For many parents and teachers, texting can mean unexpected sky high cell phone bills, acronyms creeping into English papers, texting answers under hoodies or maybe texting your son or daughter to pick something up at the store. Here's a new way to view the positive potential of texting -- it just may revive our democracy by increasing voter turnout among young people. There was a recent study by researchers at Princeton University and the University of Michigan that found:

- Across the board, text message reminders increased the likelihood of an individual voting by 4.2 percentage points.

- Of the different messages tested, a short, to-the-point reminder was most effective, with a boost of nearly 5 percentage points.

- In a follow up survey, 59% of recipients reported that the reminder was helpful, versus only 23% who found it bothersome.

For many teens and young adults, cell phones have become an extension of self, while texting has become fully integrated into how they communicate with their friends. If they register to vote and opt in to receive reminders, it makes complete sense that the reminder would actually work and be welcome. It's funny how all the slick voting messages from pop stars on MTV didn't really move the needle, but a text message actually made a difference.

For other positive uses of texting see:

Virgin Mobile's Re*Generation campaign
Mobile Active

Posted by anastasia at 7:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I've been interviewed about teens texting each other in the middle of the night before. It's sort of like in the movies when teens living next door to each other would talk on walkie talkies in the wee hours of the morning or send each other flashlight signals. When you're a teen, your friends are the most important people in the world and you feel like if you stop talking to them, they will somehow vanish. I'm exaggerating, but the desire to stay connected is strong -- especially when it's a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Now there is an actual study that shows teens love of technology is encroaching on them getting a good night's sleep. According to Science Daily, "A new study finds that cell phone use after bedtime is very prevalent among adolescents, and its use is related to increased levels of tiredness after one year." Basically, staying up and texting means not getting enough sleep. The article offers some practical common sense tips from The American Academy of Sleep Medicine for teens on how to get a good night's rest. First tip: Keep computers and TVs out of the bedroom. Do not stay up late to talk or text message on the cell phone or surf the Internet so as to cut into your sleep time

In related news, AT&T announced it's launching "Smart Limits," a new plan where for $4.99 parents can control teens' talk time, text messages, instant messages, and Web content and downloads. If you've been reading this blog or have read Totally Wired, you know I'm not a huge fan of better parenting through technology. I can see how this might be helpful, especially with younger teens, but I still believe nothing replaces having a conversation about all of the issues "Smart Limits" attempts to address for you. The goal is to help teens become responsible adults -- they're not going to buy their first cell phone with all of these limits. It's more valuable to teach teens discipline and self control then to program it into their phones.

Posted by anastasia at 1:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

David Pogue asked his summer interns to come up with a list of the latest internet acronyms and published them in today's New York Times, reg. required. I also listed a bunch of acronyms in Totally Wired, which were reprinted with permission from last summer's CBS News Online series on GenTech. My favorite? JUOC (Jacked Up On Caffeine). I could use a coffee right about now...

* GI -- Google it

* MOP -- Mac or PC?

* FCAO -- five conversations at once

* IIOYT -- is it on YouTube?

* DYFH -- did you Facebook him/her?

* BIOI -- buy it on iTunes

* CMOS -- call me on Skype

* GGNUDP -- gotta go, no unlimited data plan

* WLF -- with the lady friend

* JUOC -- jacked up on caffeine

* 12OF -- twelve-o'clock flasher (refers to someone less than competent with technology, to the extent that every appliance in the house flashes "12:00")

* SML -- send me the link

* RHB -- read his/her blog

* MBLO -- much better-looking online

* KYST -- knew you'd say that

* NBL -- no battery left

* CTTC -- can't talk, teacher's coming

* TWD -- typing while driving

* CMT (CMF, CMM, CMB) -- check my Twitter (Facebook, Myspace, blog)

* CYE (CYF, CYM, CYB)--check your email (Facebook, Myspace, blog)

And a few just for iPhone owners:

* SPLETS -- send pics later; Edge too slow

* CSVUI -- can't send video, using iPhone

* BPWMI -- boss playing with my iPhone

* SIK -- sorry, iPhone keyboard

* OOM -- out of messages (for iPhone users who haven't upgraded their AT&T "200 messages a month" plan)

Pogue also suggested some funny acronyms adults and parents can use when talking to young people, too!

* WIWYA -- when I was your age

* YKT -- you kids today

* CRRE -- conversation required; remove earbuds

* WDO? -- what are you doing online?

* NIWYM -- no idea what you mean

* NCK -- not a chance, kid

* B2W -- back to work

* AYD? -- are you drunk?

* LODH -- log off, do homework

* DYMK? -- does your mother know?

* IGAT -- I've got abbreviations, too

Posted by anastasia at 11:25 PM | Permalink

Two stories this week reminded me of how a determined teen can hack through just about anything. The first was that a 17-year-old from New Jersey unlocked the iPhone. He spent 500 hours of his summer vacation freeing the device from AT&T (the exclusive carrier for the iPhone) and then, of course, sold his phone on eBay. The second story was about a 16-year-old Australian who hacked through the government's $84 million pornography-filtering software in less than a half hour. These are obviously very high profile hacking cases, but I bet there are countless similar stories of teens disabling school filters, breaking into servers to change grades or find old term papers or tests or figuring out ways to get something for nothing online.

