Startling figures released about Internet use by teens

(Danica Pecirep, Worcester, MA) - Viewing videos online is one of the best ways to get information fast, but just what kind of information is shared, whose viewing it and why, is where the trouble starts. Parents are absolutely concerned just because of how widespread use of the Internet is, they can look up school stuff, entertainment stuff as well as inappropriate materials. Ellen miller works for the Worcester County DA's office. Tuesday she spoke to a group at Worcester polytechnic interested in learning how to be safe online. October is cyber awareness month. Some startling figures about the behavior of American teens online were released by the office of national drug control policy in Washington, DC. One in 20 teens who watches videos online- watches at least one drug related video like this one over the course of a month. They encourage everything from beer chugging, to cocaine use and even show kids how to get high. As a piece of our student presentations we talk not only about misrepresenting yourself online but also that anyone can post anything they want on the internet and to really be weary. At Tuesday’s presentation parents wanted to learn how to protect their kids. “I wanted to find out what I could do as a parent to set some rules and things to keep him safe.” Miller suggests parents remain skeptical and monitor their children’s activity online. Steps include: *Keeping the computer in a common room *Keeping communication open so you can talk with children about what they are doing online *Limiting the amount of time children spend on the computer *Using parental control features *Checking the Internet history online Parents say they plan to give them a try. It gave me some good concrete steps that i can put in place right away that will help.