Posted by Mike Archer on Tuesday, January 8, 2013,
In :
cyber bullying
As I prepare for the year ahead, my mind focuses on the hot topics that related to the internet in 2012. Cyber bullying was right up there in 2012, so I wonder what we will see regarding this topic in 2013.
Cyber bulling was rife throughout the majority of schools in New Zealand last year. Some schools asked us to particularly focus on Facebook bullying in our internet safety presentations as this was where many problems lay.
Some teachers told me they spent a considerable amount of time ... Continue reading ...
File and folder management is now one area of technology which is a rising concern for businesses today. Traditionally, files and folders containing sensitive information were locked in a special filing cabinet, possibly in the office of a manager, where only certain people had access to the key and files within.
Updating any file within the cabinet was simple. Find the file using the index, and then add information to the file. Anyone looking at that file can clearly see the additional in... Continue reading ...
 Are you or your children addicted to the
internet? This topic has been discussed a lot in the past and is being talked
about a lot more.
As the internet becomes more accessible,
and the way we access the internet becomes more portable, people have a lot
more opportunity to be online. Many city precincts now provide free wifi. Most
cafes provide free wifi and cities are being flooded at key locations with free
wireless hotspots.
Most of us have a smart phone that is
internet ready and por... Continue reading ...
Posted by Mike Archer on Wednesday, August 15, 2012,
In :
cyber bullying
In August 2012 the New Zealand Law Commission released
its report on Harmful Digital Communications. This report has many
recommendations on how to stamp out the problem, which is also linked to self-harm
and suicides.
WebSafety NZ applaudes the report and say it is a long
time coming, and will go far in helping address the issues. The Government is
finally taking cyberbullying seriously and we are very pleased.
In a nutshell, the details are:
·
A new electronic communication... Continue reading ...
Whether you know it or not, Facebook is losing its
appeal with teens. Just as parents start to understand what Facebook is all
about, and create a profile of their own to keep an eye on their children’s
activities, children have decided that it’s no longer cool to be on a social
networking site where your parents hangout.
While it is not uncommon for teens to have multiple
Facebook profiles, the novelty of using a social networking site to chat to
their friends, and know their parents... Continue reading ...
I found it very
interesting last week when speaking to Year 7 and 8 students about internet
safety. I had an opportunity to ask various questions on the subject, which
allowed me to get a feel for the state of play.
I asked how many students
have computers in their bedrooms that they use, and about 10% of them raised
their hand. Not only was I surprised, I was also disappointed. There have been
numerous articles, reports and information in the media that point to the fact
that getting the... Continue reading ...
Businesses today are faced with a dilemma. How do they
maintain a positive culture in their working environment while maintaining
productivity and profits in their business?
Internet access is seen as a ‘right’ for many folk
these days and businesses are often unaware of the potential lost productivity
unmanaged internet access amounts to.
WebSafety NZ Owner, Dean Stewart says that around 70%
of staff spend around 1.5hrs surfing non-work related sites outside of break
times. “Take... Continue reading ...
Did you know that everything you say and do online has
an impact on your reputation? The internet is a huge collection of detailed
information and you might be surprised at how much information about each one
of us can have an impact on how we are perceived as an individual.
Statistics coming out of the US suggest that 48% of
recruiters and HR professionals use the internet to search personal websites
when deciding whether or not to hire you. Blogs, websites and social media
sites are all... Continue reading ...
Posted by Mike Archer on Thursday, April 19, 2012,
In :
Sexting
Golden Bay High School was recently in the media
for a sexting incident at the school. The incident resulted in police
involvement and the temporary suspension of the students who forwarded the
content to other students.
The school said
the incident occurred outside class hours and off its property, raising issues
for parents and teachers.
Sexting is the act
of taking a nude or ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Mike Archer on Thursday, March 22, 2012,
In :
cyber bullying
Cyberbullying
is the use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a
deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner.
It
is the biggest threat to a child in the world they live in today, with over 50%
of children being affected by some form of cyberbullying in their life.
It
is a problem all over the world and very much alive in New Zealand schools.
The
availa... Continue reading ...
At first you may be surprised!
Encouraging kids to be on social networking sites? I know how busy our
children’s lives can be between school, homework, after-school activities and
friends. So you might wonder “when” I’d suggest your child would have time to be online.
Well, that time is any time your
child has screen time available to them. Whether it’s the TV, the Xbox,
... Continue reading ...
