Generation Y & Technology:
What’s Going On?
Presented by:
Dr. Holly Nikels
Michele Aurand
To:
Geneseo Schools
February 27, 2008
Tonight’s Agenda/Objectives :

Identify some characteristics of today’s youth
culture, especially Technology use

Discuss Cyber-Bullying vs Bullying Behaviors

“Tour” of Social Networking Sites

Information about Keeping Kids Safe online

Resources: On-Line and Community
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Who is Generation Y?
•
First and foremost, it was important to recognize
that today’s youth are a culture in and of
themselves. Known as “Generation Y”, today’s
youth number approximately 60 million.
•
Originally coined by teen expert Eric Chester,
Generation Y is typified by youth who continually
question the standards and expectations imposed
by society
• Why does it matter?
• Why should I care?
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Generation Y

The National School Safety Center (2002) defined
the culture of today’s youth as:

They are roughly between the ages of 4 and 22.

They have been using computers since before they
were in kindergarten.

They will be the bulk of the population within the next
20 years.
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Generation Y & Technology



Research show that 53% of Generation Y
goes online everyday
73% report being on-line five or more days a
week.
Teens use the InterNet to




send e-mail (82%);
exchange IM’s (72%);
do homework (71%) and
play on-line games (65%)
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GENERATION Y & TECHNOLOGY

Today’s youth are more technologically savvy
than any other generation…

As such, they are susceptible to issues related to
cyber-bullying, social networking sites and online safety…
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For example..

89% of sexual solicitations are made in either chat
rooms or Instant Messages

20% of children age 10-17 have received unwanted
sexual solicitations online; that's one out of every
five kids

75% of youth who received an online sexual solicitation did
not tell a parent

4,000,000 children are posting content to the Web
everyday

15,000,000 youth use Instant Messaging
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More examples…

95% of parents didn't recognize the lingo kids use to
let people know that their parents are watching

81% of parents of online youth say that kids aren't
careful enough when giving out information about
themselves online

76% of parents don't have rules about what their
kids can do on the computer

65% of parents believe that kids do things online
that they wouldn't want their parents to know about
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How Technologically Savvy
are you??
Working in groups of 3-5 people, look
at the following InterNet acronyms
and Text messaging terms and decide
what you think they mean:
InterNet Acronyms & Text Terms
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
143 :
182 :
420 :
CD9 :
MorF :
MOS :
P911 :
PAL :
PAW :
PIR :
POS :
F2F :
LOL :
GNOC :
KPC :
LMIRL :
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
143 - I love you
182 - I hate you
420 - refers to marijuana
CD9 - Code 9 = parents are around
MorF - Male or Female
MOS - Mom Over Shoulder
P911 - Parent Alert
PAL - Parents Are Listening
PAW - Parents Are Watching
PIR - Parent In Room
POS - Parent Over Shoulder
F2F - Face To Face
LOL - Laugh Out Loud
GNOC - Get Naked On Cam (webcam)
KPC - Keeping Parents Clueless
LMIRL - Let's Meet In Real Life
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Bullying and
Cyber-Bullying
Bullying Defined

Bullying takes place on school premises or
while traveling to or from school

Victim is harmed by the physical, verbal or
social/emotional tactics employed by the bully.

Power imbalance or unfair match between bully
and victim

Harmful actions are repeated over time

Hazler, 1996
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What is Cyber-Bullying?

Cyber-Bullying (CB) is using computers, cell
phones, and other electronic devices to
harass or intimidate someone.

Examples of Cyber-Bullying are:

Posting negative comments or spreading rumors
about someone on-line.

Posting embarrassing photos on Web Sites, or
sending them by e-mail or cell phone.

Sending threatening or abusive messages
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How is Cyber-Bullying Different
from Bullying?

While bullying usually happens at school, cyberbullying usually takes place in a person’s home.

The effects are often carried over onto the school
grounds

The victim typically feels that no place is safe from
harassment.
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Key Players in Bullying and
Cyber-Bullying


Bullying



Victim/s
Bully/ies
Bystanders
Cyber-Bullying




Victim/s
Active CB- Bully/ies
 Initiates CB actions
Passive CB-Bully/ies
 Does not initiate but
plays along by
forwarding, reading, etc
Bystanders
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Social Networking
What are we talking about?



Cell phones/ text messages
Instant messages/ e-mails
Social networking sites
- www.facebook.com
-www.myspace.com
-www.youtube.com
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What is MySpace?


MySpace is a social networking website
offering an interactive network of blogs, user
profiles, groups, photos, and an internal email system.
According to Alexa Internet, as of February,
2008 it is the third most popular website in
the United States and the sixth most popular
English-speaking in the world.
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What is Facebook?

