Most of us use the Web on a regular basis. A recent survey produced some interesting findings about the communication that parents and their children have with regard to use of the Web. Go to the link below and read the article. Write a reflective comment that expresses your thoughts and addresses some of my questions. The website requires registration to read the second page. If you do not want to register, I have put a copy of the text from the second page in the Read folder for our class. The file is named “Talk About the Web continued.”
What kinds of websites do you talk to your parents about? What kinds of websites do they talk to you about? Have your parents ever spoken to you about Internet behavior? Do your parents need advice from you about what Internet behaviors are safe? What aspects of the survey’s findings are accurate for your family? What gaps do you think need to be filled and how should we fill them? Why do you think that fathers’ opinions were different than mothers’?
Talk About the Web Article
11 comments:
I talk to my parents what good sites there are and what good search engines there are, since my mom is not really good at computer or any other mechanics. My mom doesn’t usually talk about websites with me since my interest and her interests are totally different. She usually goes to cooking sites or health sites while I go to study sites or Google to find information. My mom doesn’t talk to me about Internet behaviors because I follow them, and I don’t want to break them any way. My reason for this is because there are always news floating around that says that if you trick the website or hack into it, you’ll get fined or you’ll go to jail. And I am definitely afraid of that. All our family is like that, so you can say we are well educated(?) family. The part where it says that the survey proved that 93% of parents said the internet was a source for information for students is true about our family. All of us use the internet at least once a day; that’s how much we depend on the internet. I don’t think just saying that you should not go to a certain website is good enough. The search engine companies and the website makers should put strict restrictions to what sites should be shown and what shouldn’t on the screen. Every single explicit contents should have the process of only allowing a certain group of people entering it. Even if it takes time for the companies, it would be beneficial to the users. I think the fathers understand the sons more since both are male and fathers once had days when they also loved playing with their friends or go to arcade rooms.
I don't usually talk to my parents about any websites, but if we do talk about any, it's usually my teachers' websites or academic sites. My parents basically told me what there was to find on the internet, pornography, games, fraud sites that look real, and they explained to me whether or not these sites should be visited and that I should be careful what I do online. My parents don't really need advice on what's safe except when it comes to internet games, they think that they cause viruses and can damage your computer. the only one of the surveys findings that my family is like is the one that says, "The results suggest that most parents balance the web's dangers and benefits, they talk to their kids about the issues they meet, and work to make the web a helpful tool." I don't think that there are any gaps in security on the internet; search engines are safe because you can filter any explicit words, even if they show up in a dictionary, sites usually limit the ads and most of them are appropriate. The fathers' opinion was probably different from the mothers' opinion because dads are, I think, usually more understanding of what their children do, because they play games a lot too, I don't think that their are actually that many women in the world who play computer games much, and even then not as much as boys do.
The kinds of websites that worry my parents are websites such as MySpace and Facebook because they're scared of me n my sister getting in touch with people we don't know. They constantly remind us to not reveal personal information such as emails, phone numbers, or addresses on these websites because they're scared of strangers that could possibly stalk us. I don't recall talking to my parents about internet behavior. My parents don't need my advice on anything technology related because my dad knows more about computers and the internet than I can ever know. My parents, like the ones in the survey, are concerned about social network websites such as Facebook. I think the gaps that should be filled includes having younger children protected from things that could be easily exposed to them on the internet. There should be more parental control and parents should know more about how to protect their children from things on the internet. I was shocked to know that fathers are less concerned about social networks than mothers. I really can't think of a reason why. Maybe it's because mothers are more concerned about their children.
"Talk about the Web"
I don't talk to my parents very often about web sites. My mom using foldersharing options and email on the internet, nothing more though, so we cant really talk about anything that is of any interest to me. My parents really don't mind what i do on the internet as long as it is appropriate for my age! All the rest of the basic internet security skills I allready know so my mom and dad dont have to tell me to take care. I think that the survey's findings where pretty acurate to my family, but I dont agree with the safety regulations. I also think that a fathers opinion would be different than a mothers because everybody has a different view on whats right and what is not! That's just life!Guys also play alot more games than girls so I guess their opinion would be different too.
By: Nadim K. 9th grade
I don’t usually talk to my parents about internet safety but I’ll often send my mom links to websites I think she might be interested in like shocking news events or cooking websites. My mom doesn’t really talk to me about websites because I was using the internet long before she even started learning how to turn on a computer so we have a completely reversed situation where I warn her about certain websites that shouldn’t be trusted, how to differentiate between a malicious ad and a regular ad, and what is “safe” internet behavior where you don’t give out all your information and how you can often contact site administrators if you are being harassed. I don’t believe any of the survey’s findings were accurate for my family since I’m the only one in my family who’s been using the internet for a long time. I think the gaps that need to be filled are how to educate kids on reliable internet information, which has already been done, and how to avoid potentially traumatizing sites. By traumatizing I mean things like “the Exorcist maze,” which is a game/prank where you play various levels until you reach a point where you become so focused and concentrated on your screen that you are literally inches away from it, and all of a sudden an extremely deranged image of the girl from the exorcist pops up while you hear a loud shriek in the background. Traumatizing images can also come in the form of gore pictures and videos that are often posted on the internet from war, such as the Palestinian-Israeli war or the Iraq war. In order to prevent children from seeing such images, or “fill the gap,” we should use blocking systems that are updated on a daily basis with images, links, videos, etc. that have been deemed frightening, disturbing, or traumatizing. I believe fathers’ opinions were different from mothers’ because mothers are typically more over protective of their children than fathers are and fathers do not necessarily see things like playing with neopets or chatting with friends on myspace as life-threatening.
