The TODAY Show – Channel 9
How much information are your children sharing online about themselves? It might seem like they live private lives, but in reality, just the simple use of an app can lead to their data being exposed.
On average, more than seventy-two million pieces of online data are collected from your child before the age of thirteen.
Watch Ross Bark’s interview on the Channel 9 TODAY Show to see how we all need to be careful about the information we share online.
The Daily Telegraph
INSTAGRAM is guilt-tripping parents into letting children younger than 13 have their own accounts by claiming they will be bullied if they are not on the app.
The social media giant also argues that having a public account is “part of the fun”.
It has come under fire from cyber safety experts over its “parents’ guide to Instagram” which claims that kids who don’t have Instagram can “risk social marginalisation”.
Ross Bark and brother Darren from Best Enemies.
Best Enemies director Ross Bark, who runs cyber-safety courses in schools, said it was “ridiculous” to suggest children were going to experience “social marginalisation” purely for not being on the app.
He said that anyone under 18 on the app should have a private account and children under 13 “should definitely not” be on Instagram.
“Social marginalisation sounds like a term that has come out of a marketing manager’s mouth … it sounds like a young person will be on the fringes of society if they are not on Instagram which is a silly suggestion,” Mr Bark said.
The TODAY Show – Channel 9
Here’s a frightening number for you – 72 million pieces of data on average are being collected from a child before they turn 13. What can parents do to keep their children’s private information safe?
Watch Ross Bark’s interview on The TODAY Show to see how we all need to be careful about the information we share online.
The Daily Telegraph
CYBER-BULLIES would be banned from social media and slapped with an online version of an apprehended violence order as part of a radical plan to stop trolls.
Anti-bullying charities are using a powerful parliamentary inquiry to call for a criminalisation of trolling — including giving child cyber-bullies a social media order (SMO) that would ban them from contacting their victims and using sites such as Facebook and Instagram.
It comes after 14-year-old Amy “Dolly” Everett took her own life on January 3 after being targeted by bullies online.
Cyber-safety expert Ross Bark, who runs education courses across NSW through his company Best Enemies, agreed the creation of an “SMO” would be helpful.
“It would be useful to be able to ban offenders from Facebook, Instagram and social media but it would need to be coupled with education so they can actually learn the very real effect they are having on their victims,” Mr Bark said.
A Current Affair – Channel 9
The summer holidays are peak internet season for families – but parents have been warned about a trend of violent, graphic cartoons specifically designed to target children.
The cartoons feature beloved children’s characters such as Peppa Pig, Spider-Man and Elsa from Frozen, but feature gruesome acts including murder, cannibalism and pornography.
“Your child could be viewing the Peppa Pig video which could be a proper video, and in one second they could be watching something completely inappropriate, which they think is the same thing,” Cyber Expert Ross Bark told A Current Affair.
Watch the full story and my comments from last weeks A Current Affair.
Victims of workplace bullying will be able to go to Fair Work Australia to seek an order preventing the offender from continuing to harass or intimidate.
Ross Bark said their workshops and the work of the foundation are designed to “prevent these horrible circumstances of bullying from happening to begin with rather than waiting for them to occur and picking up the pieces. That is too late – the damage is done, and we are saying enough is enough”.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/bill-to-stop-workplace-bullies-20130316-2g76e.html#ixzz2YR4yKAIQ