In the UK a concerned parent, Dr Paddy Clarke, has developed the world’s first cyber bullying alert system for Facebook. The application is called KnowDiss and it monitors children’s Facebook accounts for hostile or telltale keywords and phrases.
“If any text is picked up that’s suspicious an email is immediately sent to parents so they can check it out,” Dr Clarke told news.com.au.
“It will allow the parents to check the context of the bullying text that’s picked up and they can nip it in the bud if it’s a problem.”
It is a simple process of signing up on the Know Diss website, however it requires by the parent and child’s consent to do this, so teenagers know their every move is not being watched.
The registration page of the website states:
“Signing up for KnowDiss requires mutual consent from the child and a parent. If a school also wishes to receive reports, the child must authorise that too. Consent is confirmed by our simple sign-up process.
It doesn’t matter who starts the process – parent, school, or child – it works in just the same way. We believe that it is important for children to have control over their online privacy, as that’s how they learn to stay safe.”
“It’s a collaboration between parent and child,” Dr Clarke said, “or indeed just any responsible adult and child. Basically the parent or other responsible adult – like a teacher – registers, then the child is sent a link to download the app on their Facebook page. It’s only when both parties agree that the Know Diss system works.”
“If you look at the statistics, up to 50% of kids have experienced facebook bullying in the previous 12 months. Of those 50% of kids, approximately half do not tell a responsible adult. That was the statistic that made me go away and start to develop this software,” said Dr Clarke.
In fact, children can nominate who they would like the notifications to be sent to. The adult party does not need to be a Facebook user to participate. However the adult is notified by email if the child deletes Know Diss from their Facebook page or if they transfer to another account.
“Kids may have a couple of Facebook accounts and we want them to have Know Diss on all their Facebook accounts,” Dr Clarke said.
In designing this application Dr Clarke has tried to keep the fine balance between respecting the young person’s privacy and keeping them safe.
“The feedback we’ve been getting is that once children realise it’s only looking for bullying text I think they feel more comfortable having it on their Facebook page because they feel safe.”
KnowDiss is both Mac and PC friendly, is software neutral and should work on every browser.
If you are interested in the Know Diss program go to Know Diss.
Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.
Source: Know Diss. AP
Hi, Thanks for this post. I am a Dep Head at a school in Australia which like most is dealing every day with cyber issues mostly occuring at home. Our parents are self confessed ‘one step behind’ in the internet stakes and so at their request we developed a website we called http://www.iCyberSafe.com to try and keep them ahead of their tweens and teens. The response has been incredible. We have a lot of information on the site and up date with new posts a couple of times a week – parents subscribe and for the first time feel empowered. It is so important for schools to work with parents to enable them have the conversations with their children. Once again, thanks for the post, I will make sure that it goes up on our site.