Monday, October 23, 2006 12:11 AM CDT
Respect kids’ privacy while checking e-mail, expert says
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
dfopay@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON -- It’s “kind of alarming” that there’s no program that can screen all e-mail content, but parents can guard their children against inappropriate messages without it, one expert says.
Mikki Meadows, who works with technology issues as a professor in Eastern Illinois University’s School of Family and Consumer Science, said she looks at everything done with technology the same way as it should be in a face-to-face situation.
“Respect for your adolescent’s freedom and privacy is important,” Meadows said. “Parents aren’t with their kids every minute, but hopefully what you taught them will translate into their e-mail.”
With a recent scandal involving reports of sexually suggestive and inappropriate e-mails to young congressional pages in the news, Meadows said it’s “controversial” among experts whether parents should screen their children’s e-mails.
For adolescents, studies have shown that children 14 and older think they should have freedom and privacy and parents should respect that, she said. For younger children, however, parents should “definitely” check their e-mail and let the children know they’re doing it , she added.
“I don’t know if they really need an e-mail account,” Meadows said.
To safeguard against any inappropriate computer use, either by children or by people trying to contact them, computers should be kept in central locations in the home, Meadows advised. That way, children are more likely to behave if “they don’t know when you’re going to walk by and look over their shoulders,” she said.
If children can access their e-mail accounts away from home, “make sure they understand not to do anything with e-mail you wouldn’t do face to face,” because “electronic relationships aren’t any different than your real relationships,” she added.
Parents should be concerned if their kids get e-mails with “anything that’s creepy,” especially requests for pictures or home addresses, Meadows also said.
“If you see something that makes you feel uncomfortable, you should talk to them,” she said.
Karen Murphy, media specialist at Charleston Middle School, said it’s the school district’s policy not to allow students to access their e-mail at school computers. At the beginning of the school year, students and parents both sign the district’s acceptable use policy that includes that, she said.
“We don’t let kids e-mail at all,” Murphy said.
A rare exception was when a student sent a school paper to her e-mail account and accessed it at school so she could use it in class, Murphy explained. However, in such cases “I stand right there” while the student opens the e-mail to make sure that’s all that’s done, she said.
If a student were to receive a questionable e-mail and wanted to know what to do, Murphy said she’d advise not opening it and telling a parent or teacher about it.
“They need to let an adult know this e-mail has come in,” she said.
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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 Ken Trevarthan (JG/T-C)
Charleston Middle School media specialist Karen S. Murphy keeps an eye on students' computer monitors as they access the Internet on Thursday afternoon in the CMS media center computer lab in Charleston.
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