The Child Advocate - November 2009

Child Advocate

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November 2009 Issue 3, Volume 18

High Tech Kids

Save the Date: April 30-May 2, 2010

WSPTA Convention Doubletree Hotel, SeaTac

“We were treated to a wide variety of PTA opportunities!”

“We will review the information we gathered to uplift our PTA”

— Convention delegate

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— Convention delegate

“Nonstop information was flowing and absorbed!”

Focus Day Day 2010 Focus 2010 — Convention delegate

in Olympia Olympia

“I loved it! I can’t wait to come back next year!”

— Convention delegate

3 Media Literacy:

Teaching Kids to Evaluate and Process Information

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tart off the New Year with advocacy for our kids by joining other PTA activists from across the state in Olympia for the Annual Legislative Focus Day. This year we are meeting on January 18, 2010, Martin Luther King’s Birthday, a school holiday, so we are planning to celebrate this as a family event to make our voices heard.

Our goal is to work to move education reform, which began with the passage of ESHB 2261 last session, and other association priorities forward by: • Educating our legislators about our priorities • Continuing to build relationships with our legislators • Letting our legislators and decision makers know that they have our state-wide support So mark your calendar, make your plans and join hundreds of other PTA members and community leaders for an enjoyable and action-packed time in Olympia.

Focus Day will once again be based in the Columbia Room of the Legislative Dome. We suggest that you go there first to get the latest updates about scheduled events.

SAVE THE DATE! Save the Date!

January 18, 2010

January 18, 2010

Look for additional information on the WSPTA website: www.wastatepta.org.

For questions, contact the WSPTA office at (253) 565-2153 or 1-800-562-3804 Look for additional information on the WSPTA website: www.wastatepta.org.

For questions, contact the WSPTA office at (253) 565-2153 or 1-800-562-3804

Child Advocate

The

Electronic Games

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Internet Safety

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3 Steps to Safe TV Viewing

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Social Networking Do’s and Don’ts

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Good Etiquette for Electronic Communication 8 The Child Advocate is published online every month from September through May by the Washington State PTA, 2003 65th Avenue West, Tacoma, WA 98466-6215, (253) 565-2153.

Contributors are welcome. Call the State PTA office for guidelines. Whenever PTA is used it also refers to PTSA. PTA is a registered trademark of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers.

Scott Allen, Washington State PTA President Bill Williams, Washington State PTA Executive Director Karen Fisker-Andersen, Editor

a Washington State PTA parent involvement publication

Washington State PTA 2003 65th Avenue West Tacoma, WA 98466-6215

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WSPTA Vision, Mission and Goals

Join us for leadership training and to build your local unit leadership team for the upcoming year!

Be involved, the world is run by those who show up. And that means all of us!

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VISION:

“Making every child’s potential a reality.”

MISSION:

PTA is: n A powerful voice for all children, n A relevant resource for families and communities, and n A strong advocate for the education and well-being of every child.

The Washington State PTA accomplishes the mission of PTA by n Speaking on behalf of children and youth in the schools, in the community, and before governmental bodies and other organizations that make decisions affecting children; n Supporting parents* in developing skills to raise, protect and advocate for their children; and n Encouraging parent* and community involvement.

* Parent may include adults who play an important role in a child’s family life since other adults (grandparents, aunts, uncles, or guardians) may carry the primary responsibility for a child’s health, welfare, education and safety.

Phone: (253) 565-2153 or 1-800-562-3804 Fax: (253) 565-7753

Website: www.wastatepta.org Email: wapta@wastatepta.org

Media Literacy Teaching Kids to Evaluate and Process Information Sexposure tudies have shown that children who have grown up with continual to violent television shows and video games are more aggressive, more likely to use physical violence as an approach to problems, less cooperative, and less empathetic to human suffering.

In addition, advertisements are known to fuel the materialistic desires of our children. Music can be a very influential factor in our children’s lives as well. Parents need to recognize the role that the media plays in their child’s development and help their children understand these influences and navigate through them.

Commercial Influences More than any other generation, our children have been bombarded with

The Child Advocate, November 2009

commercial influences at every corner--from product placements in movies, commercial sponsorships of events, Internet advertising, and spam emails to the traditional forms of advertising such as print ads, and television and radio commercials. As a result, our children need to become thoughtful of the products and lifestyles that these ads are promoting. n

Teach your children to be critical of advertisements.

