Edition 3
PARENTING
Capricornus Quarterly
CREATIVE PLAY
EXPLORING CREATIVITY WITHOUT DIGITAL TOOLS
GEOLOCATION AND YOU
WHO OR WHAT IS TRACKING YOU?
DIGITAL DETOX ESCAPE THE SIREN SONG OF OUR TECHNOLOGY AND GADGETS
free independent information parent advice and tips range of topics published monthly comprehensive videos leading specialists practical strategies fact sheets special reports supports school empowers mums and dads
Last year RGS launched a whole school approach to Positive Education, including rgs.qld.schooltv.me, a credible online resource for families that helps children and parents acquire skills to address common issues facing young people today, not just digital media. rgs.qld.schooltv.me aggregates information from many reputable resources and delivers it as a single stream of independent information that can save time and minimise confusion. rgs.qld.schooltv.me content is delivered via a series of short videos, fact sheets, articles, parent quizzes and recommended apps, books and links. rgs.qld.schooltv.me is an informative complement to School resources such as CQ Digital Parenting, supporting parents to help raise happy, healthy and resilient children. Raising children has never been more challenging. Join today. RGS had 501 parent visits to the site since during the trial. We consider 50 parent visits a month strong numbers for the average size school… [so] The Rockhampton Grammar School has definitely exceeded the average. – Rob Leishman for SchoolTV.me
www.rgs.qld.schooltv.me
IN THIS ISSUE
PARENTING BUILDING BLOCKS BUILD MORE THAN SKILLS DIGITAL DETOX GEOLOCATION MAKES IT POSSIBLE UP THE TUBE DEVICE OR VICE LAST BYTE UP FOR THE CHALLENGE
02 06 08 12 14 16
bit.ly enter these urls to dig deeper into topics
IN THE NEWS
Screen gems
CQ Digital Parenting Contributor Simon Harding writes later in this edition (on page 15) about screen time and the challenges parents and children face in moderating their exposure to our digital windows to the world, however research released by the Oxford Internet Institute in March suggests screen time, even before bed-time, has little impact of teen mental health and wellbeing afterall. That flies in the face of ‘fact’ depicted in many media reports, other research and public debate. Researcher
Violent video games do not lead to aggression
Amy Orben argues there isn’t much ‘high-quality, transparent and objective investigations into growing concerns about digital technologies.’ She and collaborators used data (17,000 teenagers) from the UK, Ireland and the United States in their study. ‘There is little consensus as to whether and, if so, how digitalscreen engagement affects psychological well-being; results of studies have been mixed and inconclusive, and associations – when found – are often small,’ she and her colleagues concluded in the journal, Psychological Science.
In another blow to accepted ‘fact’ (see left), researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute say there is no relationship between aggressive behaviour in teens and the amount of time they spend playing violent video games. ‘Research has not demonstrated that there is cause for concern,’ explained Professor Andrew Przybylski, whose research drew on samples of 14 and 15-year-old children and their parents in Britain.
Przybylski’s main interest concerned the relationship between the amount of violent video game play teens engaged in and the extent to which their parents judged their behaviour as aggressive. Whilst it is commonly assumed that higher levels of engagement with violent games lead to more aggressive behaviour the Oxford study provided evidence that this was not the case. Researchers noted, however, ‘you do see things such as trash-talking and competitiveness’ in gaming that ‘could qualify as antisocial behaviour.’
2016 was the first year in which children spent more time online than watching television. Roy Morgan Two thirds of primary school children and a third of preschoolers have their own mobile device. Royal Children’s Hospital
2
Children aged between six and thirteen spend nearly as much time in front of a screen per week as a parent does at work. Royal Children’s Hospital
BUILD MORE THAN SKILLS I BY SIMON HARDING
t is in a toddler’s inquisitive nature to explore new objects; to touch, to smell – even to taste. Hand them a ball and they’ll get a sense of its shape and texture, then they’ll throw it and observe how it moves. Show them the same on a tablet and they can merely watch it in two dimensions. Wave a finger across the screen, and all they’ll feel is glass. That, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (sic), is one of the problems with today’s toys. The Academy’s concern is that the increase in screen time is associated with a decrease in active and toy-based play. Traditionally, toys have been very much hands-on; they have fuelled imagination and encouraged the growth of new skills. The best ones have allowed parents and children to play together – providing the kind of human interaction and relationship
development that is vital to early brain development. The trouble is that toys today are different. So many of them now come with an app that reinforces what is a growing dependence on computers and tablets, and children are drawn to the lights, sounds and movements that they see on the screen. Within what seems like moments, they are swiping and scrolling through media like experts, as if they were born to do little else. Of course, plenty of electronic games and applications claim they provide educational benefits, so at least that means our children are learning while they’re using these toys, right? Not according to the Academy.
