“Online Safety in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”

Family Online Safety Institute Releases Whitepaper at FOSI 2019: “Online Safety in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” Washington, DC, November 21 -- Today at the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI)’s 2019 Annual Conference, the development of innovative solutions around online child protection in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be a primary focus. The event, entitled, “2020 Vision: The Future of Online Safety,” will explore the future implications of new technologies and digital infrastructure in both our personal lives and the wider world. In cooperation with research firm Kaleido Insights, FOSI is releasing a new whitepaper, “Online Safety in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” along with an analytical presentation of the paper’s findings during a featured presentation by author Jessica Groopman. The presentation will be followed by a plenary panel session featuring experts who will discuss the technical and social impacts of new, AI-powered technologies. The whitepaper focuses on how current regulations and efforts to ensure privacy online are unlikely to be sufficient moving forward given the transformational services that are already being developed using AI. The paper’s key points include:  AI already impacts how we think about children’s online safety. “Social media platforms and online gaming use AI to promote the most irresistible and influential content. Parental control apps use AI to scan millions of messages sent by children and teens. Industry uses AI to combat the spread of child sexual abuse material through technologies such as Microsoft’s PhotoDNA which scans images and videos.”   From chatbots to personal assistance: empathetic computing will increase our reliance on AI. Proponents and critics alike emphasize the power of empathetic computing, when machines recognize our emotions and respond accordingly. In the future, digital assistants will influence our social emotional worlds as well as our physical world: always available, always learning, and always personalizing.   From job-based to skill-based: the future of work will demand adaptability and human-AI partnerships. “A 2018 study by the World Economic Forum stated that 54% of the skills that workers need – regardless of industry – will have changed by 2022, suggesting we all should “skill, re-skill, and re-skill again.” Although automation may not completely eliminate existing occupations, as it is more likely to replace specific tasks than entire roles, it will shift workers to new tasks, underscoring the need for adaptability.” “We must develop a culture of responsibility now – one in which online safety relies upon government, tech companies, schools, parents as well as kids,” said Stephen Balkam, FOSI’s founder and CEO. “The idea of time well spent online can’t just be a concept. It is essential that we all work together to mitigate the potentially harmful effects of AI on our children, while maximizing the tremendous benefits it can offer our future generations.” Federal Trade Commissioner Christine S. Wilson will also speak at the event, exploring how the FTC protects children online under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and what more the agency can do to update its efforts in light of evolving technologies. The event covenes leaders from across industry, government, law enforcement, academia, and the nonprofit sector to discuss a wide spectrum of technology topics, including legislative proposals, ethics, privacy, digital parenting, and how AI will change the digital world that young people grow up in. MEDIA CONTACT Anne Keeney akeeney@glenechogroup.com 202.369.5994 ###

New Data Point Reports Release on Bullying Online or by Text, Bullying Components, and Student Perceptions of School Discipline in 2016–17

New Data Point Reports Release on Bullying Online or by Text, Bullying Components, and Student Perceptions of School Discipline in 2016–17. In school year 2016–17, more students reported being bullied about their appearance and race when being bullied with both power imbalance and repetition (39 percent and 11 percent, respectively) than when being bullied with either power imbalance or repetition but not both (30 percent and 6 percent, respectively); female students reported being bullied online or by text at a rate three times that of males (21 percent vs. 7 percent); and a lower percentage of students who saw guns at school agreed that teachers treat students with respect compared to the percentage of students who did not see guns at school (73 percent and 94 percent). Today, the National Center for Education Statistics released three new Data Point Reports entitled Students’ Perceptions of Bullying; Electronic Bullying: Online and by Text; and Student Perceptions of School Discipline and the Presence of Gangs or Guns at School. These reports examine the characteristics and school behaviors of students who report bullying online or by text; the extent to which students experiencing different components of bullying report their perceived relationship of bullying to the student’s personal characteristics; and how student perceptions of school discipline vary by student reports of their own behaviors in school and unfavorable school conditions experienced. Key Findings: Students who reported being bullied with both power imbalance and repetition also reported more negative effects on their schoolwork (27 percent) and how they felt about themselves (36 percent) than those who were bullied overall (19 percent and 27 percent, respectively). Students who reported being bullied online or by text had higher rates of reporting any negative effects (63 percent) including negative effects in at least one of the following: on their school work, relationships with friends or family, how they felt about themselves, or their physical health than those who were bullied in person only (37 percent). A lower percentage of students who were in a physical fight at school (73 percent) or brought a weapon to school (77 percent) agreed that the punishment for breaking school rules is the same no matter who you are compared to the percentage of students who were not in a physical fight at school or had not brought a weapon to school (89 percent for each) These reports use data from the 2017 School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The U.S. Census Bureau (Census) appended additional data from the 2015–16 Common Core of Data (CCD) and the 2015–16 Private School Universe Survey (PSS) to the SCS data to show the extent to which bullying is reported by students in schools with different characteristics. To view the full reports, please visit: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020040 http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020041 http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020042 The Institute of Education Sciences, a part of the U.S. Department of Education, is the nation's leading source for rigorous, independent education research, evaluation and statistics. By visiting Newsflash you may also sign up to receive information from IES and its four Centers NCES, NCER, NCEE, & NCSER to stay abreast of all activities within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). To obtain hard copy of many IES products as well as hard copy and electronic versions of hundreds of other U.S. Department of Education products please visit http://www.edpubs.org or call 1-877-433-7827 (877-4-EDPUBS).

Bullying and Cyberbullying Severity Linked to Adolescent Suicide

| Jun 10, 2019| 2018,
Brain Health, Infant and Children's Health |

Written by Joyce Smith, Staff Writer. Survey analyses of 2,670 middle and high school students across the United States revealed that students who experienced both bullying at school and cyberbullying were more than 11 times as likely to attempt suicide compared to those who had not been bullied.

Read more:

http://www.naturalhealthresearch.org/bullying-and-cyberbullying-severity-linked-to-adolescent-suicide/

The Parent’s and Educator’s Guide to Combating Online Hate Speech

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By Brittan Heller, JD and Larry Magid, Ed.D 

Download 
Full Guide (PDF)
Quick-Guide (PDF)

The internet is making it possible for people around the world to communicate with lightning speed and, for the most part, it’s a good thing. Whether it’s keeping up with friends and family or meeting new folks across the world, connected technology has made it a lot easier for us all to share ideas and information, seek advice and much more.

Read more: https://www.connectsafely.org/hatespeech/

The Facts About Online Predators Every Parent Should Know

The Facts About Online Predators Every Parent Should Know | Common Sense Media https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/the-facts-about-online-predators-every-parent-should-know

Xfinity xFi

If you have Xfinity or internet from Comcast, your family safety controls are built in. Read more at https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/xfinity-xfi-overview

Digital Citizenship Resources

From the Scout Report Newsletter, several valuable resources:

Common Sense Education: Digital Citizenship

Be Internet Awesome

IRL: Online Life is Real Life

Civic Online Reasoning

Digital Citizenship Utah

The Scout Report (ISSN 1092-3861) is published every Friday of the year except for the last two Fridays of December by the Internet Scout Research Group, based in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Computer Sciences. 

You can search their resources here: https://scout.wisc.edu/archives/index.php