The popularity of social networking sites, such as Myspace.com and Facebook.com, raise important issues for camp directors intent on protecting their campers—and their camps—from the dark side of the online world.
Traditional concerns about youth and the Internet took a high-tech turn with the advent of this new breed of the "local" hangout—places where young people post personal information often accompanied by pictures of themselves and their (perhaps unwitting) friends.
Free to all comers, such forums provide easy and anonymous access to anyone searching for e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers, or details about body type, sexual preferences, or alcoholic beverages of choice. And the information flow doesn’t stop there. A recent Dateline NBC investigation of teen pages found scenes of binge drinking, apparent drug use, and sex acts.
So concerned are school officials that some are considering banning the posting of personal pages by their students. And so concerned are law enforcement officials that at least one state, Connecticut, is investigating the link between these sites and incidents of sexual assault.
Wiredsafety.org, an online safety, education, and help group, points out that while users sometimes share their personal information in order to find romance, this is not okay for kids. Indeed, the Santa Cruz Sentinel recently reported the arrest of a twenty-six-year-old California man on charges of felony child molestation of a fourteen-year-old he met on Myspace.com.
But child predators aren’t the only problem—and harm to youth not the only risk.
A review of Myspace.com reveals "group" pages created by teens and incorporating the name, and sometimes the logo, of their school or camp. These virtual campfires allow for cyberbullying and the unsupervised exchange of often-inappropriate ideas and pictures that would never be tolerated within the confines of a classroom or cabin.
In some instances, content amounts to sexual innuendo and in others not-so-subtle sexual solicitation. Also featured are photos of kissing, fondling, and groping and dialogue about getting high, getting wasted, or just plain getting mad. And all of this under the banner of organizations committed to education, youth development, and safety.
A natural reaction might be to simply ban teen participation in online networking. But attempting to deny campers’ access may not be the best approach—and may ultimately fail anyway. There are, however, other important steps we can take to keep our campers and our camps safe.
Keeping Campers and Camps Safe
So, what’s a camp director to do?
- Establish and disseminate policies regarding the posting of personal information online.
- Prohibit the use of images (pictures or logos) of or from your camp.
- Visit the sites to monitor compliance.
- Notify campers and their parents about violations of your policy.
- Follow through with consequences.
Educating Parents and Teens
Camps can also play a valuable role in educating families about the threats posed by social networking sites. Wiredsafety.org offers some online safety guidelines for parents.
- Personal information stays personal.
- Make sure your child doesn't spend all of his or her time on the computer.
- Keep the computer in a family room, kitchen, or living room, not in your child's bedroom. Knowing you are watching, kids are less likely to put themselves in risky situations, and you can safely oversee what's going on.
- Learn enough about computers so you can enjoy them together with your kids.
- Watch your children when they're online and see where they go.
- Make sure that your children feel comfortable coming to you with questions.
- Keep kids out of chat rooms unless they are monitored.
- Discuss these rules, get your children to agree to adhere to them, and post them near the computer as a reminder.
- Help them find a balance between computing and other activities.
- Remember to monitor their compliance with these rules, especially when it comes to the amount of time your children spend on the computer.
- Get to know their "online friends" just as you get to know all of their other friends.
- Warn them that people may not be what they seem to be. Predators often pose as children to gain our children's trust.
Developing Protocols for Staff
Camps might also develop protocols for their staff, prohibiting, for example, any online exchange that would be considered a violation of existing personnel policies and the posting of any inappropriate information or photos that can be accessed by campers. Finally, camps may wish to consider using these sites as screening tools when hiring counselors.
Don Schroeder, an employment lawyer in the Boston office of Mintz Levin, says, "While you may not be able to keep people from doing what they want on the Internet, you can certainly take action if you don’t like what you see," including dismissing, or not rehiring, any staff member found to be in violation of the policies you have created.
As with most things Internet, social networking sites offer content both bad and good. At worst, they perpetuate bawdy exhibitionism. At best, they provide a place for the meaningful exchange of creative ideas, memories, and dialogue, keeping young people connected to the friends and experiences that matter most.
In that way, your space is their space, too.
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