It does not believe there is currently any scientific evidence to suggest that interactive media can offer the same learning opportunities as hands-on play. It has been recognised, the Academy says, that electronic media has been linked to reductions in cognitive, language and gross-motor activities, all of which have implications for child development. The first few years of a child’s life are very important. It is a period in which the brain’s neural networks form their connections. During this time, it is believed that binocular vision, hearing and language – amongst other abilities – are acquired. For that to happen, adequate stimuli from the environment need to be received, and play is an important part of this. According to the AAP, it contributes to a child’s mental, physical, social and emotional
wellbeing and is critical to their healthy development. Toys are obviously an intrinsic aspect of this play and they are important in helping cognitive development, language skills, imagination, problem-solving and physical activity, especially as children move from infancy to toddlerhood to primary school. The trouble is, says the AAP, the way our children play with them is changing. When we hand a child a tablet, we limit their exposure to the environment by encouraging what is very much a solitary pursuit. Electronic toys and tablets detract from social engagement – in other words, they are depriving our children of the one thing they need and want most: the interaction and engagement of their parents or caregivers. In today’s world, however, many parents are just too busy to provide as much of
The Rockhampton Grammar School
3
Down, down The average time Aussies spend on the internet every day decreased in 2018 compared to 2017 by a whole 30 minutes; from 5 hours 34 minutes to 5 hour 4 minutes. The average daily time spent on social media has also decreased by 8 minutes year‑on‑year. bit.ly/2DyxK21
LEGO MASTERS CO HOST HAMISH BLAKE Always in fashion Recent reality TV hit Lego Masters displays the perenial attraction and creative opportunities in open-ended building toys such as Lego. Lego Masters it still available streaming on 9Now.
4
Image Nine Network
this kind of interaction as they might like. As the jobs mount up and time seems to evaporate into thin air, it’s becoming more and more common to hand a tablet to a child as a way of keeping them occupied while whatever important task is performed. Queensland Health, however, warns that there is a limit to how much electronic media a child should be exposed to, and links overuse to disrupted sleep patterns, behavioural problems, loss of social skills and reduced playtime. For children over the age of two, it says that restricted, supervised and selective screen time can assist development, though it also makes the observation that parental participation is important to the child enjoying the experience and learning more. The solution? The AAP recommends a return to
simple toys that parents and children can play with together. It is the Academy’s view that the purpose of toys in infancy is to facilitate warm, supportive interactions, and to encourage the development of new skills. And what makes them most effective is the interaction with the caregiver, who can guide the play and enrich the experience. Typically, the Academy recommends toys that facilitate problemsolving and imaginative play, and some toys can even grow with children. Growing toys such as Lego or Duplo have been long associated with the ‘creativecooperative’ message which the Academy advocates, promoting fine motor skills, lateral thinking and interaction among children. In homes increasingly dominated by digital products, LEGO has managed to remain
relevant and may become more popular than ever in Australia, with the introduction of LegoMasters, the familyfriendly brick-building show. Broadcast on the Nine Network, it grabbed huge ratings numbers in early May among children and adults, reinforcing bonds built among families who play together. Lego Master Builder Chris Steininger believes hands-on learning is good for parent-child development. According to Fatherly.com, he has been playing with big Duplo bricks with his children since they were 2-years-old. “The faster I could build that tower, the faster [they were] tearing it down. That’s just good family time at a very young age,” he told the digital lifestyle/parenting brand. If we return to the example of a child with a ball, as they grow, so too does their
experience with the ball. Where an infant might initially explore a ball’s shape and texture, as they grow older and their skills develop, the same child learns to use a ball in so many more ways. Children may well be fascinated by electronic devices. Simple toys – sock puppets, wooden blocks, farm animals – however, present proven opportunities to advance children’s constructive, exploratory and roleplay skills. In summary, it seems that while children may well be fascinated by electronic toys, being left to play alone with them can represent a missed opportunity for them to learn new skills.
ADVICE FOR PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS 1
Recognize that one of the most important purposes of play with toys throughout childhood, and especially in infancy, is not educational at all but rather to facilitate warm, supportive interactions and relationships.
2
The most educational toy is one that fosters interactions between caregivers and children in supportive, unconditional play.
3
Provide children with safe, affordable toys that are developmentally appropriate. Include toys that promote learning and growth in all areas of development. Choose toys that are not overstimulating and encourage children to use their imaginations.
4
Make a thoughtful selection of toys and remember that a good toy does not have to be trendy or expensive. Indeed, sometimes the simplest toys may be the best, in that they provide opportunities for children to use their imagination to create the toy use, not the other way around.
5
Use children’s books to develop ideas for pretending together while playing with toys; use of the library should be routine for all parents regardless of socioeconomic status.
6 7
Keep in mind that toys are not a substitute for warm, loving, dependable relationships.
Seek the paediatric health care provider’s advice in distinguishing between safe and unsafe toys (see Resources).
5
8 9
Be aware of the potential for toys to promote race- or gender-based stereotypes. Limit video game and computer game use. Total screen time, including television and computer use, should be less than 1 hour per day for children 2 years or older and avoided in children 18 to 24 months of age.