It's not that teens want to "break the law" in the high profile cases or even look at the content you're attempting to block - they hack because it's a challenge -- it's exciting. USA Today reported that according to an anonymous survey of about 4,800 San Diego area high school students presented at the American Psychological Association conference:

- 38% said they copied software without permission.
- 18% went into someone's computer or website without permission, and 16% took material.
- 13% changed a computer system, file program or website without permission.

Boys were far more likely than girls to hack and illegally copy software. But only about one in 10 teens said they did it to cause trouble or make money. Many more cited learning about computers or because "it is exciting and challenging" as their main motives.

When I was writing Totally Wired, I remember interviewing a teen in Atlanta who told me that his school's administrator encourage him and his friend to try to hack into the school's network. He said, "Look for holes, and when you find them tell me." I love that this network administrator empowered the teen by leveraging his hacking skills to improve the school network's security. Apple should hire the New Jersey teen right after he graduates from the Rochester Institute of Technology. By channeling teens' tech talents into something more positive and productive, you not only validate their know-how -- you also gain an edge by making your own software or network or website more secure.

Posted by anastasia at 4:01 AM | Permalink

It's one thing to teach teens when it's appropriate to text vs. talking face to face, i.e. breaking up via text is lame. It's another to talk to them about texting and driving. The first conversation is about being rude or insensitive, the second is about life or death. You might begin this second conversation with a story. A sad, deadly true story that just happened in New York. It begins like this:

"Text messages were sent back and forth on a 17-year-old girl's cell phone moments before her sport utility vehicle slammed head-on into a truck, killing her and four other recent high school graduates, police said Friday."

You can then talk about how even when driving seems like it's second nature because you can futz with the radio station or have a conversation with your friends, looking down at your phone to send or receive a text message means you're not looking at the road. There is no way you can do both. And if they say, "But mom [or dad], you do it!" Then it's time for both of you to sign a pact promising not to text while driving.

One New York senator is proposing legislation: "This bill would prohibit the writing, sending or reading of text messages on mobile phones while driving."

While legislation may eventually become a deterrent, nothing can replace the conversation parents need to have with teens about this very serious issue.

Update: Check out this great resource by and for teen drivers called Teens In The Driver's Seat.

Posted by anastasia at 8:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Associated Press has been busy playing catch up on what's happening with teens and tweens online. Two recent stories do have some useful info for parents:

- Kid networking sites force parents to act early (info and tips about the "Club Penguin" set and how kids are using social networks as early as 6 -- common sense stuff like setting limits, don't forget to make them play outside, too, etc.) (AP via MSNBC)

- The real deal on predators (please read this important story on what really puts teens at risk - [hint: it's not just posting a little too much personal info]. See also: my similar piece on PBS's Mediashift) (AP via Forbes, you have to click through the annoying welcome screen ad)

Finally -- I mentioned in my earlier post this week that teens should not be texting when they're driving (and neither should you!). Seventeen's new study says they are, which means it's time to talk to your teen about what they're doing behind the wheel.

Posted by anastasia at 8:45 PM | Permalink

Like the popular song goes, there is a time to laugh and a time to cry. A time to talk and a time to text. Well, not exactly, but part of parenting totally wired teens is teaching them when it's appropriate to use technology. According to a recent Disney Mobile survey, more than half -- 52 percent -- say they send text messages from a movie theater while 28 percent have sent messages from the dinner table. Twenty six percent said they texting is the first thing they do within 10 minutes of waking up. And 20 percent said they use their phone to connect with mom or dad at least five times a day.

Just as many adults have become compulsive "crackberry" users, teens and tweens have those same impulses around cell phones. They may be texting instead of checking their email, but the itch to always check or text is there, especially when they are bored...or there is a lull in the dinner conversation or the movie is slow. Personally, I think connecting with parents via phone five times a day won't help your teen become an independent young adult. Parents need to cut the cord -- metaphorically speaking (since we're talking about wireless!) and help teens learn when it's appropriate to text. And unless you're using your Blackberry at the dinner table and are not setting the example, the family meal would be just one good time to turn it off. Here are some others:

- Driving (or riding a bike or operating any type of vehicle)
- School
- Church, temple or any place of worship
- Movie theaters or during any theatrical performance (except at pop/rock/hip hop concerts)
- When the conversation is best had face-to-face (no breaking up via text!)
- When you're having a face-to-face conversation (don't stop and start texting when you're visiting relatives)
- After they go to bed (no texting at 3 a.m.!)

You get the idea. Seems pretty basic, but unless you spell it out (and not in shorthand), many teens will be tempted to text in these situations.

Posted by anastasia at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My good friend has given up on her cellphone. It's her 1-year-old son's favorite toy -- so it's often in his mouth or he's holding it up to his ear. Obviously, he has no idea what it is. He just likes the sounds it makes, especially when it plays music. Kids are beginning to engage with technology younger and younger. The market research firm NPD just released a report saying the age at which children start interacting with electronic media, gadgets, hand-held digital-media toys and such dropped, from 8.1 years in 2005 to 6.7 years in 2007. Is it healthy for younger children to begin what will probably be a life long relationship with gadgets at 7...or 1?

I'm doing a stint as a PBS Parenting Expert right now, and my first question was whether an hour of computer time is too much for a 4-year-old. I'm not a child development expert, but it feels like 4-year-olds should still be spending time with other children playing, getting dirty and touching stuff. So an hour or two is probably the maximum amount of time for a 4-year-old to be spending on the computer.

There was also new research released by Jupiter about tweens and cellphones. You guessed it -- more parents are buying them for their kids, as a protective measure. According to the report:

Parents surveyed said that nearly half of 12- and 13-year-olds would have a mobile phone by the end of 2007, while a third of those ages 10 to 11 would get their own mobile phones.

