Keeping up with kids in a wireless world
By Samantha McAleese, research associate at MediaSmarts and
David Fowler, vice-president, marketing and communications at CIRA.
By Samantha McAleese, research associate at MediaSmarts and
David Fowler, vice-president, marketing and communications at CIRA.
A Day in the Life of the Jos is a comprehensive digital citizenship tutorial that prepares students in grades six to eight to deal with all of the issues they face when using digital technology – from online privacy, to cyberbullying, to recognizing what’s real and what’s fake online.
It is natural for adolescents to be curious about sex: MediaSmarts’ research suggests that one in six grade 7- 11 students use the Internet to look for information about sexual health. Twenty percent of kids that age look for pornography online, but a third see it without looking for it — and close to half take steps to keep from seeing it.
Screens and other media are a big part of kids’ lives, and they can be a healthy part too. Here are some ways that you can make sure your kids get the best possible start when using media and digital devices.
Phones and other media are a big part of kids’ lives, and they can be a healthy part too. Here are some ways that you can make sure your kids get the best possible start when using media and digital devices.
Minimize screen use, especially for the youngest children:
Children under two should spend as little time with screen devices as possible, except for video-chats with people they know offline and reading e-books with an adult or sibling.
While tech has become integrated in the lives of parents and teens, there are positives and negatives that come with it.
One of the great achievements of the Internet has been to put all kinds of information at the fingertips of millions of people. From online encyclopaedias to search engines, some of the most successful online services have been ways of providing answers to people's questions. It's not surprising, then, that more and more young people are relying on the Internet to answer their questions about that most uncomfortable of topics: sex. Some people, in fact, have even suggested that the Internet makes those awkward, politically troublesome sex ed. classes irrelevant. In the age of Google, is sex ed. necessary?