10
Seek out toys that encourage the child to be both mentally and physically active. bit.ly/2E8ksJS
The Rockhampton Grammar School
6 BY SIMON HARDING
S
top being sucked in. It is easy is to be pulled-in by your phone, but DP asks, Has the time come to end that mindless compulsion, cleanse yourself and reclaim your focus? According to Greek mythology, the song of the Sirens was so enchanting that anyone who heard it was drawn in and captive forever. Determined to hear the sweet sound for himself, Homer’s hero, Odysseus, ordered his crew to tie him to the ship’s mast and keep him there until it was safely out of range. The crew themselves were advised to fill their ears with beeswax, lest they too fell under the spell of the Sirens. 3,000 years later, we battle with our own siren: the chirrup of smartphone notifications. And with 78% of people in the UK claiming they could not live without their phone, according to a report by Ofcom – the UK’s
telecommunications regulator – it seems that their power is equally as irresistible, Believe it or not, it is now 11 years since the release of the first iPhone. Since then, the call of the handheld has become so enchanting that it interrupts meetings, conversations and even family interactions. According to the same Ofcom report, more than 50% of smartphone users admit to interrupting conversations with friends or family to check their phone. And whether you’re driving, eating, putting the kids to bed or even having ‘quiet’ time – according to a 2018 report in PC Mag (Australia), 77% of survey respondent said they took their phone into
the loo whilst at work – the merest beep from a device demands immediate attention, despite the inconvenience involved in doing so. This compulsion – described by many as FOMO: fear of missing out – is a problem across the developed world. In the UK, Ofcom reveals that people check their phone, on average, every 12 minutes, and 40% of adults admit to looking at their phone within five minutes of waking up. In Australia, the latest annual Deloitte report on mobile phone usage shows that almost 40% of Australians believe they use their phones too much. Yet, despite that belief, only half are actually trying to do something about it. And of those who do, say Deloitte, 1 in 3 will fail. Aware of the growing concern over usage, in the last 12 months both Google and Apple have launched features that enable users
to track the amount of time spent on the phone, and set limits. Many other apps that perform the similar functions already exist and can be downloaded on both platforms, although The New York Times claims that Apple may be purging some from its store. In any event, the concept of ‘digital detoxing’ is becoming more and more popular. Australian charity, Beyond Blue, is convinced of the benefits of doing so. They say that a digital detox will lead to a ‘more content and calmer you’, and reference thousands of social experiments in which those who have taken a break from technology have admitted to being less stressed. They also claim that once you realise how much time you waste online, you will: find you are more productive, have healthier relationships, sleep better, and feel fitter.
Distracted parents 59% of mums and dads say they feel obligated to respond to text messages immediately 39% say they sometimes lose focus at work because they’re checking their phone 36% say they spend too much time on their phone Source: Pew Research Centre, Survey of parents of teens, March-April 2018 research pewresearch.org
7
If you’re keen to try a digital detox, there are plenty of tips to be found online. US website, Today, suggests you work with your family to carve out ten minutes each day to be tech-free. This works better, they say, if you involve your children in the discussion process and agree on a time that works for all. They also suggest that connecting with friends is the main reason why teenagers have such high phone usage, and a way to counter it is to help your children connect with their friends in real life – facilitate catchups and even sleepovers, anything that will encourage face-to-face contact. Another of their tips is to have a room in the house where family members are not allowed to use technology – therefore forcing everyone to detox – and to keep tablets and phones in the living areas so that they have to be used in the open.
They also recommend having a central charging point so there is less temptation to check devices at – or after – bedtime. Today suggests a contract is a good idea, in which everyone agrees the rules around the use of technology. Of course, it is a given that adults are also expected to abide by the same rules, so you’ll need to make sure whatever you agree works for all. Tips from elsewhere include: taking a screenshot every time you reach for you phone, to show just how bad your habit is; keeping your phone on silent; and not carrying it in your hand. In short, if you are concerned about your own – or your child’s – phone usage, there are plenty of tools and ideas out there for you to experiment with and, while there’s little scientific data to prove it, anecdotal evidence suggests you’ll feel better for it.
THERE’S HELP FROM OUR DIGITAL OVERLORDS Oh, there are loads of Apps, of course, for detoxing. Flipd encourages people to intentionally unplug from their devices for set periods of time. If you want ‘credit’ for being offline, you must first proclaim your intention to do so by using the app. Learn more at flipdapp.co OFFTIME is an app that lets you customize your (dis) connectivity. For a chosen period, you can choose to block calls, texts and notifications that might disturb you, but you can also make exceptions for important contacts so that they can still get through.
More information HELP TURN OFF FROM BEYOND BLUE bit.ly/2Jd686Z US-BASED X-FINITY MOBILE HAS PUBLISHED A 7-DAY DETOX https://xfin.tv/2HcGs7i
The Rockhampton Grammar School
From digital dilemmas like managing screen time and the effects of social media, to new apps and devices that can make parenting easier (or at least more fun), podcast Parenting Bytes explores the ups and downs of parenting in the digital age. Hosts and reporters discuss the latest tech, gadgets, apps, and issues around raising the digital generation.
