly Nikels Michele Aurand To: Geneseo Schools February 27, 2008

2 Tonight’s Agenda/Objectives: Identify some characteristics of today’s youth culture, especially Technology use Discuss Cyber-Bullying vs Bullying Behaviors “Tour” of Social Networking Sites Information about Keeping Kids Safe online Resources: On-Line and Community

3 Who is Generation Y? First and foremost, it was important to recognize that today’s youth are a culture in and of themselves. Known as “Generation Y”, today’s youth number approximately 60 million. Originally coined by teen expert Eric Chester, Generation Y is typified by youth who continually question the standards and expectations imposed by society Why does it matter? Why should I care?

4 Generation Y The National School Safety Center (2002) defined the culture of today’s youth as: They are roughly between the ages of 4 and 22. They have been using computers since before they were in kindergarten. They will be the bulk of the population within the next 20 years.

5 Generation Y & Technology Research show that 53% of Generation Y goes online everyday 73% report being on-line five or more days a week. Teens use the InterNet to send (82%); exchange IM’s (72%); do homework (71%) and play on-line games (65%)

6 GENERATION Y & TECHNOLOGY Today’s youth are more technologically savvy than any other generation… As such, they are susceptible to issues related to cyber-bullying, social networking sites and on- line safety… 6

7 For example.. 89% of sexual solicitations are made in either chat rooms or Instant Messages 20% of children age have received unwanted sexual solicitations online; that's one out of every five kids 75% of youth who received an online sexual solicitation did not tell a parent 4,000,000 children are posting content to the Web everyday 15,000,000 youth use Instant Messaging

8 More examples… 95% of parents didn't recognize the lingo kids use to let people know that their parents are watching 81% of parents of online youth say that kids aren't careful enough when giving out information about themselves online 76% of parents don't have rules about what their kids can do on the computer 65% of parents believe that kids do things online that they wouldn't want their parents to know about

How Technologically Savvy are you?? Working in groups of 3-5 people, look at the following InterNet acronyms and Text messaging terms and decide what you think they mean:

10 InterNet Acronyms & Text Terms : : : CD9 : CD9 5. MorF : MorF 6. MOS : 7. P911 : P PAL : PAL 9. PAW : PAW 10. PIR : PIR 11. POS : POS 12. F2F : F2F 13. LOL : LOL 14. GNOC : GNOC 15. KPC : KPC 16. LMIRL : LMIRL

I love you I hate you refers to marijuana CD9 - Code 9 = parents are around CD9 5. MorF - Male or Female MorF 6. MOS - Mom Over Shoulder MOS 7. P911 - Parent Alert P PAL - Parents Are Listening PAL 9. PAW - Parents Are Watching PAW 10. PIR - Parent In Room PIR 11. POS - Parent Over Shoulder POS 12. F2F - Face To Face F2F 13. LOL - Laugh Out Loud LOL 14. GNOC - Get Naked On Cam (webcam) GNOC 15. KPC - Keeping Parents Clueless KPC 16. LMIRL - Let's Meet In Real Life LMIRL

Bullying and Cyber-Bullying

13 Bullying Defined Bullying takes place on school premises or while traveling to or from school Victim is harmed by the physical, verbal or social/emotional tactics employed by the bully. Power imbalance or unfair match between bully and victim Harmful actions are repeated over time  Hazler, 1996

14 What is Cyber-Bullying? Cyber-Bullying (CB) is using computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices to harass or intimidate someone. Examples of Cyber-Bullying are: Posting negative comments or spreading rumors about someone on-line. Posting embarrassing photos on Web Sites, or sending them by or cell phone. Sending threatening or abusive messages

15 How is Cyber-Bullying Different from Bullying? While bullying usually happens at school, cyber- bullying usually takes place in a person’s home. The effects are often carried over onto the school grounds The victim typically feels that no place is safe from harassment.

16 Key Players in Bullying and Cyber-Bullying Bullying Victim/s Bully/ies Bystanders Cyber-Bullying Victim/s Active CB- Bully/ies Initiates CB actions Passive CB-Bully/ies Does not initiate but plays along by forwarding, reading, etc Bystanders

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Social Networking

20 What are we talking about? Cell phones/ text messages Instant messages/ s Social networking sites

21 What is MySpace? MySpace is a social networking website offering an interactive network of blogs, user profiles, groups, photos, and an internal e- mail system. According to Alexa Internet, as of February, 2008 it is the third most popular website in the United States and the sixth most popular English-speaking in the world.

