by Mary Rudis, LVCHS Technology Coordinator

Parents, I have a simple piece of advice for all of you whose kids are asking for various gadgets and gizmos for Christmas. If you don't know how to operate it, don't give it to your kid. If it is too late and you have already bought that iPod or Creative Zen player, or you bought that cell phone that snaps photos, then you had better learn how to operate the device. At least you need to know just what your teenage child has in his or her little hands. Even teens with strong moral character are being seduced by the glitz and glamour of technology, especially if they are certain to get away with their actions without any adult finding out. What often happens is that kids get in over their heads. It takes very little knowledge or expertise to learn how to do things that seem "cool", but teens do not take the time to think about what dangers are lurking around the corner.

First is the cell phone. Kids with cell phones at school can text message friends in the middle of the school day, perhaps even sending information about the history test taken 2^nd period to a friend who doesn't have the test until 7^th. Despite best efforts to stop students from using cell phones in class or in the halls, they hide it pretty well. Text messaging does not require the user to hold the cell phone up in a visible location. Teens are pretty adept at writing notes, etc, under the level of the desk or in the hall where no one is looking. Cell phones with cameras have built-in flash memory. This means they can store pictures, and in some cases, video, on their phone. This doesn't alarm you? It doesn't take a lot of expertise for a 16- or 17-year-old girl to figure out how to capture video of herself, store it in digital format and then place it on a website for anyone to download...just for kicks. And all free. Many cell phones have the capability of downloading video and there are lots of deviants who are more than willing to provide anyone with juicy, tantalizing imagery that will satisfy any teenager's wildest fantasy. Not to mention gambling and other illegal activity that can be had with a simple text message or phone call. Not all of this is free. Some of your teenager's cell phone use can be traced just by looking at the monthly bill. Don't know what all your son or daughter's cell phone is capable of? As a responsible parent, you need to know. And you need to monitor what is done with the cell phone on a regular basis.

Second is the variety of MP3 players that are taking the American consumer by storm. Hopefully, you are already monitoring the music your teenager is listening to. There are a variety of ways to capture music on an MP3 player. Converting music from a CD to MP3 format is simple and, if your kid has access to a computer, chances are he or she already does it. Free software allows one to copy those MP3 files to the MP3 player. Music is also downloaded from various websites, both legally and illegally. Apple's iTunes website offers music at 99c per song with the limitation that one can only have up to four copies of the music. Microsoft has a similar music library. In addition to music, however, many MP3 players either already have the ability or can be configured with the ability to store video files. Regardless of the capabilities of the device your teen has, do not rely on the word of your teenager to assure you of the device's uses. Do some research and find out just what your teen can, and most likely will do with it. By all means, check the content of the MP3 player from time to time.

Last for this segment is the Weblog. There are hundreds of websites that offer free personal web pages. Some have an age requirement and even monitor the content of the web pages. Others could not care less who or what is on their site. Two of the more popular of these providers are xanga and myspace (www.xanga.com and www.myspace.com) For the most part, anything and everything goes on these personal web pages (called blogs). Teens do not like to be reminded that what they write is not private. They do not like to hear that giving away personal information about themselves invites the possibility of undesired attention. The fact is that most teens see themselves as invulnerable and powerful enough to see and duck anything coming their way. They don't possess the proper respect for the technology they are using, and do not think about how others might try to exploit that ignorance.

Your computer's browser keeps a record of all websites visited by each user. If your kid suspects that you know how to check this, however, he or she may delete it. Parents can purchase software that is password protected and allows you to have a complete list of all websites visited by every user on every computer in your home. When you see a website you don't recognize, check it out. It may have been completely harmless. But, then again, it may not be. Find out what blogs your son or daughter has and what "names" he or she uses. If you discover websites that you feel are inappropriate for your household, you can block them.

This is just an overview of some of the more popular technology that teens are attracted to. In the parents section of the school website, it may be possible to post some of your comments regarding discoveries that you made about your kids' use of technology and how you dealt with any inappropriate behavior. In the next technology segment, I will focus on the financial transactions over the internet that are accessible to minors without parental knowledge or approval.