Enjoy digital parenting conversations?
apple.co/2HkK33b
8
GEOLOCATION MAKES IT POSSIBLE BY MIKE DONAHUE
G
eolocation on smartphones, tablets, desktops and in most apps track where you were, are now, and predict where you will go next as well as determine what you’re doing. The embedded technology can be a lifesaver in emergencies. But you and your ‘connected’ family have become rich data sources – pinging information non-stop, consciously or not – with significant hyperlocal and global economic value. Your data is regularly sold to the highest bidder (to the tune of $US11 billion by 2025 according to some projections). With our youngest and tiniest children developing the biggest digital footprints of any generation to date, Mike Donahue talks to QUT researcher Associate Professor Peta Mitchell about how location data is being collected, shared, and used and the changing implications it has on your definition and perception of privacy.
Geolocation makes it possible, from any device connected to the Internet, to obtain different types of information in real time, locating a user with almost pinpoint accuracy.
It’s in every ‘smart’ device today and is the foundation for location-positioning services and location-aware applications (apps). With the number of smartphone users expected to reach 2.66 billion by 2019 (according to www.isaca.org) and more than 2 million apps available for smart phones and other devices, the prevalence of geolocation technology will only continue to increase, making security and privacy major concerns among parents and children.
9
Mike Donahue Please define geodata for me and explain how it works? Prof Peta Mitchell Geodata is information about any geographical location held in a digital format. One of the things that makes a smartphone smart is global positioning information (like GPS), first put into massproduced phones in 1999. GPS is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all conditions, anywhere on earth. It’s become part of the platform for almost all apps and services, like Google Maps. It used to be a lesserused function in apps but it’s everywhere now. Your smartphone can also be tracked via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and based on your proximity to cell towers; there are many ways in which you are giving away your position. You are also located whenever you
make a search from your fixed computer or laptop, through your IP address. This idea of the web being a virtual, placeless space was extinguished in the early 2000’s when it became possible to convert your IP address to a geographic location. As mobile and freeflowing as technology is, it’s thoroughly grounded – and so are you -- in that respect. Mike So geolocation is part of the furniture, so to speak? Peta Yes it is. It’s always there for developers to turn on and off. It’s often embedded in free apps because developers can on-sell the geodata the app collects to clearing-houses who can manipulate pieces of the data and sell it again for marketing, business services or surveillance purposes. There are data monetization firms out there like AreaMetrics, Cuebiq, Factual and more. A number
of free apps quietly collect the location data from users, often failing to inform consumers that the information will be shared with or sold to other parties. Research has been conducted [not by QUT] in which samplings of geodata coding among the top free apps on Apple’s App store have been gathered across all categories and most of those apps are sending data off to between three and six different monetisation or ‘location intelligence’ companies for a wide variety of uses. Mike So even if I’m not overtly providing private information, “they” can glean where I am and what I’m doing by the patterns that are revealed by my use of my smart device? Peta Yes. Data firms often say that they are anonymising data, but it’s never fully anonymous and it’s easily re-identifiable. It’s
not just location; it’s likely to be timestamped as well. And when you get those two things together you get spatiotemporal coordinates and you can track that user and know their patterns of behaviour. After a short while you can determine where they live, work, how long they shop, how quickly they drive… It’s one thing to volunteer slices of this information on your social networks through your own postings, but once this stream of ‘unconscious’ data is aggregated and visualised by others certainly privacy concerns are raised. Mike If we’re talking about more and more, as well as younger and younger children being plugged into the web on unique devices, there are more opportunities then to gather and exploit data? Peta There are, but it’s important to note there are numerous opportunities for
The Rockhampton Grammar School
Digital privacy, by the numbers
No pictures, please 9% of parents say they never share photos of their children on line Source: London School of Economics, Parenting for a Digital Future
Spy and Pry 58% of parents look through their teen’s mobile phone call records and text messages Source: Pew Research Centre, Survey of parents of teens, March-April 2018 research pewresearch.org
10
parents and children to optout of geodata provision on both major platforms. It’s not faultless but within both major operational systems you can turn off apps’ access to your GPS data, at least. In both environments, when you install an app that wants access to this data, a pop-up will ask you whether you want to grant the app access to your location ‘always’ or ‘never’. Apple appears to offer more safeguards than Androids at the moment, because it also allows the opportunity for you to grant an app access to your location ‘while using’ it, and will show on screen which apps are actively accessing your location. The next version of the Android operating system later this year is expected introduce a similar function. Think about what’s best for your circumstances. Mike Isn’t your phone always sharing information about your location anyway?
