COPPA: Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Filing

July 1, 2010 For those mumbling, "COPPA schmoppa, there goes Amy into policy wonk land, please translate media jargon into usable tidbits" I'll offer a few primers... What is COPPA? Why do we need it? (see DigitalAds.org for an interactive show-n-tell which all ages can grok for an 'aha' moment on food and beverage marketing targeting kids in the digital age) Who are … [Read more...]

Using Kid Lit To Read The Right Message About Bullying

April 18, 2010 Many of you know I clench when I hear the word ‘reporter’ (even though I’m one and the same, it’s different when you’re behind the keyboard) because media has powerful potential to ignite infernos and give too much heat to ill-placed words, creating drama instead of preventing same....So imagine my exhale when today’s edition of the Chicago Tribune rightfully … [Read more...]

CyberBullying Tragedies and Internet Safety: eModeration Part3

Dec. 3, 2009 Just visited the excellent Connect Safely forum to pose the industry question, is there ANYthing that digital moderators or online advocates could’ve done in the child safety realm to prevent the loss of 13-year old Hope Witsell due to the suicide/sexting case? Obviously, Hope's case (visual at left/MSNBC) was on mobile phones, but cyberbullying/bodysnarking and … [Read more...]

CyberSafety Online: Tips From The Inside Out Via eModeration (Part 2)

Nov. 26, 2009 Who’s minding the kids online? What’s ‘moderation’ got to do with it? It doesn’t take a retro flashback to know that “Kids say the darndest things,” but who is there to help them online when they do? In part one, we summed media literacy’s vital role in online safety to create global citizens from the get go, and in part two today, we’re diving a bit deeper … [Read more...]

Internet Safety: Media Literacy Tips From Industry Insiders Pt 1

Nov. 24, 2009 As fall weather kicks in and families hunker indoors to ‘more screen time’ than summer time norms, I hear tales of media management missteps that would spin heads faster than a Linda Blair Exorcist antic. (yes I know it’s almost Thanksgiving, but I’m still seguing from Halloween here…) I hear parents say things like “Oh, my kids play games sometimes, but we … [Read more...]