“2012 is going to be a great year!” How many times
have we heard that at the start of each year? Many? Well, that may be so, but I
believe it will be much better than the previous, and it is important to always
look forward.
As internet speed becomes faster and access easier,
internet safety becomes more important than ever. That’s why we’ve come up with
our Top 7 Internet... Continue reading ...
Internet
safety is often associated with keeping children safe while using the internet.
Fantastic. But why is it that many parents have a perception that the focus
around internet safety starts when their child turns 11 or 12 years of age?
Is
there a perception that children under the age of 10 are not capable of getting
themselves into trouble online? Are we aware about unfiltered search engines,
unmonitored social networking sites, mixed media sites and the ease of how
young ones can stum... Continue reading ...
Identifying when staff are using the internet for
excessive personal use can be difficult. Businesses take various approaches in
managing internet usage in the workplace. Some can apply rigid restrictions
while others may choose to block a handful of sites such as www.trademe.co.nz and www.facebook.com
Most businesses take the approach that a small amount
of personal surfing is a... Continue reading ...
Posted by Mike Archer on Saturday, October 15, 2011,
In :
Sexting
While
doing some research for my next blog article, I came across a story from 2009,
where Peter Cumming, an associate professor at York
University in Toronto, presented a paper on children's
sexuality at the 78th Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
In it,
he defends the practice as a modern variation on "playing doctor or
spin-the-bottle." What a load of crap!
Spin th... Continue reading ...
 Why do
we often find it hard to say NO? Is it because we don’t want to hurt someone’s
feelings? Are we afraid of rejection? Or maybe to avoid conflict? Perhaps it’s
a combination of all three.
As a business
owner, we are faced with the same situation. There are many times we say NO for
various reasons. However, many businesses fail to say NO when it comes to
technology.
When
it comes to business technology, saying NO is communicated to staff through an Acceptable Use policy
. Such a p... Continue reading ...
Social networking
is a huge part of all of our lives these days. In New Zealand, there are over 2
million users on Facebook alone. It may be to connect with old friends, keep in
touch with existing friends or promoting a business, but social networking
sites prove valuable.
Whether it’s Twitter,
LinkedIn, Google plus or Facebook, these sites are a powerful tool for
networking, and influence our lives daily.
On the other hand, when
it comes to young children, we want to make sure that they... Continue reading ...
In March and April, Knowledge Networks asked 535 pairs of parents and their teens a number of questions about Internet use. The results were interesting:
- 28% of teens believe their parents are not checking their Web browsing history. But of these teens, 41% of their parents say they are in fact checking it.
- 49% of teens say they don’t know if their parents are monitoring their Internet browsing. Of these, 66% of their parents say they are monitoring them.
- 64% of parents say they moni...
Continue reading ...
Posted by Mike Archer on Tuesday, August 30, 2011,
In :
cyber bullying
Anyone surfing the internet without
filtering software and browser search options set to ‘strict’ or ‘moderate’ risk having the
results returned that may contain objectionable material.
Children often stumble on such material
when doing their homework. A minor spelling mistake in the search string or
words that may infer another meaning are often linked to pornographic material.
Stumbling... Continue reading ...
Parents are being bombarded with information on this
subject. Two weeks ago we heard of a boy in Australia who retaliated after
being bullied for many years, and the video was uploaded to YouTube.
Last week we saw images of two girls at a North Island school in a vicious fight, including one taking
kicks to the head that left her bleeding from the ears.
“Children
are still lea... Continue reading ...
Bullying has been around for many years and for some
time was accepted as part of being a kid. If you were bullied it was something
you just had to deal with. 
Today, that is no longer accepted. Many of us
understand the trauma the victim goes through. The anxiety, stress, pai... Continue reading ...
Posted by Mike Archer on Monday, February 14, 2011,
In :
formspring
It’s almost the
end of the year. Fantastic! The kids
have completed their exams and we are winding down at work, looking forward to
a well deserved break.
We plan to put
our feet up, relaxing and taking time out, while our kids keep themselves
occupied by digging in the garden, flying their kite, playing outside with the
kids in the street, kicking a ball around the park with their mates and getting
...
Continue reading ...
Posted by WebSafety NZ on Friday, October 8, 2010,
In :
facebook
With the eminent demise of Bebo ( www.bebo.com) , children are creating profiles on Facebook at a younger age. Facebook requires a user to be at least 13 years of age but children are giving false information about their age to allow them to create a profile. In some instances, children as young as 9 or 10 are on Facebook.
