Articles Archive - 2007

Bringing parents up to speed on the Internet

Canadian Home and School Federation and Media Awareness Network launches workshops to help parents manage their kids' online world

Did you know that:

• 20 percent of Grade 4 students have their own Internet-connected computer, and half of those computers have webcams attached;
• 90 percent of kids' favourite Web sites have registration procedures in which they're asked to identify themselves, typically by first and last name, age, gender, and email address; and
• almost one-third of kids' favourite Web sites incorporate material that is violent (28 percent) or highly sexualized (32 per cent)?

These compelling statistics are from Canada's largest-ever survey of kids' Internet use, conducted by Media Awareness Network (MNet) in 2005. The survey of 5,200 students, in Grades 4 to 11, raised concerns about young people's Internet activities and the issues they face when they go online. At the same time, there were encouraging findings about the positive impact of parental involvement.

Many parents today feel ill-equipped to help their children with their online explorations because kids are so far ahead of adults when it comes to using the technology. However the majority of students surveyed said they want adult involvement and thought that schools and parents have a role to play in protecting them from certain kinds of online content and activities. As well, the survey showed that having rules about specific Internet activities makes a considerable difference, especially for younger children.

With these findings in mind, MNet approached the Canadian Home and School Federation (CHSF) in 2006 to partner on a national school-based program - Parenting the Net Generation - to educate parents about kids' Internet use.

Through the program, which was made possible with the support of Bell Canada, Parenting the Net Generation workshops are available free to parent councils in every province and territory until July 2008. The workshops look at the challenges kids face online and provide tools and solutions to help parents positively manage Internet use in the home.

The workshop comes with a facilitator's guide containing handouts for participants and tips for hosting a successful event. Topics covered in the workshop include: cyber bullying, privacy, the use of social networking sites, online marketing aimed at kids and how to tell if online information is true.

To access the Parenting the Net Generation workshop in Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon please contact licensing@media-awareness.ca. For all other provinces, contact your provincial representative of the Canadian Home and School Federation listed on their Web site at: hhttp://www.canadianhomeandschool.com/.

For further information on this program, contact the Canadian Home and School Federation at chsf@bellnet.ca

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Canadian Home and School Federation
Canadian Home and School Federation is the national voice of parents and promotes excellence in public education as well as the social well being of children and youth.

Media Awareness Network
Media Awareness Network is a national, non-profit education organization that strives to ensure children and youth possess the necessary critical thinking skills and tools to understand and actively engage with media.

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