Advertisements are designed to show viewers that they are lacking if they don’t have a product. Encourage children to think about what the commercial is trying to sell and challenge them to agree or disagree with the message. n Help your children notice things in commercials that will draw their attention. The use of special effects, lighting and provoc-

ative images lure viewers into their ads. When children understand that

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the purpose of the advertisement is to help sell a product, they are more able to see through the special effects and actually consider whether or not they need that product.

Media Violence Stunt effects. Make sure your children know that the action scenes they see on TV and in movies are produced using professional stunt men and women, and with special effects as well. Talk to them about the likelihood of the events actually happening in real life.

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Real life vs. TV. Talk to your children about how television shows and movies skip over the suffering that would be felt in real life--being maimed or burned in an action scene, or the pain a family would feel at the loss of just one individual.

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Select family movies and TV shows that don’t contain a lot of violence, inappropriate language, or have sexual content.

DVR your TV shows so you can fast forward through some scenes that may be too graphic in nature for your kids. Also preview movies and TV shows whenever you’re not sure if it’s something your children should see. The labels provide a guideline, but parents are ultimately responsible for deciding whether or not their children are old enough to view things. n

Choose carefully.

Developing Media Literacy Skills Television/Movies. Place boundaries on the content and the amount of screen time that children may have access to. Watch movies and TV shows together as a family. Mute commercials to allow for discussions about the show. In general, its best not to allow TVs in chil-

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dren’s bedrooms as it is too difficult to monitor what they are watching.

Email/Text Messaging. Instruct your children not to open any spam emails/attachments that are sent to them by someone they do not know. Talk to them about what spam is and how it can harm the computer and can be potentially harmful for them. If your children are getting threatening or harassing messages, contact your service provider.

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n Internet. With so much information at our disposal through the Internet, our children need to become informed on how to spot reliable sources of information and sort out the junk information that is also available. Point out to your children that websites sponsored by reputable organizations will likely have more reliable information than sites, such as wikipedia, that are written and changed by anonymous users. n Music/Radio. Music is probably the most difficult area for parents to monitor. Lyrics can contain messages of violence and sex. The problem is that some songs by an artist may be appropriate for children, and other songs by that same artist and on that same CD, may be completely inappropriate. The best course for parents is to help their kids be good monitors of what goes into their heads. Violent songs can desensitize your children to violence similar to the way watching violent TV shows or movies can, so parents need to warn their children to steer clear of these kinds of negative influences and encourage them to skip those songs on their CDs. n Video Games. Make sure your children’s video games aren’t violent in nature. Most video games now come with a ESRB rating to help parents determine whether or not a game is appropriate for their children. n

Electronic Games V ideo games, when in moderation, can provide a fun outlet for kids to play with their friends and family members, and can even help develop coordination. However, like any activity involving a “screen,” parents should establish limits for playing time to allow for other real-life activities as well.

Video Games New video games and systems are more active in nature and can actually help students develop higher fitness levels. In addition, most of the newer games also contain parentalcontrols that allow you to customize the game according to the ESRB rating that you permit in your house. Some games also allow students to play online with their friends.

In general, when selecting games for your children, look for the ESRB rating and a content description on the package. Avoid games that are violent in nature.

Educational Software Educational games for computers can provide younger learners with

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significant learning opportunities on a family’s personal computer.

Selecting good educational software that will engage kids in learning and at the same time be entertaining is a task that many parents have embarked on. A few good tips for parents are 1) to determine what your goals for the software are; 2) look for reviews in technology magazines; and 3) ask other parents what software their kids like. n

a Washington State PTA parent involvement magazine

Internet Safety The Internet provides kids with a wealth of information on any number of topics that can be used for educational purposes, however a curious click on a spam attachment can put your child in harm’s way. The most important measures parents can take in keeping kids safe on the Internet are: purchasing a good filtering software, keeping the computer in a public place in the house, and establishing some online boundaries for your children. Other more specific items in regards to internet safety are: accessing inappropriate material, cyber-bullying and becoming a target of crime and exploitation.