Nearly a fifth of parents added their children to existing plans because it was affordable. The cutoff age was 10 years old, with parents saying it was unnecessary to add kids younger than that to their plans.

Most parents who added children to their calling plans said that they wanted their kids to be able to reach them. Incentives like free phones are also helping convince parents to add children to their mobile calling plans.

As kids begin to become "tethered" to gadgets and technology at earlier ages, it's more important than ever for parents to play an active role in setting limits and encouraging moderation. It's just too easy to spend hours on Club Penguin or attached to an iPod or texting in the middle of the night on a cell phone. It's also too easy to call mom and dad for advice or help with every little thing when they're on speed dial. It's important to teach kids to be independent, too. Parents have to tell kids and tweens when to turn it off and set clear boundaries around using all of these tech toys...I'm not sure putting phones in your mouth is such a good thing ;-)

MIT professor Sherry Turkle had a great quote in this New York Times, reg. required, article on virtual worlds for girls (you can also read my article on this over at BusinessWeek). She said: "If you're lucky enough to have a kid next door," she said, "I'd have a play date instead of letting your kid sit at the computer."

Posted by anastasia at 11:55 PM | Permalink

I asked my friend Courtney Macivinta, the author of Respect: A Girl's Guide to Getting Respect & Dealing When Your Line Is Crossed, and an ambassador for the amazing non-profit Girls for a Change, to take some notes while speaking at Next Generation Tech: Teens Plugged In!. While Silicon Valley teens probably don't represent the average American teen when it comes to technology use, it's still fun to hear what they're saying about the internet, cell phones and cheating with iPods! And, I hate to say it, but I have no clue what a "compiler" is.

From Courtney:

Throughout the day, high school and college students -- many of whom are entrepreneurs in their own right -- spoke to a room full of companies, press, VCs and some youth marketers about the gadgets they're using, the web sites they use, the games they play, and the media or online companies they've started recently. Some, like 19-year-old morning keynote Ben Casnocha, who just wrote a new book, "My Start-Up Life," talked about their business and leadership philosophies and how to fund your ideas.

The high school panel included 9 girls and guys and focused mostly on how technology is integrated into their daily lives. Many in the audience seemed to really want to know: What do teens want? Here's some of the insights the panelists offered:

* They have a bit of blog fatigue and the majority no longer maintained their personal blogs. (This goes to show that being a publisher in any form always presents the same quandary: You have to feed the beast).

* They all Google themselves and find random things like past cross-country running scores to awards they won in 6th grade, or a person with their same name who owns a refrigerator store on the east coast.

* They think the "danger of social networking sites" story is way overblown (as do I). One girl said: "They are enough MySpace articles to sink a thousand ships. We know, we get it!" They also pointed to a trend I've seen over and over: More teens are making their profiles private and really use sites like MySpace to keep in touch with current friends not to meet new ones. To switch to a new social network site seemed like a pain to most. One said, "It would have to be really special and I'd have to know people there." Most of the panelists nodded their head in agreement.

* These panelists, for one, didn't shop online much. They were sticklers about things like shipping costs and most used the Web to research offline purchases.

* Yes, they all have mobile phones (some said they couldn't live without theirs) but some are also on a budget and try to stick it when it comes to text-messaging costs.

* One guy admitted to cheating via his iPod or texting, which elicited gasps from the crowd (and a sarcastic comment from his dad who was THERE: "Then why don't you get better grades?") Once he fessed up there was a bit of a confession domino effect and a young woman admitted she'd cheated along the same lines before too.

The college panel shared these additional observations:

* They think the iPhone sounds cool; some had a smart phone; they had arguments for and against the value of browsing the web via their phone (some said sites don't look great, others do nothing but surf the web with their phone.) None had a landline phone. One panelist said he didn't want a smart phone because if he lost it "it would be like losing a girlfriend."

* All used Facebook but mentioned that they already, or would soon, use LinkedIn for more professional contacts.

* They found themselves doing more email than IM these days to keep in touch with contacts (probably that growing list of business contacts).

On both panels, MySpace universally was out of favor (even if the panelists still had a profile up) because it was too "gawdy" or "cluttered."

One thing I really enjoyed was hearing about the companies these young adults had started like:

* Elementeo.com (the 13-year-old founder launched interactive trading card came to teach kids about chemistry)
* Comcate Inc. (This is Ben's company--an e-gov start-up he founded at age 14)
* Composite Labs (they make and sell robot kits)
* CollegeWikis.com (name speaks for itself, but I liked that they allow users to capture email list discussions in their shared Wiki so they can save and search the discussions)
* GumballCapital.org (micro-loans funded by college students)
* Millennial Productions (creating low-cost short videos for clients)
* Palo Alto High School Robotics Team (the team created, among other things, a laser triggering device that enables quadriplegics the ability to push buttons, for example)
* Votsu.com (a Latin American social networking site)

As an ambassador for Girls For A Change, I did an afternoon keynote, "Is It Becoming a Woman's Web?" (My answer: Yes!) I shared how I see women and girls shaping the entire experience, usability and utility of the Web -- even those of us who don't hold Computer Science degrees or work in IT. I also recommended that companies take care to invite girls to the table as leaders, advisors, mentees, product reviewers, and give them the space to explore their visions (it's always a win-win).

