Posted: 16 Jun 2010 02:43 PM PDT

MONTREAL - It's not all fun and games for kids on the Internet.

Kids spend an average of 11 hours online a week and bad experiences can include accidentally downloading a virus or landing on a porn site, says a new global study on cyber safety.

"Kids are feeling enormous responsibility for those negative online experiences," said Lynn Hargrove of Symantec Canada, maker of antivirus software.

Angry. Upset. Afraid. Annoyed. Embarrassed, too.

These were the words children surveyed used to describe how they felt when asked about negative online experiences, Hargrove said from Toronto.

Having an unwanted "friend" on social networking sites and getting invitations to meet strangers in real life also were bad experiences for children, says Symantec's annual Norton Online Family Report.

The global survey found that 61 per cent of Canadian children have experienced some kind of negative situation online, Hargrove said.

"Parents need to understand that their kids are downloading way more stuff than they think," said Hargrove, director of consumer solutions.

This can lead to inappropriate content for kids and encouragement to disclose personal details, she added.

Negative online experiences may not change children's behaviour, but they need someone to talk to about what happened and that's where parents come in, Hargrove said.

So how do parents talk to their kids about this?

Hargrove said it's an informal and ongoing conversation, which could start with asking kids what sites they like and what they're interested in online.

"Then you can say, `Have you ever had an experience where you were uncomfortable?'"

The survey found globally that only 45 per cent of parents realized their kids were having negative experiences. Twenty per cent of kids surveyed said their parents had no idea what they were doing online.

The annual survey on family online activities asked 2,800 children in 14 countries, including Canada, the United States, India, China and Sweden, about their web activities.

The survey also included more than 1,600 parents with children between the ages of eight and 17.

The survey found that 70 per cent said they would turn to their parents if "something bad" happened online, which Hargrove said shows children are more comfortable about going to their parents.

High school social studies teacher Michael Zwaagstra said kids can have negative experiences on the Internet because "there's a huge amount of trouble you can get into online."

He said whether kids would turn to their parents would depend on family dynamics and the kind of experience they had.

"Do I think that the norm is that they will always go to their parents first? That would surprise me," said Zwaagstra, who has written about the impact of computers in classrooms.

Zwaagstra also agreed that parents need to know what their children are doing online.

"What is really important is that especially when they are young, parents should not fall into this `Everything they do on the Internet is private and it's none of their business,'" he said.

The Internet is a public place and everything that someone does can be accessed, said Zwaagstra who teaches near Grunthal, Man.

"For that reason, parents have every right to closely monitor what their kids are doing on the Internet and they should."

Canadian statistics from the survey relating to children included:

— 78 per cent said they would feel responsible for downloading a virus.

— 42 per cent said they would feel responsible for seeing violent or nude images.

— 32 per cent said they would feel responsible for being bullied online.

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Summer Games sign ups to begin

Posted: 17 Jun 2010 02:09 AM PDT

June 17, 2010

Summer Games sign ups to begin

By Neil Fater Staff Writer

Andover Youth Services and a group of volunteers soon expect to unveil the list of events for what they've dubbed the Andover Summer Games.

Families of Andover kids who will enter grades three through eight in September will receive a registration form by e-mail this week, offering them the opportunity to participate in the Andover Summer Games, according to AYS assistant director Glenn Wilson. The Games are a free weekend event starting Friday night, Aug. 20, and the event is meant to give children a variety of exciting things to do at the end of the summer.

"I just love the project. I really want to help children get out and play more, get out and enjoy themselves more," said Brendan Sheehy, a 1994 Andover High graduate heavily involved in bringing the event to life.

The idea of the event is to get youth to participate in a variety of fun activities, while acknowledging and celebrating high achievement. Kids can participate in as many or as few events as they want, from seeing who can throw the fastest pitch to who can draw the best cartoon character. There also will be some fun family events, such as a tug of war, a basketball shooting contest known as "knockout," and a relay race. The registration form will be available online at www.andoveryouthservices.com.

"I'm a biology teacher during the day and I love to motivate kids academically, love when kids are motivated athletically," outside of school functions said volunteer Becky Pierce.

On opening night, kids will have the opportunity to compete in swimming competitions at the Greater Lawrence Technical School and in track events at the Andover High School campus.

On Saturday, Aug. 21, there will be a variety of other events, such as basketball, drawing, soccer, hockey, public speaking, lacrosse, skateboarding, art, baseball and softball competitions.

"In my line of work I always see kids who are playing hockey and all they play is hockey," said Sheehy, who owns Total Sports Repair Inc. "When a kid's 11 years old, they don't know what they want to do. They should be trying everything under the sun. And I think kids do become better athletes when they do that."

Sheehy hopes the Summer Games will encourage Andover youth to "challenge yourself to do something you think you're not so good at," he said.

He noted the group of activities dubbed the "Brain Games," which will include activities such as a spelling bee and musical competition.

"Try something different. If you're a baseball star, everyone knows you're a baseball star. What if you try something different and you're really good at soccer? You might show talents you didn't known you had," said Sheehy.

Sheehy said he hopes to see schools competing against other schools in future years, if the Andover Summer Games catches on.

"I hope it's really successful and word spreads and other towns see what Andover's doing and pick up on it," said Pierce, a Greater Lawrence Technical School teacher who coaches the divers on the Andover High School swim and dive team.

A group of youth sitting on the porch of the Andover Youth Services house on Pearson Street Tuesday afternoon had not yet heard of the Summer Games, but seemed interested when told about the concept. High school student Amy Ginsberg, who is too old to compete in the Games, indicated that she would be interested in helping out at the event.

"We have the start of something here. In a couple of years, this could be great. It's a real community-building project," said Sheehy.

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For kids, Internet not all fun and games

Posted: 17 Jun 2010 07:11 AM PDT