Generation Net - Young people that prefer their virtual lives to the real world

Forty-five percent of 2,300 11-18 year olds in the UK admitted that they were sometimes happier online than in their real lives.

When on the web, many young people revealed that they can be whatever they want to be when they communicate virtually with others that they have never met.  They can appear stronger, older, and more confident.  Photo image editing programs let them edit their images to look more appealing.  They can lie about their experiences and their friends.

The study suggested that children "see cyberspace as detachable from the real world."  The virtual world lets them explore parts of their behavior, personality, and imagination in ways that they wouldn't in real life. 

Despite Internet safety training in schools, about 10% of the youngsters still take serious risks with encounters that put themselves and their friends in danger.
They're still kids, but some day they will grow up and enter the workforce.  If they interact with the computer more than with each other, will they have the social skills to create real, lasting relationships with others at school, at work, and in business? 

I look in my neighborhood, and there are hundreds of school-age kids here.  But it is rare to see even a few children playing together in the park.  It's like the neighborhood has no kids at all.  They're all on their computers or sending text messages to each other. 

I am delighted that kids love the technology.  I also want them to love playing and creating and being with each other so they learn the social skills they will need when they grow up and take their leadership roles in business.  When they have a problem relationship at work later in life, they can't just click the "exit" button.  They have to want the relationship to continue, and then communicate in ways to resolve it. 

February 8, 2011, is Safer Internet Day in the EU.  Here are six tips they suggest to help your kids use the Internet safely.

1. Talk about the Internet.  Ask them to show you what they like to do online.
2. Stimulate your child's creativity by discovering new sites, playing games, and  using the web to stretch his/her imagination.
3. Set up "fair" rules and boundaries for using the phone or computer that you agree together about up front.
4. Protect personal data with highest levels of privacy on social networks.
5. Think about using parental control tools.
6. Avoid having a computer in your child's bedroom.  Put it in a more public place, like the kitchen or living room.

Safer Internet Day 2011
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sip/index_en.htm

Article: 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1354702/Children-happier-virtual-lives-real-world.html


Submitted by Jaclyn Kostner, Ph.D., Bridge the Distance.  http://www.distance.com/  303.791.1515