My favorite quote of the day from a teen girl for Palo Alto High School: "I couldn't live without my compiler -- I love my compiler!"

Posted by anastasia at 12:15 AM | Permalink

Whenever I give my book talk to parents, I always get asked the same question: Are teenagers going to lose their social skills? My sense is that teens are immersed in totally wired communication using every digital tool at their disposal: IM, MySpace, texting, cell phones...They are having to learn when it's appropriate to communicate digitally and when they should talk to someone face to face and even when it's appropriate to IM or text in shorthand and when a longer correspondence is necessary. For example, most teens get that dumping someone via text message is lame (but of course some "lame" boyfriends and girlfriends still do this).

I've posted here before about the Harris Interactive study in which teens characterized their friendships that involved both online and offline communication as being more meaningful than friendships that were just face to face. Like anything else, it's all about finding the balance. My answer to parents who ask this important question is -- they are figuring it out, and they need your help.

Sherry Turkle, a professor of the social studies of science and technology at MIT, who has written extensively about our relationship to technology, voiced her concerns about this in a recent Forbes article. She wrote:

And what of adolescence as a time of self-reflection? We communicate with instant messages, "check-in" cell calls and emoticons. All of these are meant to quickly communicate a state. They are not intended to open a dialogue about complexity of feeling. (Technological determinism has its place here: Cell calls get poor reception, are easily dropped and are optimized for texting.) The culture that grows up around the cell phone is a communications culture, but it is not necessarily a culture of self-reflection--which depends on having an emotion, experiencing it, sometimes electing to share it with another person, thinking about it differently over time. When interchanges are reduced to the shorthand of emoticon emotions, questions such as "Who am I?" and "Who are you?" are reformatted for the small screen and flattened out in the process.

A huge part of growing up are those marathon conversations you have beginning in late high school and continuing throughout college -- pondering the meaning of life, politics, religion and heartbreak at coffee shops and in dorm rooms. I think if these conversations all happened on discussion threads online, something would be lost. Maybe just looking into the bleary tired eyes of your best friend and realizing that neither of you are making sense any more and it's time to go to bed.

Posted by anastasia at 4:43 AM | Permalink

In Totally Wired, I shared a couple of teens' stories about texting away with friends or boyfriends only to have mom and dad freak out when they saw the bill. Hint: If your teen loves to text, you need a plan that offers unlimited text messaging (or a high enough limit that would be hard for them to go over). I have blogged about cell phone safety and ethics before, but USA Today raised an important issue in this article about teens unwittingly downloading premium services. Since teens love to personalize their phones, ringtones, wallpaper, ringbacks and other premium services are all attractive ways to make their phone their own. The problem is they cost money, and teens sometimes don't realize what they're agreeing to when they download them. From the article:

"Fodeman is one of a growing number of parents upset by charges for premium text-messaging services on bills for kids' cellphones. Commercials for the services -- offering everything from ring tones to horoscopes -- are ubiquitous on cable channels popular with kids, such as MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.

While Fodeman's daughter, now 14, didn't do anything to initiate the subscription, the most common complaints involve situations where kids are duped into doing something that activates a subscription without knowing they've signed up for a monthly bill. And parents often have trouble sorting out the charges on generally complicated cellphone bills."

Parents have filed class action lawsuits against companies like Jamster for advertising premium services to teens who they say don't have the authority to purchase them. The industry says they're taking action with the following guidelines:

- The premium services will require a "double opt-in," meaning they'll send a text message to new subscribers asking them to confirm their intent.

- Specific words are set up that the user can text back to the company to cancel service, including "stop," "cancel," "unsubscribe," "end" and "quit."

- In TV ads offering a free ring tone, a company must say whether downloading it signs you up for a pay service and how much it costs.

Still, parents need to take action, too, by talking to their teens about these services and making sure they talk to you before clicking anything.

Posted by anastasia at 2:38 AM | Permalink

Tom McCool is a parent I interviewed for Totally Wired. He also happens to be the executive director of marketing and communications at Ivy Tech Community College in Lafayette, Indiana. Tom emailed to tell me:

I've recently received the results of a media preference survey of our students. Because of dual enrollment agreements with local high schools, a significant number of teens participated in the survey. 97 16-20 year olds participated. (Total respondents 297).

In light of all I've been reading about the rise of mobile marketing and how teens communicate, the responses from the teens validate that they are texting and IMing each other - a lot. However, they don't want the college, and even more specifically, their advisors and professors, to communicate with them via texting or IMing.

68.3% said they IM and 69.8% said they text someone at least weekly. 55.7% said they have over 20 people on their IM list.

But when asked, "How much to you like or dislike these ways of contacting you?" the responses were very surprising.

65% expressed dislike of contact by phone, 54.2% disliked cell phone contact, 59.7% disliked text contact, and 55.6% disliked IM contact. 44.3% expressed a STRONG dislike of text contact, and 55.6% expressed a STRONG dislike of IM contact.

When asked how they prefer to communicate with advisors or professors, only 1% preferred IM with advisors, and 2.1% preferred IM with professors. Face to face communication with advisors was overwhelmingly preferred (79.4%).

When asked how they prefer that the college communicate with them, 70.2% preferred some form of e-mail.

When asked how they prefer to communicate with fellow students, 55.7% preferred face to face meetings. E-mail was the highest scoring online communication at 20.6%, followed by IM (8.2%), chat room (5.2%) and texting (2.1%).

