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economist suntribune social issues saturday june 15 2002 protecting your child in cyberspace many may spend summer surfing without adult supervision by lisa queen staff writer two weeks from now joyous kids will come streaming out of school singing the old refrain no more pen cils no more books no more teachers dirty looks it will mark the start of summer vacation nine weeks of bliss before youngsters head back to the class room to face another school year of reading riting and rithmatic but while some kids have got their summers mapped out for them activities with their fami lies and friends camp or days at the cottage education experts are worried about the ones with too much unstructured time on their hands according to a national study of 5600 kids internet use by the ottawabased agency media awareness network mnet many children will be surfing in cyber space this summer without adult supervision 99 per cent use net they may find themselves in any number of inappropriate places while using their comput ers including adult chat rooms or websites devoted to pornography violence or bigotry mnet research has found 99 per cent of canadian kids between the ages of nine and 17 have used the internet almost half of children use the internet at home for at least an hour a day almost threequarters have at least one email account and many have accounts their parents dont know about playing and downloading music is the favourite activity hanging out in chat rooms is another top activity with a third of kids saying they often go to adult chat rooms although parents believe homework is the primary reason their children go online kids say thats eighth on the list of reasons why they use the internet more than a third of nine and 10yearolds and 57 per cent of 13 and 14yearolds are alone most of the time when using the net some children report posting hateful comments or material about other kids on the internet york regional police det rob thomson with the child abuse unit said parents need to be aware of risks their children face when staff photorob alary grade 7 student brittany baker believes children are generally far more knowledgable about computers than their parents which may explain why they can access websites their parents would prefer they didnt using computers unsupervised child porn on the internet is growing theres no doubt about it ive seen anything from six to eightmonthsold up to 18 years of age being sexually abused det thomson complained one of the biggest problems with the internet is its anonymity last year for example he said police received a complaint from a markham man who while on a chat line was offered a sixyearold mentally disabled child as a sex toy police were unable to trace the complaint i have two kids i know my kids are not allowed on without myself or my wife there det thomson said i dont allow my nine-year- old daughter into any chat lines glenn dipasquale chief psy chologist for york regions public school board said for many par ents sending their children to camp or signing them up for activi ties all summer is not affordable that means thousands of chil dren with working parents will be home alone this summer although it is illegal to leave youngsters under age 12 home without supervision because many parents are afraid to let their children play out side without adult supervision many of those youngsters are instructed to remain inside many many families face this issue of kids alone all summer clearly the children are going to gravitate to tv video games and computers mr dipasquale said we used to refer to them as latchkey children this issue of kids being home alone as soon as we got into a cultural lifestyle where two parents work some parents leave their children alone because they have no choice and spend all day worrying about them the internet has allowed us access to the really seamy underbelly of society its unbelievable the level of disgust while he stressed the internet is a marvelous tool for kids to research any number of topics from music to sports he also warned there are many dangers the internet has allowed us access to the really seamy under belly of society its unbelievable the level of disgust mr dipasquale said newmarkets brittany baker a 12yearold grade 7 student believes part of the problem stems from the fact children are generally far more knowledgable about com puters than their parents yeah usually they are on the computer a lot so they learn more than their parents would learn said brittany who acknowledged she and some of her friends have inadvertently gotten on to inap propriate websites shes concerned about the pit falls kids face while surfing on computers it worries me because i have a little brother and i dont want him to see things he shouldnt mr dipasquale agreed its a world thats evolving so quickly technologyspeaking kids are on the leading edge and par ents arent in many cases todd wright the school boards curriculum coordinator for infor mation technology said parents concern about the media in which their children are exposed has been around for decades but the internet has exacerbat ed that level of worry especially since it is so easy for computer users of any age to lose track of the time they are spending in front of the screen our world was once contained to a certain community tv took us to a very large world and we found we didnt like everything that went on in that larger world and now we have the internet that brings the world into a childs bedroom mr wright said mr wright and mr dipasquale pointed out there is software avail able to block children from access ing certain websites but filter software isnt a cureall by any means for example porn- nappers can take a previously legitimate website whose owners have let their licence lapse and turn it into something seedy what used to be a site devoted to cars could safe surfing glenn dipasquale chief psychologist for york regions public school board and todd wright school board curriculum coordinator for information technology offered suggestions for parents concerned about their childrens use of computers including make sure the computer is in a hightraffic area of the house where adults can keep an eye on what is viewed ensure you communicate with your chil dren about what you feel is inappropriate use of technology they will develop that level of discomfort about wjiat is wrong mr wright said purchase filter software but dont rely exclusively on it learn where the history button on your internet browser program is so you can visit websites your children have used get your computersawy kids to teach you how to do this if theyre reluctant that may be your first clue they are trying to hide their computer use from you make sure you know all of your childrens email accounts dont limit your concern to the computer what tv shows movies and music do your children enjoy set a timer so kids and adults time is limited to an hour or 90 minutes lead by example so your children dont see you accessing websites chat rooms or email that is questionable teach your child to turn off the computer and walk away if they get into a loop of inappropriate material they cant exit teach kids information posted on websites and in emails is opinion or advertising not fact its like learning to be an intelligent consumer when watching tv commercials or looking at print ads become a white supremacist site the renowned canadian white supremacist ernst zundels of the world have been given the vehicle to bring that into my home mr wright said the key to protecting children according to mr wright and mr dipasquale is for parents to com municate with their children about appropriate use of tv video games and computers at the same time parents need to do some homework of their own so they can check what sites their children have been on and moni tor email accounts there is a certain amount of policing parents have to do and they have to be a bit savvy to do it parents have a responsibility to become a little bit computer liter ate mr dipasquale said these are hard issues there are no easy answers its the price we pay for falling headlong into the technology of the future cn js 4 heritage road markham ont l3p 1 m4 hi boatorahlp jutaraettifo for gm ford chrysler toyota honda mazda nissan kia suzuki hyundai isuzu fy buoockdr s s 4 hriuondu i h7 accredited 9054725100 lotssr chech us out at wwwmarkhamautocom