CyberSafety Online: Tips From The Inside Out Via eModeration (Part 2)

Nov. 26, 2009 Who’s minding the kids online? What’s ‘moderation’ got to do with it? It doesn’t take a retro flashback to know that “Kids say the darndest things,” but who is there to help them online when they do? In part one, we summed media literacy’s vital role in online safety to create global citizens from the get go, and in part two today, we’re diving a bit deeper … [Read more...]

FCC Chair Receives Our Coalition Letter on Product Placement

Sept. 24, 2009 Shaping Youth is part of this coalition (15pp pdf here) joining over 50 signatories on "FCC Docket 08-90." As a nonpartisan, non-censorship, nonprofit recall I support two key coalitions impacting children, the other being eco-literacy, NCLI. You can get a glimpse of my reasoning here, but I'll focus fully on "'why this is important" deconstructing the … [Read more...]

Back to School Supplies: Which Retailers Make the Green Grade?

Sept. 6, 2009 You’ve all seen that Staples ad with the prancing papa gleefully sending his offspring back to school, right? Well, now it’s time to see if Staples is one of the big box retailers that ‘made the grade’ in Forest Ethics’ annual 2009 green grades report card, evaluating the multi-billion dollar office supply sector. Not everyone has a ‘mobile app’ to make … [Read more...]

Privo Privacy Vault: How Safe is Kids Digital Data? Part 2

July 14, 2009 Yesterday in my Part One preamble to the interview with Privo executives, I tried to give an overview of how 'kids online safety' is more than 'balancing safety and fun' it's politics, it's opportunistic marketing, it's regulatory, and...it's complicated. With dogged tenacity here's my attempt to sort out how to keep kids safe online (for parents, as well as … [Read more...]

Digital Data Mining 101: Echometrix Takes Kids’ Pulse

July 8, 2009 Still focused on "child predator" panic on the internet? I'd focus more on white collar stalkers like Echometrix, ubiquitous in far greater numbers, if I were you. Imagine digital tracking of every pop culture cue and kids' conversation in "real time" mode, self-described in their Echometrix blog as "opinion mining and sentiment analysis," to tap the "$190 billion … [Read more...]