Facebook, is a social networking service for
middle school, high school, college and
students.

The site is free to users and is financed by
advertising.

It is the ninth most-visited website today!

It is NOT a private site viewed only by
students and their peers
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What’s on Facebook?

Users of Facebook can post a photo and a profile of
themselves for free. The profiles include as little or as
much information as the user desires, including basic
biographies, lists of hobbies and interests, even home
address and cell phone number.

Users control who can see their profiles - from only
friends to all other users. Other users can then search
the profiles for classmates, childhood acquaintances,
people who share common interests.

When users identify someone on the site they'd like to
meet, they can ask to be designated as a "friend," a
characteristic of other social networking Web sites.
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YouTube

YouTube is a video sharing website where users can
upload, view and share video clips.

YouTube was created in February 2005 by three former
PayPal employees. The San Bruno-based service uses
Adobe Flash technology to display a wide variety of
video content, including movie clips, TV clips and music
videos, as well as amateur content such as
videoblogging and short original videos.

In October 2006, Google Inc, announced that it had
reached a deal to acquire the company for $1.65 billion
in Google stock

Wikapedia, 2008
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YouTube

Unregistered users can watch most videos on the site,
while registered users are permitted to upload an
unlimited number of videos. Some videos are available
only to users of age 18 or older (e.g. videos containing
potentially offensive content). The uploading of
pornography is prohibited.

Few statistics are publicly available regarding the
number of videos on YouTube. However, in July 2006,
the company revealed that more than 100 million videos
were being watched every day, and 2.5 billion videos
were watched in June 2006. 50,000 videos were being
added per day in May 2006, and this increased to 65,000
by July.
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Resources and Information
for On-Line Safety
Where do we start?

Technology is constantly changing and
expanding.. As such, educational
systems and families must respond to
the challenges it presents.

Developing empathy, critical thinking
skills and the ability to take another’s
perspective are foundational in reducing
and preventing cyberbullying.
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What to talk about when…
K-1st
 Demonstrate awareness of safe ways to explore
the internet.
 Describe another person’s feelings.
2nd-3rd
 Demonstrate proper internet etiquette.
 Name ways to protect themselves from
cyberbullying.
 Identify strengths in others.
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What to talk about when…
4th-5th
 Distinguish between right and wrong online
behavior.
 Identify strategies to avoid and stop bullying
behavior.
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What to talk about when…
6-8th
 Make choices that consider others’ feelings.
 Demonstrate awareness of another’s perspective.
 Define personal information and identify ways to
keep identity private.
 Identify actions that will help trace cyberbullies.
 Identify ways to address cyberbullying as a
bystander.
 List helpful, appropriate ways to respond if they are a
victim of cyberbullying.
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What to talk about when…
9th- 12th
 Identify how the internet can be used to
promote tolerance and respect.
 List rules for safe use of the internet.
 Establish a list of internet etiquette rules.
 Identify ways to be safe online.
 Establish personal internet standards
 To practice useful responses to
uncomfortable online scenarios.
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Prevention and Intervention
Strategies for Parents/ Caregivers



Set up rules:
 Post clear, simple, easy to read rules on or near the monitor.
Create your own computer rules or print out rules from on-line
resources
Use filters:
 Consider using filtering or monitoring software for your
computer. Look into safeguarding programs or options your
on-line service provider might offer. Have your child use child
friendly search engines when completing homework.
Check out privacy policies:
 Always read a website’s privacy policy before you or your
children provide any personal information. Also make sure the
website offers a secure connection before giving credit-card
information.
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Prevention and Intervention
Strategies for Parents/ Caregivers



Talk about the dangers of e-mail and chat:
 If your children use chat or e-mail, talk to them about never
meeting an on-line “friend” face to face. Talk to your child
about not responding to offensive or dangerous e-mail, chat or
other communication. Report such instances to local law
enforcement.
Know what’s going on:
 Keep the computer in the family room or another open area of
your home. Let your child show you what they can do on-line,
and visit their favorite sites or chat rooms with them.
Avoid over-reacting with harsh sanctions
 E.g. banning use of computer
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On-Line Resources





Net-Lingo
NetSmartz
Net Family News
SafeKids
McGruff the Crime Dog- National Crime
Prevention Council
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Remember…

“The promise of technology is absolutely brilliant!
But we have to understand that the world our kids
are growing up in is different than it was in the past.
We can’t condemn it, but we need to give our kids
enough information to cope with the world they are
living in… We need to show kids all the positive
potential for teaching and learning that all this
connectivity brings.”

Belsey, 2007
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