In most cases, parents have no idea what their children are doing on the internet. Many of us assume our children are too well behaved to go behind our back and do somet... Continue reading ...
Posted by WebSafety NZ on Saturday, October 2, 2010,
In :
facebook
Facebook in New Zealand is growing at an alarming rate. We now have almost 1.7 million users! Looking at the data more closely, it is great to see that over 45,000 of these users are 65 or older. I congratulate this group and it is a great way for them to not only embrace technology, but also keep in touch with family.
The results also show that 29,000 users fall into the age group of 13 or younger. Given that a user must be at least 13 to join Facebook, I wonder how many children are on F... Continue reading ...
As a parent, we want the best for our children. We want our kids to grow up in a healthy environment. We protect our children from harm, shield them from dangers, and make sure they are looked after when we are not around. So why do we not apply the same principles when it comes to the internet? Statistics show that only a third of parents have any form of Parental Control software on their home computers. Is it because parents are unaware of such software? Or is it because parents think they... Continue reading ...
Parents often feel they are loosing touch with technology and their kids will always know more than they do when it comes to the internet.
Parents can feel more comfortable if they take a step back and look at the internet technology from a single view. It does not matter what the new service is, the behavior should always be the same. We need to teach our children to be SAFE CYBER CITIZENS. It was only in the last 10 years that Chat Rooms were popular, and the norm. We then progressed to... Continue reading ...
Given that the popularity of Bebo is on the downward trend, and that in a few years it may be gone forever, Facebook is ever more popular.
Unfortunately, this popularity is resulting in younger members. A user should be 13 years of age at least, to create a Facebook account. Yet children are getting around this by manipulating their birthdate, to make out they are older than what they actually are. We are seeing children as young as 10 now on Facebook!
This is of concern, and it is importan... Continue reading ...
Connecting to the Internet via a cellphone is not a new thing, but it is a growing trend. One of the reasons for this is that technology has come a long way.
Most cell phones are coming out with some kind of operating system on. The popular standard is either a Symbian operating system or the Windows Operating system.
As data becomes cheaper to transmit, kids are going to be all over the internet on their mobile phones. Parents are only starting to grasp the concept that they need some f... Continue reading ...
Posted by WebSafety NZ on Thursday, September 9, 2010,
In :
cyber bullying
Bullying has been around for many years, and it will be around for many years to come. However, with the advent of technology has come new ways to bully.
Cyber bullying is the intentional bullying of another person through electronic means. On a computer it may be through social networking sites, instant messaging, forums, blogs, chat rooms and email. Off the computer it is done through mobile phones.
Cyber bullying is the number one concern facing children today. Recent studies conduct... Continue reading ...
We know technology is always on the move, and new ways to do things surface all the time. As parents, we often struggle to keep up with the pace.
Anonymous surfing has been around for some time. The latest web browsers have 'private surfing' features built into them, and will hide all references to sites visited.
There are external 'proxy' sites, whereby any internet address typed in, cannot be tracked. Anyone I find using such sites are covering something up, in my opinion.
There are 'T... Continue reading ...
Posted by WebSafety NZ on Friday, September 3, 2010,
In :
cyber bullying
Cyber bullying is bullying. Its still in its infancy, but growing fast. Its bullying via an electronic medium, either by cell phone or computer. It may be nasty, mean or offensive messages sent by text, instant messaging, email, or on any other electronic medium.
What may start out as a harmless prank, can soon spiral into a taunting and destructive scenario. Cyber bullying is relentless, sees no boundaries, and causes great damage mentally and phsycologically.
Text messages spread very... Continue reading ...
Children spend hours on the internet, and parents often don't know what they are doing. There is a growing gap between what parents THINK their kids are doing on the internet, and what they are ACTUALLY doing. Social networking sites are huge for our children these days. Its all about communication and keeping in touch. It is often the case where kids try to out-do each other in the number of connections or 'friends' they have, attached to their profile. My 15 year old daughter has 342 connec... Continue reading ...
Posted by Dean Stewart on Friday, September 3, 2010,
Online gambling has been around for many years in the form of sites hosting online poker and the like. Such sites have flashy pop-up ads that attract young people. These sites will often offer free credits when joining. This allows the user to experience the thrill of winning, without having them pay any money. People quickly get hooked, and very soon are buying credits with a credit card. These sites are authenticating a user based on their ability to provide credit card information. Since... Continue reading ...
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