Inappropriate Material The volume and content of material inappropriate for children is so much greater than in the past. A simple error in typing a website can innocently take your child to a site that contains pornography. Parents

The Child Advocate, November 2009

need to prepare their children for the event that they will accidently land on an unintended site by telling them what to do: Turn off the screen or flip the laptop lid down and go tell mom or dad right away, or if they are at a friend’s house, tell their friend’s mom or dad. If this event happens, let them know that they didn’t do anything wrong.

Rules to establish with your children to avoid exposure to inappropriate material:

Don’t click on pop-ups from a website.

Never download games or pictures without a parent’s permission.

If you don’t know who sent an email, delete the message. Also tell your children that even if they know the sender, double-check that an attachment or link is safe to open by calling that individual. If their friend doesn’t remember sending them the attachment, delete the message.

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Cyber-bullying The Internet provides a more effective vehicle for spreading vicious rumors than traditional bullying. Cyber-bullying takes place in chat rooms, emails, text-messaging on cell phones, and on websites. It’s easy to be anonymous when kids are spreading a rumor online, and they are tempted to say things that they would not ordinarily say in real-life. Because of this anonymity and lack of discretion, students who otherwise may not engage in bullying might do so online.

In addition, because there may be 50 students from school in a chat room when a rumor is started, things can snowball for the victim very quickly. There is no relief from cyber-bullying as it invades a child’s home through emails and text messaging and it is very difficult for school officials to address.

Rules to establish with your children to avoid cyber-bullying: n

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Explain to them how you want them to behave in a chat room and in their text messages and emails.

If your children see cyber-bullying happening, instruct them never to engage in this behavior.

Instruct them not to respond to threatening, sexual, or harassing messages.

Encourage them to come to you when cyber-bullying is happening to themselves or others.

Targets of Crime and Exploitation Many websites geared for children have surveys, and children innocently believe they can provide answers to those surveys. By answering these surveys, students can have their identities stolen, or although infrequent, may make the children more vulnerable to a sexual predator.

Another hazard children encounter online is that a person they are talking to in a chatroom may not be who they say they are. Children may be persuaded to meet online friends in person.

Rules to establish with your children to avoid being targets of crime and exploitation: n

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Never give out identifying information in a chat room or social networking site or arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone you met online.

Be wary of an e-mail that looks like it is from a bank, or other trusted company but asks the recipient to verify or re-enter sensitive personal or financial information through e-mail, a website, or a phone number they provide. It is quite likely a scam.

If a person becomes abusive, or asks for a financial loan, report it.

Never share passwords, social security numbers, credit card information, and the like.

Get involved. If your kids are more media savvy than you are, ask them to show you what a chat room looks like, let them show you the sites they like to visit. n

3 Steps For Safe TV Viewing T

V Watch recently launched the “Parent-toParent” campaign, an initiative to raise awareness among parents about the information and technologies available to ensure their children are viewing television programs consistent with their age, and your family’s tastes and values. In particular, the Parent-To-Parent campaign is calling on parents to take three specific steps that include: 1. Set the parental controls on the televisions in children’s rooms. Setting the parental controls on those TV’s is an easy way to maintain control.

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2. When your child is going to a friend’s house, inform the other parents about your rating standard. While many parents are comfortable monitoring what their children watch in their own home, they might have concerns when it comes time for an afternoon or overnight visit at a friend’s house. A simple phone call, email or note is a great way to make sure values are protected outside your home.

tutorial found at www.TelevisionWatch.org that explains the content ratings, parental controls and gives tips that empower parents to take control of the programming their families watch. The tutorial can also be downloaded, emailed and printed so that parents can easily share it with other parents. n

3. Recommend “Television Tools for Parents 101” to other parents so they understand the ratings and, if they choose, how to set their parental controls. “Television Tools for Parents 101” is an online

TV Watch is a national broad-based, non-partisan coalition that promotes the use of tools like content ratings and parental controls over government control of TV programming

a Washington State PTA parent involvement magazine

Social Networking Do’s and Don’ts F acebook, My-Space or personal blogs provide a fun way for teens to stay connected.

However without boundaries, social networking sites can become problematic for students.

There have been instances where people have been fired from jobs because of inappropriate comments made on their profile pages or posts that they made on other people’s pages.

Remind your students that future employers or even college admissions offices could access information and photos they have posted on social networking sites.

Rules for Parents to Establish to Help Students Protect Their Identity n During communications in chat rooms, maintain anonymity by creating a nickname.