I don’t often talk to my parents about internet web sites, but every now and then I get a little talk from my parents about sites that are reasonable for my age. For example, Myspace is a lie fest website with several people who fake there age and image. Myspace is also a public website allowing children of young ages to access it by faking their age and to be exposed to people who don’t take consideration to family’s believes. This survey seems right, because I see many parents taking precautions of there children’s use of internet websites, but this survey does not fit into my family because my dad seems to care more about my internet usage more than my mom‘s.
My parents and me do not normally talk about Internet use since my mother majored in Computer science and I am a computer wiz. I know my mother loves websites with funny jokes and Arabic news, and my father loves to read online newspapers. My mother sometimes receives forwarded emails on Internet scenarios gone bad, and she warns me, but she knows that I am a good Internet user. I sometimes give me parents advice on certain sites that may contain viruses or may fool the user in thinking the site is something good when it is actually something bad. I also tell them about sites that could harm my family, like my space which has several cases of two people meeting online and then meeting in person and one person getting hurt. I feel the survey does not apply to my family since they have only been using it for a couple of years where as I have been using it for over 10 years. The gaps in Internet usage are that not many children actually receive effective lessons on how to use the internet wisely. There are several pranks on the web that can harm our children and let them focus on a screen for too much time, leading them to need glasses. Also there are several websites that post videos of odd things such as Princess Diana after her car crash and Saddam Hussein’s hanging. I think fathers’ opinions are usually less protective in that men don’t care if their child is playing a shooting game or watching a reenactment of a death where as mothers’ opinions are usually protective of the slightest things such as Face book.
By Yazan
I sometimes talk to my parents about sites that are good for searching things. I mostly talk about my teacher’s sites other than that I don’t talk much. My mom is not really concerned in what I like. My mom usually talks too me about what is my age and what is better to search. For example she does not really like MySpace (I don’t use MySpace anyways) but those types of websites that you can find people with. She also talks about better websites for searching homework’s or projects. My parents do not really talk to me about internet behavior other than using the computer too much in the weekend and needing a rest. They warn me about some viruses on games and other non appropriate websites. I don’t break these rules anyways. Also these pop ups that say “win 1000000 dollars “or “you’re the 99999 visitor click here” are scams that most people know of. My whole family follows these rules anyways. I think that the survey findings were around precise in my family. I don’t think that there are gaps that need to be filled in. fathers opinion would be different from mothers. Also sons and fathers understand each other because fathers have once been boys so they’ve experienced the same things.
By: Ousmane Yonis 9th grade Digital Media
In general I won’t talk to my parents about what sites I go on. Usually it is my parents that talk to me about my computer use. I used to go on the computer very often but now I rarely use it except to occasionally check me emails etc… I remember the first time I got my Facebook account my father in particular that I am very careful about the friends that I accept. My dad gives me this talk about once a year. He tells me how I shouldn’t ever give out my email address or personal information out on the internet because anyone could view it online or tap in to my account. He also made sure that I never gave out any personal information, date of birth etc… in this survey about which parents are more aware I think that it is completely opposite for my family. My father cares the most about my internet security whilst my mother is more easy going. In general I think that the fathers opinions are different from the mothers because usually the mothers are instinctively more protective than the fathers. Also it may be more likely that fathers may have Facebook or MySpace accounts more than mothers so they understand better and therefore are less strict.
Talk About the Web
My parents and I don’t really talk a lot about any websites. They do warn me that I should go to appropriate sites for my age. The only main concern my Mom has about my websites is Youtube. She believes that I spend way too much time on Youtube and doesn’t think that it is a safe site. My parents don’t necessarily have to tell my about what Internet behaviors are safe. I already know what thinks are safe and I shouldn’t click on messages that say “you’re the 1 millionth customer click here now to receive prize!” My parents have warned me about answering emails that are from unknown people since it may be a virus. Usually Dad’s are a little more flexible about websites than the Mom’s. Mom’s usually like to maintain order with their child and what their child does in his/her free time. That’s why Dad’s opinions are different from the Mom’s opinion.
Sasha
My parents and I don’t often talk about the websites I go to, although my mother does show me articles she finds on the Belgian newspapers she reads on the internet. The accuracy of the survey’s finding doesn’t fit the way my family interacts with the internet. Everybody at my home has different habits on the internet. My brother plays games, my father does research, my mother reads the newspaper, and I divide my time between obnoxious riddles and conspiracy forums. The problems people have are not associated with user policy, but with people who don’t know how to use the internet appropriately. For example a lot of people don’t know how to conduct research on the internet. Schools should educate their students so that they can understand the appropriate use of the internet. My main concerns are the proper use of search engines, knowing what a valid source is and knowing what sites are appropriate in an effort to avoid websites that can potentially release virus and spyware on your computer. By Bavo
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