Peta It is. Your phone is constantly tracking you and that information goes to the telco which theoretically keeps it private, but your telco might be on-selling that information after all. There was a big case in the USA in the last six months that revealed a lot of telcos were not just legally giving information over to government agencies for public safety reasons, but they were also providing it for a fee to unauthorised organisations, such as bounty hunters or bail bond companies for example, who would use this so-called secret phone tracking service to make tens of thousands of location requests. So, it’s not just apps to be wary of. Mike Is there an increased risk of abusing or misusing the data? Peta There are certainly concerns in addition to onselling; we have to consider how data is being stored and learn from breaches to data security when they occur.
Being tracked is the price we pay, in some ways, for the access we have to services we desire. I think it’s incumbent on us as families to become more data and privacy literate. In addition, far-reaching governance models like the General Data Protection Regulations in the European Union that came into effect a year ago are building some legal certainty around issues such as information handling practices, accountability and consumers’ confidence in privacy protection. This EU-mandated compliance has to do with ANY service that collects or monitors data in the EU. It’s a start. What you see now, however, is a thin veneer of compliance to the guidelines. That is likely to change. What consumers are saying is that they want products and services designed from the bottom up that are designed for privacy, control and awareness by the user, so they better
understand the privacy tradeoffs that may exist when they access their devices and the programmes on them. Overt privacy measures are probably a position that more companies [because of legislative pressure and changing consumer awareness] will adopt. In a lot cases consumers don’t provide informed consent when it comes to divulging their geodata and some are not happy about that. Mike Some people will say that safety trumps their privacy concerns… Peta You’re right and there are safety tool kits out there; ride-share agencies like UBER has one, for example. There are also family-tracking apps and services such as Google Trusted Contacts and parenting-focused tools which can be beneficial. But again, we need to look equally what risks these protection services may open us to. There was a case in
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR PETA MITCHELL A mother of two young children, Peta conducts research from the Digital Media Research Centre at the Queensland University of Technology.
11
March involving an Australiandeveloped app called Family Locator which stored users’ data, unencrypted. It was available publicly (no password required) if you knew where to look. You could collect all sorts of information on 280,000 families, which raised real safety issues. This case appears not to have been malicious, but it was extremely careless. Breaches such as this have implications for example, in child-custody or domestic violence cases. And, from a very different aspect, there are psychological and emotional effects which may be experienced by users or subjects of constant surveillance, of tracking of our loved ones all the time and how that can influence, or perhaps corrupt, relationships… Mike Do younger and older users have a different definition or sense of privacy? Peta Yes and no. You have to remember that it was
not so strange not that long ago to have these publicly available books with our names, phone numbers and street addresses printed in them, out in the open for all to see. Phonebooks. You had to pay to have your phone unlisted phone. So there was a time when we weren’t all that concerned with that type of data, but real-time, constant location tracking does bring another level of concern over privacy and surveillance. The perception of privacy and accessibility is always changing. This is partly what our research is about a QUT: the changing nature of it all and where and who has concerns about the collection, dissemination and use of location data. Mike You are currently conducting a survey regarding our perceptions of geodata and privacy. What are you investigating? Peta We’re researching individuals’ location
awareness and the everyday privacy trade-offs people make when they use smart devices and ubiquitous location-based services. It’s a three-year project funded by the Australian Research Council and we hope to have some policy impact as we get a read on how people feel about these issues. People may give up privacy and trust for convenience sake, across all age groups and locations, but at what point do they become so concerned about their data do they take action? That’s just one example. We’ll work with large data sets as well as focus groups to acquire a deeper understanding of how they use geo-services. Mike So, you will follow participants’ every move? Peta We’ll be doing a follow-up study with smaller groups of people where we will follow them around, but we will have their permission and they
will know what we are doing with the data we collect.
Editor’s Note Laws and policies are in effect in parts of the world that place some responsibility on manufacturers, developers and communications companies to manage private information, but it is up to individual users to identify, disable, opt out and understand the capabilities of the technology, not just click the ‘I agree’ button and forget about it. A shift in behaviour, perhaps more than anything, will help claw back some privacy in our digital world.
