Over on techyum, apols for the xpost but it’s important:
No, really. It’s an actual Security Focus study, not some sexual compulsive religious nut ‘testifying’ before congress (I mean, another dubious study fabricated by the American Family Association). Check it out and read the whole damning thing, snip:
School kids are more careful than community officials and policy makers imagine, according to a study funded by three top technology firms and released on Wednesday by the National Association of School Boards, a group representing almost 15,000 school boards in the United States.
The survey of 1,277 students (PDF) who regularly go online found that half of the students chat about schoolwork, while almost 60 percent of online students talk about education-related topics outside of school. The study — funded by Microsoft, News Corp. and Verizon — found that more than a quarter of all students post messages online, upload and download music, download videos and update Web sites on a weekly basis.
While many school officials and policy makers worry that students put themselves in danger online, only 4 percent of the students surveyed have had an online conversation that made them feel uncomfortable and only 3 percent of the students have given out their e-mail addresses, instant messaging nicknames or other personal information to strangers. While about 7 percent of students have had someone ask them for their personal information on a social networking site, only a single student in the survey admitted meeting someone from an online encounter in person.
“The vast majority of students, then, seem to be living by the online safety behaviors they learn at home and at school,” the report stated. The study found that more than half of school boards believe that students providing personal information online is a significant problem for schools, adding that “school district leaders seem to believe that negative experiences with social networking are more common than students and parents report.”
The study comes as policy makers are increasingly supporting legislation that attempts to combat the alleged dangers posed by the Internet to children, even though students have maintained that they are better versed in Internet safety than their parents and teachers.
Link.