These results tell me that teens want to communicate with their friends via IM and texting, but they don't want the college interfering in what they view as their personal life. This seems to totally counter what I've been reading about mobile marketing, and may cause concern for anyone looking into this form of marketing.

It's funny, Tom's email made me think about the teens I'm working with on the Ypulse podcast. I communicate with them by email -- I know they won't read it right away, but I feel like it's less of an invasion of their "digital space" as an adult. Just as you can contact teens via their MySpace, it feels weird to them to hear from adults that way. I still think parents can text and even IM with their teens without as much weirdness, but for other adults -- teachers, employers, etc. it appears to cross a line. What do you think?

Posted by anastasia at 6:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The other day I read a reporter's query looking for experts to explain (from a psychological perspective) why teens who seemingly never get into trouble are now posting bullying videos on YouTube or other inappropriate content online. It's as if the reporter's working theory was that "the internet made me do it." I don't believe any teen who is getting into trouble online wouldn't be getting into trouble offline. It's just that when you do it online, the public nature of the internet means more people know about it.

Last week, a company called Teenage Research Unlimited released the results of a survey that found "more than a third of the teens questioned for the survey said a boyfriend or girlfriend had harassed them with text messages, and a quarter said their partner had used a cell phone, e-mail, blog or Web chat to insult them." According to Reuters, "the survey was released at the launch of the loveisrespect.org, The National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline, an Internet and telephone service to help teenagers involved in abusive relationships."

Ironically, another research company, Harris Interactive, also released a survey (.pdf) arguing that most teens get when it's appropriate to use technology to communicate about sensitive issues and when it's not. Two in three youth would not break up with someone and two in five would not argue with a friend over phones, email, instant messaging, text messaging or social networking sites. I wonder if there is a gap between teens saying they "realize that communication tools may not be the best avenue of discussion" and actually replacing these tools with a phone call or in person conversations.

My take is just that teens are teens, sometimes they are impulsive and inappropriate. And with dating violence, technology just offers teens another tool to manipulate and control a victim. The biggest challenge for parents and educators in being able to use teen mistakes as teachable moments is that you often don't hear about them. The Teen Research Unlimited study pointed out that "most victims of the abuse are reluctant to discuss it with their parents." Here's why:

Asked about why they had not told their parents about the abusive behavior, nearly half said the problem was not serious, and more than a quarter said they feared losing access to the technology, either cell phone or computer, the survey said.

This applies to anything that goes awry in cyberspace. If they fear the punishment is losing access, teens will most likely not talk to you about what's going on. I would suggest telling your teens they can always talk to you about what's happening in their lives, online and off. Preempt their fear by encouraging them to tell you when bad things happen online and letting them know that you won't take away their access to technology. Depending on the severity of the situation, you may get more involved in their technology use (if they are being bullied, change their email address, IM names, report the incident to your internet service provider, etc.), but even if they are the ones screwing up, tell them you won't cut them off (at least not forever).

In sort of related news:

There's always "better parenting through technology" with new software being developed to allow parents to set detailed parameters on their children's phone use. And AT&T/Cingular is also offering parental controls for wireless.

Update: Rick emailed to say: "I would like to offer a partial answer to your question of why teens who never get in trouble, send offensive e-mail/make offensive videos. There is a certain anonymity present on the Web (we encourage it even to protect the kids). Behind this anonymity, teens feel free to act other than what they normally would.

Just as a historical perspective, one of the comments about the Civil War soldiers who first joined the army, they acted in a manner completely opposite to what they would do at home (gambling, cursing, drinking, other stuff). The anonymity afforded by being a part of a large group of men in a location far from home, removed the restraints from their inhibitions (much like the Internet-although that's pushing the analogy a bit).

It's one of the paradoxes of the Internet, "avatars" protect our kids' security but by the same token, the anonymity allows the kids to act in ways that jeopardizes the security of others."

Posted by anastasia at 11:24 PM | Permalink

I've written here before about how most teens check their email a lot less frequently than they do their MySpace email, instant messages or text messages. AT&T Cingular or whatever they are calling themselves now has launched an effort to get parents texting. Of course this helps their bottom line, but I also think texting your teen is a great way to communicate. And since most parents have cell phones, it's pretty convenient. Check out their .pdf guide about how to text here. Cingular also enlisted help from psychologist Dr. Ruth Peters (who authored the texting guide as well) to articluate some reasons why texting can actually help parent/teen communication. She came up with seven. From the press release with my comments [in brackets]:

Parents get a quick answer to their questions. This is good for today's busy kids, who are often in between school and extra-curricular activities or hanging out with friends, and might not, or in some cases can't, take the time for a normal conversation. {this is also then parents calling their teen while he or she is in school!]

Kids are more apt to respond to text messages when they are with their friends. It is more discreet and their answers don't have to be as detailed as in a conversation.

You, or they, don't have to worry about tone of voice. Some kids tend to become defensive when they hear their parent's tone of voice, which often results in delayed return phone calls or avoidance. Texting helps to take tone of voice and misinterpretation out of the mix and can improve response times.

Texting allows you to enter your child's world. By using text messaging, parents can communicate in the style their children are used to, and become more hip in their children's eyes. An example might be a parent who sends a text to her daughter on a blind date to ask her how the date is going. "Is he Mr. Wonderful?" or "Is he a frog or a prince?" [I think that question fails the hip test, but the spirit of this suggestion is right on]

Text messaging allows parents to compose and edit a message before pressing send. If emotion surrounds an issue, Dr. Peters often counsels parents to write things out before actually saying them to their kids to help edit their thoughts. By making parents think about it more, texting removes explosive emotions from potentially charged communications and situations. [the flipside is that SMS is very truncated with a lot being left up to misinterpretation, so I probably wouldn't use it to have a really loaded conversation - just to tell your teen, we need to talk]

Texting vs. calling gives kids more space but allows parents to keep in touch as often as necessary. For instance, it is a good way to double check their child's whereabouts without nagging.