The Rockhampton Grammar School
Further reading COMMONSENSEMEDIA.ORG Search for Parents’ ultimate guide to YouTube SUPPORT.GOOGLE.COM Search for the YouTube Kids Parental Guide
12
UP THE TUBE BY SIMON HARDING
M
ore than a billion viewers are streaming 5 billion videos every day. “What’s your role in watching it safely?” asks Simon Harding. My father used to refer to the television as ‘the idiot box’. As far as he was concerned, the less of it I watched, the better. He gave it that name because, in his view, children just sat, fixated to the screen with their mouths open, for hours on end, when they could have been doing something constructive. Therefore, there was never a video recorder in our house! Admittedly, that was in the early 80’s, but I can’t help wondering what he would have thought of YouTube. Today, just thirteen years after it was founded, more than a billion
people across the world tune in to YouTube each day. It is now the third most visited site on the internet – after Google and Facebook – and the second largest search engine. Children are watching in huge numbers. A 2017 report by Ofcom, the regulator for the UK’s communications industry, claims that 81% of children aged 8 to 11 use YouTube, with that number increasing to 90% between the ages of 12 and 15. According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, by the age of 13, children spend, on average, up to 30% of their time awake, looking at screens. Data on the amount of time children spend on YouTube is hard to come by, but Neilsen’s digital content
81% OF CHILDREN AGED 8 TO 11 USE YOUTUBE
ratings report in June last year indicated that young Australian adults spent on average 32 hours on YouTube a month. The Ofcom report tells us that both the age groups above reported spending just under 50% of their time on YouTube watching music and funny videos, or pranks. Indeed, the music industry has really found a home on YouTube. There is a dearth of official statistics, but any Google search will show you that more than 90% of the most watched clips on YouTube are music videos. However, YouTube isn’t just about music videos. The content is user-generated and anyone who wants to, can create their own channel. YouTube likens using its service to joining a community of people from all over the world, and has established what it calls common-sense rules to prevent videos that include sexual, harmful, hateful, or violent content. But these rules are difficult
to police; every minute, somewhere between three and four hundred hours of video are uploaded to the service. So YouTube has to rely on a combination of algorithms and viewer reports to flag videos that need to be reviewed. And to its credit, it does take videos down. In the period October to December 2017, YouTube removed more than 8 million videos. It is also reports having 10,000 people currently working to address content that violates its terms of use. Some of the more difficult videos to police are referred to as YouTube ‘poop’. These are clips where original, copyright material has been altered in an attempt to amuse, annoy or shock. It is possible that children will stumble across – or even seek out – these clips and be presented with content that is most likely inappropriate, and perhaps even offensive and scary. To be fair to YouTube, it does say very specifically in
Read to me
Early adopters
Story Time book to the rescue. Vodafone has coproduced two e-books to help kids and parents talk about the importance of staying safe online. Sally the Smartphone’s Digital Disaster (For 5 to 7 year olds) and Tommy the Tablet’s Birthday Blunder (7 to 9 year olds) are good reading before bed with mum and dad (but not on the ipad in bed!)
81% of parents say their preschoolers use the internet 37% think their child spends too much time online What to do? Among other advice, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner says resist any pushback. Stick to the rules you set to instil good online habits for your child. esafety.gov.au/parents
bit.ly/2Q3vftu
Youtube vs Youtube Kids Youtube publishes an app tailored specifically for kids. But, while this tool allows for greater parental control and restricted access – it does not 100% guarantee exposure to untoward videos is eliminated. its terms and conditions that the service is not for children under 13. For those below that age it has created a child-friendly way of searching the platform, called ‘YouTube Kids’. This offers increased parental controls – including a timer – and restricts access to certain videos. It is far safer for your younger children to use, but it is by no means guaranteed that they will not be exposed to videos you would rather they didn’t see. When I was growing up in my video-less environment, my friends were watching inappropriate movies as a matter of course. Banning video equipment entirely was an extreme response by my father and is, of course, an option available to any parent, but if you choose to go down that path with todays’ technology today, you will also prevent your children from accessing solid educational, valuable cultural, diverse sport and other information.
There are other options. YouTube has built in filters that can – and should – be applied, and there is plenty of advice around to help make the experience more suitable and enjoyable for your children. Commonsense Media has used YouTube itself to publish a video advising how to make the platform safer for children. It suggests: SET UP A FAMILY ACCOUNT, RATHER THAN ALLOWING CHILDREN TO CREATE THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT. THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO KEEP TRACK OF NOT ONLY WHAT THEY VIEW, BUT WHAT THEY SHARE AND UPLOAD. Turn on Safety Mode. This is a filter that allows you to be able to avoid some of the things you don’t want your child to be exposed to. Don’t forget, it won’t be foolproof. By subscribing your child to channels that interest them, not only do you deliver them content that is aligned to their
interests, you reduce the need to search elsewhere for videos. Pay attention to how videos are uploaded. By making them ‘private’, your child can choose who is allowed to view their videos. Disabling comments protects your child because they won’t be at risk of being upset by nasty comments made on their videos by internet ‘trolls’. The American Society of Paediatrics has worthy advice that can be applied in a broader context. They recommend keeping televisions and internet connected devices out of a child’s bedroom. This helps to reduce the pressure on screen time and ensure that internet activity is conducted in a more public space, where parents can keep an eye on what their children are doing. The pace of technological change is staggering. YouTube is a service that wasn’t even around when children over the age of 13 were born. It is
up parents and educators, working with children, to work out the best ways for them to safely harness the incredible power of YouTube. They too will need to figure out how to police their own children with whatever replaces it.
The rules are difficult to police Every minute somewhere between three and four hundred hours of video are uploaded to the service YouTube ‘poop are clips where copyright material has been altered in an attempt to amuse, annoy or shock with content that is most likely inappropriate.
