SOCIALLY unacceptable
What parents need to know about popular apps
It has become an integral part of how Americans connect. Recent data compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that social-media venues such as Facebook and Twitter have surpassed email as the preferred method of communication in all age groups.
Apps such as Whisper, Secret and Yik Yak offer users the ability to post messages anonymously without accountability, thus creating easy opportunities for cyber bullying.
Kristy Kennedy, children’s program coordinator at Counseling Associates in Conway, suggests that communication and awareness are the first steps to prevention of a teen’s inappropriate behavior.
“It’s real important to have an honest discussion,” Kennedy said. “Help them understand the impact. I don’t think kids understand the long-term impact of some of the things they say.”
Kennedy said parents need to not only familiarize themselves with the technologies being used but also know who is using them.
“Know your child,” Kennedy said. “Keep a dialogue open about what they are doing online. Stay current on what’s popular, and help them understand that it’s not always just fun. There are detrimental and damaging things that can be said and done.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that parents learn about technologies firsthand and let teens know that their use of technology is something their parents want and need to know about.
Kennedy said parents need to alter their way of thinking beforehand in order to be effective in monitoring their children’s activities.
“Parents often assume that their child would never do something like that,” Kennedy said. “They assume their child is innocent and would never hurt anybody. A lot of times children do hurt each other, not purposefully, just not really realizing.”
During the last school year, a Russellville Middle School student was arrested for terroristic threatening after utilizing the app ask.fm, which allows users to ask and answer questions anonymously.
According to the Russellville School District’s written technology policy, there are measures in place to prevent using technologies to bully or communicate inappropriately with others. The policy states that “respect for the dignity of others is a cornerstone of civil society.”
Russellville schools, as with many other Arkansas districts, also require students to sign an Internet-use agreement. That agreement states the prohibition of “using abusive or profane language in private messages on the system; or using the
It’s real important to have an honest discussion. Help them understand the impact. I don’t think kids understand the long-term impact of some of the things they say.”
KRISTY KENNEDY CHILDREN’S PROGRAM COORDINATOR COUNSELING ASSOCIATES, CONWAY
system to harass, insult or verbally attack others.”
In Conway, K.K. Bradshaw, who serves as the district’s director of administrative services, which also drapes over the technology department of the Conway School District, said there are protocols in place, not only within the technologies available, but also in the teaching of the children using them.
“It comes down to professional conduct and our code of ethics that is promulgated by our licensure board,” Bradshaw said. “It’s not about the venue; it’s more about professional conduct.”
With the size of the Conway schools, Bradshaw said, navigating through the regulation of specific social-media accounts has become difficult.
Bradshaw did say that Conway has taken measures to ensure the security and monitoring of what students are doing online.
“We have layered levels of security,” Bradshaw said. “In our bring your own device (BYOD) network, things like Facebook are blocked.”
There are also different types of filtering in place, including firewalls to impede students from getting onto the Internet unmonitored.
Bradshaw said sometimes, not even the district’s filtering measures are enough for technology-savvy students.
“We also monitor traffic,” Bradshaw said, “particularly at the secondary schools.”
Adults in computer labs can also monitor all screens in use, as well as freeze them and take screenshots if deemed necessary.
“Once we started that several years ago, the kids tried, but they figured out they are going to get caught,” Bradshaw said.