In this economy, just about everyone is looking to cut costs that aren’t necessities.  Maybe that means cancelling a few magazine subscriptions, downgrading a gym membership or opting for a smaller cable package–but what about the Internet?  Depending on the quality and speed of your connection, the cost for having Internet in your home can run a rough average of $50/month, or $600 each year.  And that’s not even factoring in any data plans you might have for a smartphone.  What if you didn’t have to pay for Internet or Wi-Fi at all?

Sure, you’d save money, but under the plan being discussed at this month’s FCC meeting, your connection would also be a little bit slower and a little bit censored.  Part of the deal is that the content would have to be porn-free, and free of any other content that might be deemed unsuitable for children.  This makes sense to an extent, since of course a government agency doesn’t want to be seen as an enabler for inappropriate material.  According to lobby group M2Z Networks, if you decide to pay for the premium service to get a faster connection, you can turn the filter off, which is not too different from parental control options that exist with most other service providers and some browsers.

I’m for free Internet, but I also believe that with it must come a better understanding of filters.  It is too easy for a filter to act as the only form of online oversight in the home, and parents have to know that they don’t always work.  Most filters (including the one that the FCC would use) operate based on key words and phrases which are found in domain names; for example, a filter might block anything from a domain with the word ’sex’ in the name.  However, this can work against certain websites that are largely undeserving of being censored for young people.

Case in point: In college, I produced and directed my university’s production of “The Vagina Monologues,” which ran simultaneously with hundreds of other productions of the play around Valentine’s Day.  Sponsored by Eve Ensler’s V-Day Foundation, each production raised money for charities dealing with domestic abuse, rape, HIV/AIDS and the like.  All the producers and directors could communicate with each other through emails and a discussion board.  One day, I read about a woman producing the show tried to visit the V-Day website at a school library, only to find it was blocked by the school for containing keywords that triggered the university’s filter.  This was problematic for her in terms of getting information she needed to produce the play, providing details about the show for ticketholders, gaining additional sponsorships and more.  The irony, of course, was that her university was essentially blocking her proactive efforts to combat sex crimes.

So, yes, I’m for free Internet.  I really believe that in our modern world, the web is becoming more and more essential to gaining vital information for finding health care, applying to school, finding a job and managing your finances.  A computer lab is virtually useless if none of the machines can connect to the web.  Some wireless providers fear that free services will threaten their very existence, but I think it will only encourage them to be more innovative and adapt to change, just like every other industry.  However, with free and open access comes great responsibility in learning how to use it.  That responsibility lies squarely with schools, parents, librarians and other role model figures.  If all runs smoothly, free Internet and wi-fi could come to you as early as this summer.  Will you be ready?

For more on filters and having a positive online experience, please download our freeLAMPlit resource guide, “A Beginner’s Guide to Going Online.”

–Emily Long

If you have children, you probably already know how difficult it is to find age-appropriate websites that you will be comfortable to let them to visit regularly. Far too many of the children sites out there are nothing more than advertising ploys for kids TV shows and toys.

Woogi World games, activities and adventures teach and promote positive behavior and character development. Woogi World is a social networking site and an online world for children with the goal of training elementary-age children to use the internet safely and to balance that with community service and family time so that children may become good influences in their homes, schools, and communities. Woogi World is also a resource for parents and teachers to use to teach children about Internet safety and some great characteristics, such as leadership, community service, responsibility, health and nutrition and, surprisingly, how to balance being online with being offline.

For many of us, we can condone certain Internet games and activities if we perceive that there is an educational benefit to them. To our children – it’s fun. But to a parent and an educator we want the benefits that we see in activities such as soccer, basketball, baseball and playing house –the all important benefits of exercise and teamwork and letting one’s imagination grow.

Woogi World’s parental interaction feature allows parents to monitor the amount of time their child is online and determine if they want their child to “chat” with other Woogi’s. A parent can also limit the days and amount of time the child can play as well as view the history of the account.

To sum it up, Woogi World offers a safe environment for children to get connected, socialize, and keep up with world around them. To that end, Woogi World launched an “Every Kid Votes” Campaign that allows children to participate in the voting process. Here, children get the opportunity to vote and learn the importance in our nation’s democratic process by involving children in the upcoming election, the Republican and Democratic parties, the candidates, and the candidates’ platforms.

Although my child isn’t learning his ABC’s and 123’s from Woogi World (I’ll save that for our Mommy and PoohBear reading time), he is nevertheless learning valuable skills. So, if you’re looking for an educational, and a fun place for your child on the Internet, go to Woogi World, create your own Woogi and one for your child, and have some fun — especially since Woogi World is absolutely free!

