In a survey this year, Consumer Reports revealed that approximately 7.5 million Facebook users are under the age of 13 and should be be using the popular social network. Those 7.5 million kids under the age of 13 account for about a third of the 20 million minors currently using Facebook.
The Consumer Reports survey showed that 1 million children were bullied, harassed or threatened on Facebook during the past year. So lets do the quick math: if there are 20 million kids using Facebook and 1 million of them are subjected to some for of cyberbullying, that means approximately 1 out of every 20 kids of Facebook are being bullied on the site. 1 in 20 - that means this is a problem in every neighborhood in America.
According to the survey, the parents of these kids being bullied on Facebook are not worried. Of parents of kids who are 10 years old or younger, less than 20% made their kids friend them on Facebook, which Consumer Reports says is one of the best ways to monitor their kid's online activity. Only about 10% of parents of the 10 year olds have had talks with their kids about online safety.
Federal Trade Commission chair Jon Leibowitz told Consumer Reports "We are very concerned about kids eliding around COPPA's restrictions." COPPA is the Children's Online Protection Act, which was designed to protect a child's personal information from being disclosed online. But a nine-year-old who goes on Facebook with parent approval and lies about their age to use the site is defeating the federal protection.
Online bullying is a serious problem in America and its time for serious people to demand a serious solution. Earlier this week I wrote about a school superintendent who said "Keeping kids safe is common ground." The number of kids being bullied on Facebook is staggering. Bullying causes depression that can be serious enough to lead to suicide, and suicide is a leading cause of death for teenagers in America.
Take a stand today and keep kids safe in your community!
No comments:
Post a Comment