Young people today are the first generation to grow up in the electronic world where the Internet is an integral part of each day.

Their main activities involve downloading or listening to music, communicating with one another or playing games.

When asked by Media Awareness Network in the survey Young Canadians in a Wired World, most kids from 9 to 17 years replied that they learned how to use the Internet alone or with their friends. In many cases, they are much more adventurous than adults dare or know how to be. They take risks and explore without limitations. To learn more about the risky behaviours of young surfers, consult the highlights of the survey Young Canadians in a Wired World (linked to in the right sidebar).

The role of librarians and parents is to assist young people to develop critical thinking skills that protect their privacy and to learn navigational skills that prevent them from getting into content that is inappropriate.

To be able to understand and interpret our roles, let’s look at the general findings of the survey on what kids do online.

Kids’ Online Activities and Associated Risks

Communication

For many kids who responded to the 2001 MNet survey, the Internet is first and foremost a communication tool. Using e-mail, instant messaging and chat rooms, they can communicate with their friends, their family and their new Internet acquaintances. While the communication tools offer a window on the world, they are not without risks.

Let’s make clear from the outset that e-mail and instant messaging do not hold out many risks for children. If they are supervised when they register for these services there are actually few risks, as long as they do not give out personal information that allows them to be identified and to receive messages of a sexual nature. Additional protection can be given through filters and a controlled list of correspondents, to ensure that they are surfing in a safe environment with friends and acquaintances.

In contrast, chat rooms are not safe. Most of them are developed for adults; they offer space for private conversations that are not supervised. When they are supervised, a robot or individual acts as a moderator and expels any surfer who makes malicious comments.

Entertainment

Entertainment comes second, after communication, as kids’ preferred Internet activity. They use the Internet to play games or to download or listen to music. This latter activity is not without its risks, since many viruses can be caught by sharing files other than MP3 files).

The exchange of MP3 files raises the important ethical issue of copyright. It goes without saying that kids should be aware of the fact that there is a law to protect creators and their works.

Navigation and Online Research

Most parents (66%) surveyed by MNet in 2000 think that online research for homework is kids’ main activity.

The Young Canadians in a Wired World survey demonstrated, from the kids’ perspective, that this is not the case. In fact, very few kids make online research for homework their first preference. (To learn more, consult the document Kids' Online Activities: Key Findings linked to in the right sidebar.

When it comes time to do a search, however, the Internet is the place of first choice. Although they are very savvy with new technologies, very few kids know how to use different search tools. When searching for a particular site or piece of information, they often just write the name in the Web address and then add a “.com” or “.ca”.

This method brings with it a number of surprises, because pornographic sites often use addresses very close to those of kids’ favourite sites or addresses surrounding kids’ sites.

When kids use search engines, they formulate their strategy with a couple of keywords. This is a good start, but they may receive undesirable results, because some pornographic or hate sites use exactly the same popular keywords to steer them to their site.

To minimize risks, provide children with a list of kids’ sites and explain how to bookmark their favourites. Teach them how to do an advanced search and, particularly, how to react to a site inappropriate for their age, if they come upon one.

Privacy: A Major Challenge for Kids’ Activities on the Internet

Whether it is in using some of the communications tools or in surfing the Net, young people are not aware that they should not give away certain personal information.

Kids freely give their personal information (name, age, e-mail address, etc) and their photo to people they do not know on the Internet. For example, in a discussion group of 12- and 13-year-old girls, MNet asked if they would give personal information in a chat room. In response the girls said that they would only give it “if they had confidence in the person.” When asked how much time they would need to gain confidence in the person, the replies varied from 15 minutes to 3 weeks! By acting in this way, kids expose themselves to harassment on the Net and some pedophiles take advantage of their willingness to trust by developing a relationship with the child in order to arrange a face-to-face meeting.

Young people are also asked to provide personal information when they fill in registration forms to take part in a competition or to receive free software, when they take personality tests, or when they reply to surveys found on many commercial sites. The vulnerability of young people is put to the test; 21% say that they give their name and address in order to win a prize. Yet almost half (45%) of these same respondents have a house rule that forbids them to reveal personal information. Clearly, they become tempted and are not conscious of the danger to themselves.

To prevent children from giving out too much personal information and becoming harassed by marketing specialists or by new acquaintances met on the Net, teach them how to protect their privacy. To do so, consult the following documents (linked to in the right sidebar): A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety, Online Predators, , and Filling Out Online Registration Forms, as well as the Web site Kidz Privacy.

THE ISSUES

Internet Security

Cybermarketing and Personal Privacy on the Internet

Research and the Evaluation of Online Information

Internet Citizenship

BECOMING INVOLVED

Web Awareness for Parents

Web Awareness for Young People