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Families are closer—and safer—when parents
understand the online world their kids live in.
BY JACKFEERICK
lip Garrison is a
young artist with a
small but devoted
following. Every
day, dozens of
visitors view her
cartoon-influ-
enced art and read her commentary
on her creative process. The visitors
enter into a dialogue with the artist,
offeringtheir critiques and opinions.
But Flip never meets her visitors
face-to-face. In fact, there is no “Flip
Garrison”—that’s the online alias of
Caleigh Blankenship, a 17-year-old
from Las Vegas. Over the last few
years, Caleigh has been using the
Web to present her art to the world
and to sound off about life, school,
and pop culture. “The Internet can
be cool—like hanging out with your
friends or meeting new people at
some local hot spot,” she says.
But even friendly hangouts
occasionally can be populated by
creeps, and kids still need to be
street-smart and exercise caution,
especially when interacting with
strangers online. A recent survey by
the Polly Klaas Foundation found
that over 40 percent of online teens
post personal information on the
Internet, which has contributed to
the rise of online identity theft.
Worse, nearly a third of all kids
active online have at least talked
about meeting cyberspace acquain-
tances face-to-face.
While only a tiny fraction of those
kids will end up in a situation where
their safety is threatened, revealing
personal information can still have
consequences that are embarrassing,
financially damaging, or personally
catastrophic. On the Information
Superhighway, most teens still
haven’t learned how to drive
defensively. In part, that’s because
parents aren’t teaching them the
rules of the road. Parents often don’t
know the rules themselves.
Caution makes all the difference
in creating positive online experi-
ences, the kind that Caleigh has
enjoyed with her art site. In her case,
Caleigh’s parents, like many others,
have found effective strategies for
discussing online safety. That level of
communication is key for everyone’s
safety and peace of mind. You don’t
have to be a technological wizard to
protect your kids—you just have to go
online yourself and learn the lay of
the land. Here’s how.
BLOG ASA FAMILY
Blogs are by far the most common
venue for kids on the Web. The Pew
Internet & American Life Project
estimates the current number of
U.S.-based blogs at over 8 million,
most of them established by teens.
The best way to get familiar with
them is simply to go online and read.
Or try blogging yourself, says Mena
Trott, president of the Internet
company Six Apart, creators of the
blogging services LiveJournal and
Vox. “Anyone can blog. And it’s fun,”
she says. If you’re a novice, Trott
suggests, ask your teen for help, or
propose settingup a blog together. If
you’re already active online, teach
your kids by example.
Sarah Locker is a Tulsa mom
who dabbles in blogging. When her
14-year-old daughter, Emily, first
expressed an interest in starting a
blog, Sarah supported the idea, but
first she had to lay down a few rules.
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JUNE 2008 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
PHOTO: GETTY I MAGES