Text messaging can also be used to strengthen parent-child bonds, and let kids know that their parents are thinking of them. Send them a text wishing them good luck before the school play audition, or let them know you are thinking of them if there is something they were concerned about such as a difficult test or a grade. [this is my favorite suggestion]

Update: Totally Wired reader Ken writes: The most important reason for ATT and other carriers is the additional revenue. The profit margins for selling air is very high. BTW, here's a great site for sending a text message via email. No need to know the carrier: teleflip.com.

Posted by anastasia at 7:56 PM | Permalink

Remember the time when someone from the main office would stop by your classroom to tell you one of your parents called the school? If you had to make an important call, you would go to the office or find a payphone. Cell phones have completely transformed this experience for today's teens. Ringtones or buzzing sounds go off in the middle of class with teachers looking around frantically trying to decipher the source. Sometimes it's the teacher's own phone. Most schools have some type of policy either mandating that phones remain off during class, but most don't or can't enforce it. A few schools will collect the phones and force parents to pay a fine to get them back.

Not in New York City. In Totally Wired, I cover the decision by Mayor Bloomberg to enforce the ban of cell phones in New York City public schools. The ban originated as part of a 1987 decision to prohibit all electronic devices that was part of a metal detector process meant to discover weapons. School safety officers began confiscating all electronic devices including phones, pagers and iPods being brought to school. The ban has parents up in arms because they are afraid they won't be able to reach their children in case of an emergency or terrorist attack and is being challenged in court.

Students will still try to sneak in their phones or pay a nearby bodega to babysit them for the day, but the most recent development in this saga is the proposal that the city build cell phone lockers. According to the Associated Press, "They are exploring whether to install special lockers outside schools to store the devices, a development that delayed recent court arguments on the ban."

Almost every teenager in New York has a cell phone. So for a school with 4,300 students, that means finding the space for 4,300 new cellphone lockers.

Part of me gets where the Mayor is coming from -- we all survived high school without cell phones and they are a definite distraction. But they have also become an integral part of modern life.

The biggest problem is enforcement, and teachers literally not knowing how these phones work and not feeling confident enough to make sure they are off. The other problem is hellicopter parents who call their teens in the middle of a school day for non-emergencies.

I think students should be able to have their phones to use in between classes. But teachers need to take a hard line and ask every student with a phone to take it out and place it on the desk where she or he can see it at the beginning of class. Explain this also means taking it out of their hoodie sweatshirt pockets or from under their shirts. Then ask them to turn their phones off. Watch them turn their phones off. Remind them if any phone goes off in the classroom -- even if it vibrates, it will be taken until the end of the school day. If parents need to reach their teen urgently during class, they can still do it the old fashioned way, call the office. I can think of a lot more important stuff to spend money on in NYC public schools than cell phone lockers, can't you?

Posted by anastasia at 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm a big supporter of the concept of citizen journalism. But having gone to journalism school and worked in the profession, I realize there are a lot of ethical issues the average person with a camera phone may not be pondering. Most people, and especially teenagers with camera phones, video cameras or web cams don't even consider themselves "citizen journalists," yet the growing ubiquity of these devices and number of public video sites to distribute them on is creating a host of issues for parents, teachers and even entire countries.

I'm referring to the cell phone video taken of Saddam Hussein's hanging. It was obviously taken to unofficially distribute the images to the world, and as a result, has only deepened the sectarian conflict in Iraq. It even prompted one child in Pakistan to imitate the hanging resulting in his death. It's a large scale example of an issue that is actually being played out on a daily basis with teens, parents and teachers. Teens are recording fights, sexual exploits and their teachers and posting them on sites like YouTube. Sometimes it's using a hidden camera and sometimes the teens being recorded will actively participate at the time, not realizing it will be broadcast or shared later.

Today the New York Times posted a story about a web cam community called Stickam. It's pretty fear mongering in its tone, but just as with any camera, including web cams, the possibility for abuse exists. In Stickam's case the fear is more around adults interacting with teens in a sexual way using web cam chat. Any teen who is engaging in web cam related sexual activity with adults is obviously at risk and has some issues. I think it's important to talk to teens about the power of images -- both moving and still when they have any type of recording equipment (that includes cell phones).

I found this list of questions that the Sarasota Herald-Tribune uses when discussing whether or not to run a controversial image:

* What are the alternatives: Can another photo convey the same message and eliminate the concerns?
* Is possession of the technical capability to alter a photograph justifying the proposed manipulation?
* Is all of the necessary information available for discussion: Story and photo readily available?
* Is there any missing information from the photograph?
* What is the news value of the particular photograph?
* Are there legal or ethical concerns about running the photo?
* Who might be offended and why?
* What are the possible consequences of publishing the photo?
* Will we be able to justify our decision?

