March 2007 - Posts
Adolescent violence linked to video-upload sites on the Internet is inspiring governments around the world to crack down on cyber-bullying with arrests, fines and jail sentences.
The state of Victoria in Australia banned the popular video Web site YouTube at schools Thursday. It said it was prompted to do so after hearing about a video on the site that showed male students assaulting a 17-year-old girl on the outskirts of Melbourne.
"There are discussions about these new forms of violence going on around Europe and around the world," said Thomas Jaeger, coordinator of Visionary, an Internet portal on bullying and school violence around Europe. "We are only now learning about the problems brought by the Internet and how to deal with them."
Moves by other governments against the phenomenon — known as happy slapping — include a law enacted last week by the French Parliament that will treat those who tape and post violent acts as equals in guilt with those who commit the acts.
In the United States, Washington state senators announced last month that they intended to place electronic forms of harassment on a par with physical acts.
To read the full article by Thomas Crampton, click this link
Children's charity The NSPCC is to set up home in a virtual hotel.
It hopes that its three-month stay in Habbo Hotel - a virtual community for children - will allow it to reach out to a new audience. The charity will host events and activities on the website aimed at getting young people involved in its anti-bullying campaign. Other organisations - such as the anti-drugs charity Frank also have a presence in Habbo.
Habbo Hotel UK now attracts 750,000 unique users each month, aged 11-18. There are localised Habbo communities in 29 countries. The company behind Habbo said that as of December 2006 more than 66 million Habbos have been created around the world.
"It is imperative that we talk to teenagers in their own environment, much of which is online," said Emily Knee, NSPCC's digital project manager.
She hopes the partnership with Habbo will drive traffic to the NSPCC website, as well as encouraging users to take part in polls and design an anti-bullying themed room. In May, the charity plans to visit the hotel again to highlight its campaign against child abuse.
To read the full article form the BBC, click this link
Mike Snider from USA today has published an article about two child friendly content companies, Disney and Nickelodeon, hoping to turn social networking into child's play.
Both of the free, video-rich interactive websites, Disney Extreme Digital and Nicktropolis, target the 14-and-under crowd with games and customization — and placate parents with secure, kid-safe chat functions.
Current sites Neopets.com, Club Penguin (www.clubpenguin.com) and Webkinz World (www.webkinz.com) cater to kids, but the Disney and Nickelodeon entries into social networking mean that "it's really the first time that children in early elementary school have been using this kind of thing," says Warren Buckleitner, editor of Children's Technology Review.
To read the full article from USA Today, click this link