The Rockhampton Grammar School
13
Findings by the Pew Research Centre in the United States suggest parents are cutting off access to their children’s digital world in order to punish them. About 60% of parents take their teenagers’ access to technology away when kids do something wrong. At the same time, it’s also common for parents to limit access to technology, regardless of conduct. 57% of parents report regulating their children’s use.
14
Being digitally grounded
DEVICE OR VICE? BY SIMON HARDING
S
creening ‘screen time’ and finding balance is probably a good thing, for everyone.
When many RGS parents were growing up there was a rotary telephone on a table in the hall, the television had just five channels, and the compact disc revolutionised music. And if you were lucky enough to have a computer in your house, it was probably not that useful. These days electronic devices, computers, telecommunication and media have converged and have become entrenched in our lives, especially those of our native e-generation children. A moderate amount of screen time has been shown to be good for our children. The Office of the eSafety Commissioner considers the use of electronic devices to benefit learning, social interaction and creativity, as well as to support literacy and improve numeracy skills. Likewise, moderate game playing can be beneficial too. Leading psychologists have
associated it with increased resilience and lower levels of stress and anxiety in children. But moderation is a key according to researchers and policy analysts. Too much time online has been shown to cause sleep deprivation, anxiety, and to have a negative impact on school performance. The advice from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner is to stay involved, set time limits and encourage other activities. After all, whatever time our children spend looking at a screen for entertainment during the week will feel much better to us – and hopefully them – if it is balanced by their time spent doing other things. The Department of Health is concerned about the link between physical inactivity and seven diseases – diabetes, bowel and uterine cancer, dementia, breast cancer, coronary heart disease, and stroke – and
has published Australia’s Physical and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines. In them, it adopts the recommendation of the American Society of Paediatrics that children between the ages of five and seventeen spend no more than two hours per day entertaining themselves on screens. Australian Market Research firm, Roy Morgan, has been tracking children’s television and online viewing behaviour since 2008. According to their research, 2016 was the first year in which children spent more time online than watching television. That’s probably because – according to a poll by Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital – almost all Australian teenagers, two-thirds of primary school children and a third of pre-schoolers, now have their own mobile device. The same RCH survey reports that Australian children aged between six and thirteen spend nearly 32 hours per week looking
at screens, whether at online content or television. This figure is more than double the time recommended by the Australian Government. These huge numbers are mirrored around the world. A report from Ofcom – the UK’s communications industry regulator – showed that 94% of children aged 12-15 went on line for nearly 21 hours per week on top of nearly 14.5 hours per week of television. For many parents, that’s almost equivalent to a full working week. Of course, managing the watching – or playing – is only half the battle for us parents. Stopping each session has become something of a battle ground. US magazine, Psychology Today, suggests that interactive screen time is more likely to cause mood and cognitive issues than watching television because the level to which children are absorbed in it can cause hyperarousal and compulsive use. Try wrenching your children away from the screen and they’ll most likely
Korean centre for addiction South Korea fears an overdependence on smartphones and the Internet causes physical and emotional problems and increasingly leads to accidents and antisocial behaviour. The answer? The Korea Internet Addiction Centre, which was established way back in 2002. It “supports your relaxation” with counselling and what it calls prevention discipline. According to The Economist, the centre is passionate about protecting children from the internet, and above all, smartphones. Parents do not understand how dangerous the internet is, according to the Centre Manager. The Centre has a lot of on-line tools for parents including tests to help diagnoses addiction and overdependence. And yes, you have to go on-line to use them! Translate the website and self-diagnose or use its English language pages. iapc.or.kr
be moody and argumentative, and according to the RCH, a third of all children were reported as displaying oppositional behaviours when challenged about their screen usage by parents. The RCH reports that 80% of Australian parents are concerned that children spend too much time looking at screens, and that many believe screen use is impacting on their child’s well-being. But the same survey also shows that despite the level of concern, more than half of parents with teenage children place no restriction at all on the time spent on screens, or the content viewed. So what actions can concerned parents take to reduce the amount of time spent on screens? ReachOut, an Australian online mental health organisation for young people and their parents, suggests the following to support your teenager:
1
Undertake a family screen audit. Reducing screen time is not only of benefit to your children, and you may be surprised at the extent of your own viewing. The RCH poll drew the conclusion that there was a link between the amount of time parents spent on screens, and that of their children. So a family audit not only brings you together as a unit, but also involves everyone in the compromises that will undoubtedly need to be made if the decision is taken to reduce screen time.
2
Set screen time rules: Decide as a family what is acceptable. Set times of the day when screen usage is not allowed – like meal times and before bedtime.