Obviously publishing news photos is a different decision making process than a teen would go through before deciding to post an image. When I worked at Oxygen and at Current TV, we had to get releases for pretty much everyone we recorded for broadcast. For minors that included releases from a parent or guardian. I think it's worth talking about the moral, legal and ethical issues of recording someone for whatever reason and publishing or uploading an image or footage. I would adapt the questions from the Sarasota Herald and talk to teens about asking themselves the following questions before distributing any images they have taken or recorded of their peers:

* Who might be offended and why?
* Would the individual(s) in my photos or video want their image posted on a public site like MySpace or YouTube?
* What are the possible consequences of publishing the photo or video?
* Am I ok with other people potentially downloading, sharing or altering these photos for their own purposes and potentially being online forever?

My guess is that when teens begin to ask these types of questions, we'll see a little less impulsive uploading and a lot less drama.

Posted by anastasia at 6:31 PM | Permalink

Virgin Mobile put out a press release with its "Simple Tips To Help Keep Teen Cell Phone Users Safe." They seem like common sense, but I'm betting a lot of busy parents may forget to do this after buying their teen a new cell phone. I'm going to add my own tips on cell phone ethics to the bottom:

1) Pre-program all key contact numbers for parents or other responsible adults into a teen's cell phone, both for home and work.

2) Make sure to program an ICE ("in case of emergency") number with appropriate contact information, so that police and other emergency personnel know who to call if the child needs help. This means you list a number so it appears as ICE on the alphabetical contacts list.

3) Make sure they know they can use "911" for emergencies from cell phones as well.

4) One can also use the preprogrammed keys #2-9 [#1 usually is preset to dial voicemail] using #2 for 911, #3 for home, etc.

5) Remind teens not to say their phone number, name or other personally identifiable information out loud in crowded settings. They never know who might be listening.

6) Teens must be reminded that talking on handsets while driving is a dangerous -- and in many states, illegal -- distraction and should be avoided. Ear "buds" are useful for talking on the phone but still require dialing, which should not be done while driving. Some phones offer voice-activated dialing; if so, the voice activations should be done in advance. Ideally, teens should pull over in a safe place, turn the car off, keep doors locked and then make their necessary call.

7) Fun features on cell phones like texting, downloading ringtones or instant messaging are great, but it is important to use them in the appropriate time and place. Not only does this relate to courtesy toward others, even more important is to remind teens to remain aware of their surroundings (such as crossing a busy street or walking alone at night) while using the phone.

8) Remind them not to use their phone at school.

9) They should give out their cell phone numbers only to people that they know and trust and they should never respond to text messages from an unknown or unrecognizable number.

10) Teach teens how to block suspicious or unwanted numbers from their cell phones.

In many cases I can imagine parents asking their teens to help them do many of these tasks, like figuring out how to block unwanted numbers. Here are my tips on cell phone ethics:

1) Talk about the bill. Familiarize yourself with the plan you have purchased for your teen and then go over it with them line by line explaining exactly what is included and what isn't. This is key when it comes to features teens love like texting as well as the fun stuff Virgin Mobile mentioned - ringtones, wallpapers, etc.

2) Talk about when to turn it off and when to turn it down. It's not just at school. It can be at family dinners, movies or public performances and most importantly, when they are studying or when it's time to go to sleep at night. Help them by setting limits. Back to school, remind them that off means no texting, no ringtones that adults can't hear, etc. Also talk to them about cheating in general and cheating via text messaging -- another NO.

3) Talk about cyberbullying, gossip and the camera or video functionality on the phone. Remind them that it's not ok to record or capture people's images without their permission or knowledge and that posting these images on a public site like YouTube can has consequences. Also tell them it's not cool to use phones to gossip via text about someone who may be in the same room or the same car!

Posted by anastasia at 7:15 PM | Permalink

GPS technology can be a wonderful thing -- especially when you're driving around in a new city trying to figure out where you're going. The soothing female voice gently reminds you to "make a right turn" after 500 feet. With technology and gadgets being made and marketed for younger and younger teens or "tweens," GPS tracking has become an option on cell phones. In Totally Wired, I write about how GPS technology is also being marketed to parents of teen drivers so they can track where their teen is and how fast they're driving.

David Pogue wrote a column in this week's New York Times, registration required, outlining all of the new phones and plans that include GPS tracking capabilities -- in a nutshell, they are all much more expensive than your typical phone plan. But what I found most interesting was the question Pogue posed at the very end of his column:

"It's also worth pondering the moral implications of this technical advance. What these companies are selling you is, in effect, a spying tool. How comfortable are you playing Big Brother -- or, rather, Big Momma or Big Daddy?

Only Sprint informs your youngster, by text message, each time you perform a location check, so you can't snoop around undetected. The other companies permit spying with total stealth. "

My take on this is that technology can never replace good parenting, and that part of being a teenager is learning responsibility and earning trust. If your teen is consistently violating that trust and you feel like they are never where they say they are, you could try to use this type of technology, but my hunch is that if they are already lying, they will come up with some way to beat the system (call forwarding, leaving their phone at a friend's or even at school while heading off to make mischief somewhere else).

If you're the type of parent who will just feel better being able to log on and see where your child or teen is, try having an open dialogue with your teen about why you're doing this (out of concern for their safety, so you can reach them quickly if they're in trouble, etc.). Your teen may tell you, "Trust me. If I'm in trouble I'll call." And in order for them to learn to be responsible adults, you might have to do just that.

Salon.com published a great article expanding on Pogue's big question last year.

