In the wake of controversy about its privacy policies, Facebook is teaming up with the National PTA to teach children, parents and teachers about responsible Internet use. The partnership was announced Thursday at the PTA’s national convention in Memphis.
The collaboration will create a comprehensive program that will reside on both web sites, and will include such subjects as cyber-bullying, Net safety, and “online citizenship.” The National PTA said it will actively reach out to its 24,000 local PTAs to reach every public school in the country. Facebook is committing an in-kind contribution valued at $1 million for promotion on its site.
‘Multimedia Education Resources’
The partnership, said National PTA President Charles J. Saylors, will “provide parents all across the nation with the knowledge, tools and resources they need to keep their children safe” in a technological society.
The initiative will involve child safety, education and technology experts in the creation of “a comprehensive set of multimedia education resources” utilizing many of the experts called upon by Facebook when it relaunched its Safety Center.
Although Facebook, MySpace and similar sites require users to be at least 13, younger children commonly join, since age is easy to falsify. A study by the Pew Research Center earlier this year found that nearly 40 percent of 12-to-14-year-olds had a profile on Facebook or a similar site. A report released this week by the PTA found that online literacy isn’t taught in many schools.
Brad Shimmin, an analyst with Current Analysis, said the collaboration with Facebook doesn’t seem to indicate “any major shift in policy or a new makeover” by Facebook. He noted that PTA-based programs often end up being targeted more at parents than children, but that ultimately it’s the users who have the most control over whether they find themselves “in harm’s way.”
Privacy Controversy
Children’s safety in online…