3
Balance active time and screen time. ReachOut makes a number of suggestions for ways in which children and families alike can get active. The Office of the eSafety Commissioner states the almost 1 in 3 teens are accessing the internet
15 between 10pm and midnight, and up to 8% are surfing into the early hours of the morning. It recommends locating any devices in a shared or visible place in the home. Data from the Department of Health is not quite as current but their advice, based on research and recommendations from the American Society of Paediatrics, is to keep the television set and any internetconnected electronic devices out of children’s bedrooms. A simple search on Google shows that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs – whose vision of the future shaped the digital revolution – were very careful to manage their own children’s exposure to technology. Gates, for example, imposed screen time limits on his children and didn’t allow them a smartphone until they were fourteen, and it seems well documented that Jobs – who, at the iPad’s 2010 launch, described it as “a truly magical and revolutionary product” – refused to allow his kids to
use one at home. Perhaps they were ‘visionary’ parents, in this respect, as well. If you would like to access further resources to work out how to deliver the right balance for your child, the Office of the eSafety Commissioner is a good place to start, with articles and videos that will help you to make decisions. There are also smart-device applications out there that can help you and your children manage the amount of time spent looking at screens. bit.ly/2HsgAoa
Resources esafety.gov.au Related news: Only 1 in 20 adolescents is meeting recommendations for sleeping, physical activity, and screen time, according to new research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at bit.ly/2HsgAoa
The Rockhampton Grammar School
UP FOR THE CHALLENGE
W
Dr Phillip Moulds Headmaster
We are challenged by the emotions technology stirs within our children and ourselves
e created CQ Digital Parenting last year at RGS as a tool for families to use to help navigate our increasingly dependent and complex digital lifestyles. In addition, we introduced RGS Positive Education, a whole-of-school programme that will grow over the next few years that will reinforce our founding principles which blend academic learning and wellbeing, enabling our students to be resilient and have a growth mindset. As parents we need both resilience and a growth mindset. Technology changes, it seems, hourly, and we are challenged to keep up with its pace, think critically about it and manage the far-reaching and far-ranging influences it has on ourselves, our families and our communities. We are equally challenged by the emotions technology stirs within our children and
ourselves. The ‘on-hour’ rules that go out the window; tearful social media interactions; the throes of Fortnite; the inevitable conflicts that arise when technology fails to inform or entertain us in ways that are aligned with our expectations. It feels once technology makes its way into our schools, work place or home – our habits -- it becomes unstoppable.
That may be, but it’s not unmanageable. We can moderate our use of and responses to technology by staying informed, educating ourselves and being open to change. Hype and frenzy, often by-products of technology, make it more difficult to have the rational discussions we need to have (with each other and our children) to ensure the overall role of, and our experience with, technology is positive. In this publication and throughout RGS we are trying to bring together and highlight the best safety messages, tools and methods for you and your families to consider. Let us know how we’re doing by contacting us at digitalparenting@ rgs.qld.edu.au
16
PUBLICATION INFORMATION
The Rockhampton Grammar School takes seriously the challenge of preparing students for today’s world. We treat each student as a whole person through a balance of academic, sporting, co-curricular and social activities. Our School motto is Macte Virtute et Litteris or Grow in Character and Scholarship. Capricornus Quarterly Digital Parenting is published by: The Rockhampton Grammar School Archer Street, Rockhampton QLD 4700, Australia www.rgs.qld.edu.au (+61) 07 4936 0600 ISSN 1839-4663
©2019 The Rockhampton Grammar School
The views and opinions stated in this document are the authors’ own and not necessarily those of The Rockhampton Grammar School. The advice and information contained in this document is general in nature and does not take into account personal circumstances. The Rockhampton Grammar School accepts no responsibility for the results of any actions taken on the basis of information in this document. Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of
the information contained in this document, The Rockhampton Grammar School disclaims all liability for any error, inaccuracy, or omission from the information contained within. Dr Phillip Moulds, Headmaster 07 4936 0615 headmaster@rgs.qld.edu.au Enrolment enquiries 1300 GRAMMAR
The Registrar, Mrs Marissa Holloway 1300 GRAMMAR or 07 4936 0700 Fax 07 4936 0701 registrar@rgs.qld.edu.au
Editorial & Advertising Mr Mike Donahue, Director Communications and Development 07 4936 0654 mdonahue@rgs.qld.edu.au Mrs Rachael McDonald 07 4936 0776 rmcdonald@rgs.qld.edu.au Mrs Ashleigh Harvey 07 4936 0667 aharvey@rgs.qld.edu.au Contributor: Simon Harding Printed by City Printing Works
About the contributor Simon Harding writes for some of Australia’s largest companies on communications projects, marketing campaigns, technical documents and more. He has published two novels and is a frequent contributor to CQ Digital Parenting.
Our core service is design, our key resource is creativity Building creative solutions to meet your business goals and help you connect with your customers since 2002. Take your business to the next level – book your consultation today.
fmstudios.com.au BRANDING | LOGOS | PRINT DESIGN | SOCIAL WEBSITE DESIGN | CMS & SEO INTEGRATION
S E AT I N G specialists
Experience HB&CO’s most unique range of custom armchairs that recline
FO LLO W US www.hbandco.com.au 116 Denham street Rockhampton QLD 4700