Posted by anastasia at 1:53 AM | Permalink

I first encountered email in college. It was a text based system called PINE. It was so new only a few professors dared to break out of their luddite stereotypes and actually try to use it. Then came the Web and AOL, where "You got mail!" became part of our vernacular and the pop culture (remember the Meg Ryan movie?). For Baby Boomers and Gen Xers (like me), email has become the primary way we communicate at work, keep in touch with friends and family. I still email my grandma up in Maine. Some emails are verbose, going on for paragraphs while others are one line. I remember someone at work telling me the higher up you are in the corporate world the shorter and less coherent your emails get.

For any parents or adults who want to communicate with a teenager using technology, don't use email. Teens don't check it that much. According to Extreme Tech, new research by Parks Associates showed that less than one-fifth of the 13-17 year olds surveyed profess to using email to communicate with friends, compared to 40 percent of adults aged 25-54. In fact, when teens do use email these days, it's usually to communicate with the adults in their lives. What they are using, at least to talk to their friends is instant messaging. They are also using text messaging on cell phones and internal messaging systems on social networks like MySpace or Facebook. They'll pick up email again when they enter the work world, but right now, it's the last thing they'll check.

One parent I interviewed for the book told me she texts her son and loves it -- especially when she needs him to pick up something at the store. I think texting your teen is a great way to keep in touch -- it's less intrusive than calling (which some parents will do while their teen is in class!), and will get you a response wherever they are vs. IM which only works when they're online. If your fingers get tired, you can always try using shorthand, but make sure your teen is using the same acronyms. TTYL.

Posted by anastasia at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

KAOL and Red now free (AOL's kids and teen services are now free for anyone to use as are their parental controls)

- Where do you not want your kids to go today? (Microsoft's new Vista operating system, set to launch next year, will have a big emphasis on parental controls) (San Diego Union-Tribune)

- Cellphones give UK parents peace of mind (a new study says parents reassured, like to call teens. Teens, of course, prefer to text their parents) (BBC)

- This might destroy that peace of mind ("Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety surveyed teens on their biggest distractions while driving and found cellphone texting at the top of the list.") (COX News Service)

- Reading a bedtime story (from your laptop...The International Children's Digital Library is working to create a digital library of children's books that will surpass 10,000 volumes by 2008.) (via Cool Hunting)

- Using the Web to create social change (teens are connecting with other teens around issues they care about online, and now there are sites devoted to helping them do just that) (USA Today)

Posted by anastasia at 1:18 AM | Permalink

Bits & Bytes will be a regular feature that rounds up interesting Totally Wired tidbits in one post.

ABC is easy as 123 (a new study says poor children may see increases in literacy rates through the frequent use of cell phones) (Media Life Magazine, second item)

- Wired journalist and former hacker creates MySpace pedophile-hunter bot (Kevin Poulsen wrote and released code that matches up registered sex offenders to their MySpace profiles [the ones who use their actual names] and finds hundreds of matches. But just like with any technology solution, each case requires human investigation to determine who these people actually are. Update: You can read about how Kevin's code actually caught a predator here.) (Boing Boing) (Wired)

- Unrated (one professor wonders if she's actually missing valuable, honest feedback from students by not showing up on increasingly popular websites where students rate their teachers) (Washington Post, reg. required)

- Gaming may make kids smarter (a new study shows that the way video games are built "in surprisingly pedagogical ways") (Newsweek)

- Decorating their space (the latest Nielsen Netratings show that the most popular sites with teens right now are those that feature ways for them to customize and personalize their MySpace profiles. This is a shift from three years ago, when it used to be all about choosing istant messenger buddy icons) (.pdf download)

- Peering through a vritual microscope (The New York Times, reg. required, on how science educators and the College Board are questioning whether virtual education, at least for science classes that require lab work, measures up to the real thing)

And over on Ypulse.com, I posted two interviews recently worth checking out. The first is with Lauren Bigelow, General Manager of WeeWorld North America. WeeWorld is a community based around "cheeky" avatars teens can customize and then use when they instant message each other. It's big in Europe and is headed our way. The second is with Michael Wilson, CEO of There.com, the virtual reality game that has become increasingly popular with teens. They are also the company that helped MTV create "Virtual Laguna Beach."

Posted by anastasia at 9:59 PM | Permalink

I'm just going to reprint this press release straight up. It's a must-attend press conference in Second Life (which means most of us will probably wait and watch the Webcast....)

MacArthur Foundation Press Conference and Panel Discussion on Digital Media and Learning

Thursday, October 19, 2006
10:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. ET
Second Life Venue: NMC Campus Amphitheater (113/97/26)
(NOTE: Please join "NMC Guests" group for access to Amphitheater)

Webcast Link: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=35992 (beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET)

Topic: Are kids different today because of their exposure to technology? What role do video games, cell phones and social networking websites play in the development of today's children?

On Thursday, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will make a major announcement that will generate a greater understanding of the impact technology and digital media has on today's youth.

You are invited to join the press briefing LIVE via Second Life or via a special Webcast. You can participate in this panel discussion with some of the greatest minds and most influential voices in the fields of technology, digital media, education and learning.

Panelists and influential audience members will include:

* Dr. Mizuko Ito, Research Scientist, Annenberg Center for Communication, University of Southern California , studying new media

* Henry Jenkins, Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program and author of Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide and Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture.

* Howard Gardner, the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

* Dr. Nichole Pinkard, Director of Technology and Research Associate, Center for School Improvement, University of Chicago, working to expand after-school media literacy programs

* Eric Zimmerman, CEO and founder, gameLab, working to develop new games to support media literacy and design skills in young people

Posted by anastasia at 8:25 PM | Permalink