Don’t include your real name, phone number, where you work, or detailed location information in your email address. Additionally, don’t reveal any information that gives away your age such as your birth date or year of graduation. n Make sure your name is not exposed by your e-mail service on e-mail messages you send. (Your real name displays by default on many e-mail services, so whoever you e-mail can see your full name as well as your e-mail address. If this is the case, then either switch services to one that doesn’t do this or inquire about how to change this.) n Be smart about choosing pictures to display. Provocative pictures may attract the wrong people. Make sure that your images do not contain identifying information such as nearby landmarks or a T-shirt with your school or company logo. n If your child has a blog, make sure the blogging site has clear privacy and security policies, and outlines how the site will respond to reports of abuse. The site should also offer a way to control who has permission to see the blog, the ability to block harassing users and to turn on or off comments. Periodically review who has access to your children's blogs. n If your children’s friends have blogs, check out what your children’s friends write about to make sure they don’t give away personal details about your children.

Social Networking Do’s n When signing up for social networking services, carefully set the security settings to the highest levels so that no one can view your children’s personal information, photos, or status reports without their approval. n Just like in email, students need to learn to think before clicking on links and posted videos. If they have any question about whether or not an attachment is legitimate, they should not click on it as it could install

The Child Advocate, November 2009

a virus on their computer or take them to an inappropriate website. n Status updates can be fun, but make sure your teens know that you expect appropriate language and content on all of their posts. As a general rule of thumb, if they wouldn’t want their grandmother reading their post, then they shouldn’t be posting it. n Set limits on a student’s social networking activities. It is very easy to become addicted to this activity. Make sure your students know they need to have homework and other responsibilities completed first. n Help your students develop good common sense skills on what to post and what comments are appropriate. Help them be discerning so they don’t post braggy, sassy, and mean-spirited comments. n Sign up for a social networking site yourself and ask your children to be your “friend.” This is a fun way to stay connected with your children. n Children need to be 13 years old to join Facebook, YouTube and Myspace. However, there is an alternative for younger kids called FaceChipz, http://www.facechipz.com.

Social Networking Don’ts n Instruct your students not to post an address, school name, phone number or their real name on a friend’s profile page or blog. n Avoid answering quizzes and surveys on websites, even in social networking sites. These quizzes can compile information on you that can potentially be accessed by others outside of your circle of friends. n Online networking should never take the place of real-life socializing. Be sure to arrange real get-togethers with your children’s friends from time to time. n

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Good Etiquette for Electronic Communication T

Keep in mind that if you purchase a cell phone for your student and he receives a text message, you will be charged for that text, even if he did not send it. Unlimited texting has come down in cost and might be worthwhile for your family to look into, however even students with unlimited texting have to follow the family’s guidelines for when they’re allowed to send and read texts.

1. Establish rules for texting and emailing their friends.

3. Texts are not private.

ext messaging is a favorite method of communication among teens. While cell phones can be a great tool for parents of older students with busy lives, it can also be a challenge. Parents who are entering this phase of their children’s lives should establish a few boundaries.

One example: no texting friends during homework hours, during school hours, during family meal-times, or on family vacations. Of course, if you don’t allow your children to text their friends during these instances, you should lead by example and not text your friends as well. Students should also know that it’s rude to be talking on their cell phone at a restaurant, in line at the store, or texting a friend when they are face to face with another friend. Another rule might be that students are not allowed to send any photo that is inappropriate, or any text or email that is vulgar, harassing, or mean-spirited. Basically, don’t say anything that you wouldn’t say in person.

2. Establish firm guidelines for cell minutes and texting limits. Establish how many text messages/cell minutes they are

allowed each month, and what happens if they go over their limit.

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Parents have the right and the responsibility to look at any text their children send or receive, any email or attachment, and to view any numbers they call. It is a parent’s job to monitor cell phone usage and kids need to know that their texts are not private. This will ensure that they follow your guidelines.

4. Other useful etiquette tips. Texts should be short and to the point. If your children have a lot to say, instruct them to either call or email the individual. Don’t fill up someone’s text in-box with forwarded chain pieces. Some people don’t have unlimited texts and would not appreciate this. Phones should be kept in silent mode if your students receive a lot of texts. If someone doesn’t respond to a text and it’s something important, encourage your children to pick up the phone and call the person instead. n

a Washington State PTA parent involvement magazine