Youth Safety on a Living Internet

Just released in the United States (04 June 2010), Youth Safety on a Living Internet, the final report by the Online Safety Technology Working Group (OSTWG), found that the best way to assure youth safety on the Internet “points to the growing importance of online citizenship and media-literacy education, in addition to what has come to be seen as online safety education, as solutions to youth risk online.”

The report finds that “civil, respectful behavior online” is less conducive to risk, and recommends “digital media literacy” as a powerful force towards reducing risk online and off. The report urges avoiding scare tactics, and instead promoting the social norms approach to risk prevention.

The report calls for solutions that are “fact-based, not fear-based” and recognizes that minors themselves “have a role to play in improving their own safety online and that of their peers.”

This study was mandated by the US Congress, through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).