Portal:Digital Safety

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What is Digital Safety?

The digital world is inherently more vulnerable to malicious intent via badware, viruses, hackers, etc. Some argue that youth are more susceptible to sexual predators and bullies through cyberspace as well; however, often “new” dangers are “real world” threats now encountered through different mediums. There is a history of panic surrounding the introduction of new media forms into society, and a careful, objective strategy is needed to protect our young people without hindering their development.

Narratives

Chung-Hee Kim, C-H to his friends, likes to think of himself as a “normal” American teenager. He lives in a modest town in a suburb of a large midwestern city. He’s a freshman at the local high school.

His parents are nice, quiet, but a bit square. They don’t “get” him, and they really don’t get the whole online thing, but they’re OK. More important, they don’t get in the way, especially when it comes to using the computer in his bedroom.

When he’s not in school or hanging out with his friends, C-H spends most of his free time online. He’s got a MySpace page that he keeps up to date with the latest features: his favorite music plays when a visitor hits the page, they’re met with pictures of his favorite movie actresses, and his friends have posted a long list of comments every time he makes a move. He’s got a Facebook account, but fewer of his friends are on there, so he goes back only once or twice a week to look something up or check out the Wall on his page. He tries out every new service that’s hot before most of his friends do.

Mostly, Chung-Hee is into Second Life. He’s got an avatar he calls “VirtualC-H” – a young, dashing, twenty-first-century knight, who zips around in a partial suit of body armor. When he was visiting his cousins in South Korea last summer, he played around on CyWorld, and he’s had an account on There.com. Most of his friends are into World of Warcraft. But Second Life is where it’s at for C-H.

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