"Common Sense Media founder Steyer (The Other Parent: The Inside Story of
the Media's Effect on Our Children, 2002) addresses common concerns of
many parents in managing the online lives of their children. Keeping
track of the privacy and security aspects of social-media accounts can
feel like a shell game for even the most astute Internet user. This
seems especially true with regard to Facebook, whose enormous membership
of 800 million users, coupled with their erratic shifting of privacy
settings, has changed Mark Zuckerberg's college-dorm project into a
potentially dangerous destination for millions of teenagers. Computer
and Internet education in elementary schools has given young people a
formidable working knowledge of technology that often outpaces that of
their parents--and of their own ability to judge the safety of what
personal information they put on the Internet. Steyer is well positioned
to write cogently on this subject. As a parent and founder of an
organization working to empower Internet consumers to protect
themselves, he brings a pragmatic approach to managing adolescent
Internet activity. Recognizing the likely futility of "banning the
Internet" for today's kids, the author instead focuses on educating
parents about "R.A.P."--relationships, attention/addiction problems and
privacy--with case-study examples and concrete suggestions on
appropriate guidelines to set for children organized by age groups. The
approach includes recognizing and building on the positive aspects of
social media, which will help minimize the negative aspects. Some of
Steyer's recommendations are bigger-picture suggestions--e.g.,
challenging elected officials to take a serious look at updating the
nation's privacy laws. A useful, nuts-and-bolts handbook for concerned
parents." (Kirkus Reviews)
Check Our Catalog
No comments:
Post a Comment