22 What is Facebook? Facebook, is a social networking service for middle school, high school, college and students. The site is free to users and is financed by advertising. It is the ninth most-visited website today! It is NOT a private site viewed only by students and their peers

23 What’s on Facebook? Users of Facebook can post a photo and a profile of themselves for free. The profiles include as little or as much information as the user desires, including basic biographies, lists of hobbies and interests, even home address and cell phone number. Users control who can see their profiles - from only friends to all other users. Other users can then search the profiles for classmates, childhood acquaintances, people who share common interests. When users identify someone on the site they'd like to meet, they can ask to be designated as a "friend," a characteristic of other social networking Web sites.

24 YouTube YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. YouTube was created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees. The San Bruno-based service uses Adobe Flash technology to display a wide variety of video content, including movie clips, TV clips and music videos, as well as amateur content such as videoblogging and short original videos. In October 2006, Google Inc, announced that it had reached a deal to acquire the company for $1.65 billion in Google stock Wikapedia, 2008

25 YouTube Unregistered users can watch most videos on the site, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Some videos are available only to users of age 18 or older (e.g. videos containing potentially offensive content). The uploading of pornography is prohibited. Few statistics are publicly available regarding the number of videos on YouTube. However, in July 2006, the company revealed that more than 100 million videos were being watched every day, and 2.5 billion videos were watched in June ,000 videos were being added per day in May 2006, and this increased to 65,000 by July.

Resources and Information for On-Line Safety

27 Where do we start? Technology is constantly changing and expanding.. As such, educational systems and families must respond to the challenges it presents. Developing empathy, critical thinking skills and the ability to take another’s perspective are foundational in reducing and preventing cyberbullying.

28 What to talk about when… K-1 st Demonstrate awareness of safe ways to explore the internet. Describe another person’s feelings. 2 nd -3 rd Demonstrate proper internet etiquette. Name ways to protect themselves from cyberbullying. Identify strengths in others. 28

29 What to talk about when… 4 th -5 th Distinguish between right and wrong online behavior. Identify strategies to avoid and stop bullying behavior. 29

30 What to talk about when… 6-8 th Make choices that consider others’ feelings. Demonstrate awareness of another’s perspective. Define personal information and identify ways to keep identity private. Identify actions that will help trace cyberbullies. Identify ways to address cyberbullying as a bystander. List helpful, appropriate ways to respond if they are a victim of cyberbullying. 30

31 What to talk about when… 9th- 12 th Identify how the internet can be used to promote tolerance and respect. List rules for safe use of the internet. Establish a list of internet etiquette rules. Identify ways to be safe online. Establish personal internet standards To practice useful responses to uncomfortable online scenarios. 31

32 Prevention and Intervention Strategies for Parents/ Caregivers Set up rules: Post clear, simple, easy to read rules on or near the monitor. Create your own computer rules or print out rules from on-line resources Use filters: Consider using filtering or monitoring software for your computer. Look into safeguarding programs or options your on-line service provider might offer. Have your child use child friendly search engines when completing homework. Check out privacy policies: Always read a website’s privacy policy before you or your children provide any personal information. Also make sure the website offers a secure connection before giving credit-card information.

33 Prevention and Intervention Strategies for Parents/ Caregivers Talk about the dangers of and chat: If your children use chat or , talk to them about never meeting an on-line “friend” face to face. Talk to your child about not responding to offensive or dangerous , chat or other communication. Report such instances to local law enforcement. Know what’s going on: Keep the computer in the family room or another open area of your home. Let your child show you what they can do on-line, and visit their favorite sites or chat rooms with them. Avoid over-reacting with harsh sanctions E.g. banning use of computer

34 On-Line Resources Net-Lingo NetSmartz Net Family News SafeKids McGruff the Crime Dog- National Crime Prevention CouncilCrime Dog-

35 Remember… “The promise of technology is absolutely brilliant! But we have to understand that the world our kids are growing up in is different than it was in the past. We can’t condemn it, but we need to give our kids enough information to cope with the world they are living in… We need to show kids all the positive potential for teaching and learning that all this connectivity brings.”  Belsey, 2007