-Ellen Uzonwanne

I was pointed to an incredible site that displays internet memes in a very unique fashion. Essentially, a meme comes from the Greek word “mimeme” which means “something imitated” (it is also literally translated from the French word for “same”). We’ve all seen them, either on our favorite blog (or our own blogs) or in an e-mail. A very simple form is someone sends you a list that asks you to list five thoughts no one knows that you had when you were a kid. This person has filled out the list with their own five thoughts, and has essentially tagged you to do the same thing, and pass it along to your contacts. And then they perpetuate this cultural game of digital “telephone”.

The term meme was coined back in 1976 by Richard Dawkins, who referred to things such as jingles, melodies, catch-phrases, rumors, etc. What Dawkins wasn’t referring to (because they really hadn’t yet emerged) are viral videos and other viral digital media. That’s where the Internet Memes site comes in. It displays the release and the phenomenon of each big viral video/song/site in four very innovative ways. I always enjoy seeing new refreshing and engaging ways of displaying information, this site is definitely that.

You can see the history of Internet memes as a timeline, that stretches all the way back to August of 1970, where the term “Internet” was developed to refer to the connections that existed with the early web prototype, ARPANET, maintained by the Department of Defense. You can also view each meme as a pushpin in a map, showing you where in the world these came from. I invite you to check it out. It’s likely you’ll find out something new. I did:

In 1982, the first emoticon was created. It was the beginning of a new way of expressing ourselves, some would even say a new language. And to think, our children have never known a world where they didn’t use their characters to make facial expressions.

For Immediate Release

Contact: Emily Long, Communications Director

The LAMP

718-789-8170

http://www.thelampnyc.org

The LAMP Announces LAMPlit Series

Resource guides offer real-world ideas for cyber-world issues

Brooklyn, New York: The LAMP (Learning About Multimedia Project) launched the first volume in its LAMPlit series of multimedia resource guides, entitled “LAMPlit: A Beginner’s Guide to Going Online.” All of the guides in the LAMPlit series will be available for free download from the LAMP’s website at www.thelampnyc.org/lamplit. The guides are written and disseminated by the LAMP without corporate sponsorship.

The first guide focuses on helping adults and young people have a safe and positive experience online, and is released in coincidence with National Cyber Safety Awareness Month. During Symantec’s Norton Online Living Report in 2007, 1 in 5 children reported doing things online that their parents would disapprove of, while only 50% of parents have spoken to their kids about practicing safe online habits. One reason parents may be hesitant to get involved is because parents tend to hear more about the bad things that can happen online, says LAMP Executive Director D.C. Vito.

“The stories about online predators and cyberbullying tend to be the ones that get the most coverage,” says Mr. Vito. “It creates a culture of fear around the Internet and new media, and we’ve seen a lot of emphasis on the negative. We wanted to create a guide that is balanced and fair, that does not deny any of the bad things that potentially can happen online, but that also hits on the ways that the Internet is really a great thing. People just have to know what they’re doing.”

In addition to addressing privacy concerns, LAMPlit also aims to support parents who might avoid getting involved in their children’s online activities because new media can be overwhelming.

“It can be difficult for parents to start a conversation with their kids about what they’re doing online, but it’s absolutely imperative,” says Katherine Fry, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Media Studies at Brooklyn College and Education Director for the LAMP. “Too often, adults are intimidated by new technology, so they just ignore it. They miss using media as a chance to bring their family closer together instead of farther apart.”

All of the guides in the LAMPlit series will be available for free download from the LAMP’s website at www.thelampnyc.org/lamplit.Future LAMPlit guides will target gaming, social networking, Internet ethics, news, advertising and more.

About The LAMP:

The Learning About Multimedia Project (The LAMP) is a non-profit organization which strives to provide critical media literacy skills to the inter-related groups of youths, their parents and educators throughout New York City. Free media education workshops and events offered by the LAMP demystify the constant flow of media these three groups encounter, bridge the digital divide, and provide workforce development skills for future generations.

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Location: TBD in Brooklyn, hosted by Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment

Dates: December 1st, 8th and 15th

Times: 3:00-6:00pm

Ages: 6th-8th grade

Cost: FREE!

Explore the many ways you can present yourself on the Internet through social networking websites and blogs.  Learn what to include (and what not to include) in an online profile, and how to build your own blog!

To register, call us at 718-789-8170 or send us an email.