Safe Online Social Networking for Kids

According to Pew Internet Life Project, over half (55%) of teens aged 12-17 use online social networking sites. The most notable of these are Myspace and Facebook. While MySpace and Facebook have their place in the online landscape, most would agree that the dangers of children using MySpace and Facebook far outweigh the benefits. As a professional, online social networking is more valuable than any rolodex ever was. Networking online nurtures the professional skills necessary to compete for jobs. Kids need these skills, but you wouldn’t teach appreciation for music via Eminem’s music, right?

These numbers speak for themselves.

In the US alone:

• 1 in 5 kids are sexually solicited online. (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
• Of 600,000 registered sex offenders, 29,000 were found on a single social networking site. (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
• 1 in 8 youth have communicated online with an adult pretending to be much younger. (Polly Klass Foundation)
• Almost half of kids age 12-17 report cyber-bullying incidents, and only 10% tell an adult about it. (UCLA Study, CNet News)
• 16 percent have created private e-mail addresses or social networking profiles to hide what they do online from their parents. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
• 63 percent of teens said they know how to hide what they do online from their parents. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
• 43 percent have closed or minimized the browser at the sound of a parental step. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
• 11 percent have unlocked/disabled/ parental/filtering controls. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
• 52 percent of teens have given out personal information online to someone they don’t know offline including personal photos and/or physical descriptions of themselves (24 percent). Double the number of teen girls have shared photos or physical descriptions of themselves online as boys. (34 percent girls vs. 15 percent boys) (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)
• 20 percent of teens have engaged in cyberbullying behaviors, including posting mean or hurtful information or embarrassing pictures, spreading rumors, publicizing private communications, sending anonymous e-mails or cyberpranking someone. (Harris Interactive-McAfee 10/2008)

Concerned? Me too.

I’ve had the chance to check out Yoursphere, an online community for kids aged 9 to 18, is designed to provide a supportive, youth-centric online community where healthy peer-to-peer relationships are encouraged and rewarded. The result is an online home where kids can be kids and parents have peace of mind.

Your kids deserve a social networking site where creepers – predators, sex offenders, pornographers, and anyone hiding being a fake profile – are not welcome. – Yoursphere.com

So how does Yoursphere work? Parents consent to their kids’ participation in Yoursphere by registering and then undergoing an identity, age-verification, and sex offender status-check through NetIDMe. Yoursphere is the only youth-only social networking site that is certified by Privacy Vaults Online Inc. (PRIVO), part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Safe Harbor Program. Yoursphere is further devoted to protect, assist and provide online safety education to members and their parents/guardians through a dedicated on-staff task force comprised of former state and federal law enforcement officials.

In the case of Yoursphere, safety and peace of mind comes at a modest cost. I think the success of subscription-based Yoursphere will ultimately be dependent on the acceptance of the site among kids. If their friends aren’t participating, neither will they.

Since we know that keeping kids off MySpace and Facebook present a difficult and unique challenge, give Yoursphere a chance, I think you’ll feel comfortable, and your kids will feel at home, too.

Save $5 off of an annual subscription by using promo code YSIN-CONY.

Filed under: Reviews, Uncategorized, children, danger, Facebook, internet, kids, Myspace, networking, online, online safety, parenting, parenting blog, safety, Yoursphere