Below are the key findings.

Parents take action

We are encouraged to learn that parents are taking action to actively monitor their kids’ online activity.

• 70% of parents talk to their children about online safety at least 2-3 times a year; 45% talk to their children least once a month.
• 74% of parents are connected to their children’s profiles on social networking sites.

• 71% of parents have taken at least one action to manage their children’s use of the Internet or cell phones.  Parents are checking to see where children are searching online, setting time limits, setting parental controls on video sites, and using filters to limit where their children go on the Web.

Dads are doing their part and then some.

• 71% of dads (compared to 63% of moms) say they are taking at least one action to help manage their children’s online behavior, including having conversations about respecting the privacy of others and checking their children’s privacy settings.
• Fathers more often check to see what personal information can be easily found about their children by searching their names online.
• 53% of dads surveyed told us they plug their children’s names into a search engine at least 2-3 times per year (compared to 38% of moms), and 33% of dads told us they search at least once a month.

“Digital footprint” is a mystery to many

Do you know what your “digital footprint” is?  If not, you’re not alone.  65% of people are not sure what a digital footprint is.   I define a digital footprint as the data trail (i.e. photos, profile information, comments, and blogs) that you leave through your activity in a digital environment. The survey unveiled that:

When was the last time you conducted an online search of your name or your child’s name?  We found that only 20% of people plug their own name into a search engine once a month or more, and 49% of people do it 2 – 3 times a year or less.  That’s not enough.  This is not about doing a vanity search; it’s about learning what’s out there and ultimately taking control of your online image.

What to do:

Yahoo! believes that education is key to empowering people to be proactive in managing their online image.  To keep you and your children safe in a digital world, take action.

• Know your connections: Only connect with people you know offline.
• Think before you post: Once something is posted online, it’s virtually impossible to take back because words, pictures, and videos can be easily forwarded, copied, and taken out of context.
• Protect your personal information: Posting personal information or photos can identify you to strangers. Never reveal personal information to people unless you are friends with them offline. 
• Configure your settings: Take the time to understand the profile settings that are available to you on websites and social networks, and tailor those settings for you.
• Understand your digital footprint: On a monthly basis, search for your name on search engines (like Yahoo! Search) and social networks to understand what type of content is associated with you.

The reality is that we live in a digital world where our photos, videos, words, and actions continue to live online long after they are originally communicated. With the continued growth of the Web — particularly social networking sites — digital-reputation concerns will also continue to grow.  We applaud the parents who are taking an active role in keeping their kids safe online, and we encourage parents to use Yahoo! Safely as a resource for relevant, up-to-date strategies and tools to help foster safer online experiences for their families.

Catherine Teitelbaum, Yahoo!’s Director of Child Safety and Product Policy

The nature of the online and mobile environments is rapidly changing and so are the challenges for teachers and parents – from digital-reputation management to addressing cyber-bullying.  Kids need to be in control of their online persona – that is the ways in which they represent themselves online, and how that persona can have an impact throughout their lives.  In this day and age, you are what you post!

Today marks Yahoo!’s third annual CyberCitizenship Summit in Sunnyvale, Calif. addressing the leading issues youth face today –  digital reputation management and cyberbullying.  Along with our co-hosts, Technology for Learning Partnership, we are bringing together more than 180 educational leaders from around California, child safety experts, and local law enforcement leaders to address how to guide students’ online persona.  With an increase in Internet and mobile gadgets coming into the home this holiday season, teachers and other participants will come away with real and practical information to help them understand the online environment in which their students live and toolkits to help students manage their digital reputations.

Over the years, Yahoo! has worked collaboratively with industry peers, child safety groups and law enforcement with the common goal to find new ways to protect children online.  At this year’s summit, we are thrilled to partner with some of the most notable national child safety experts to offer educational leaders guidance on digital literacy.
Presenters include:

Anne Collier, ConnectSafely
Marsali Hancock, iKeepSafe Internet Safety Coalition
Larry Magid, ConnectSafely
Diana Paradise, Technology for Learning Partnership
Catherine Teitelbaum, Yahoo! Safely
Glenn Warren, Orange County Office of Education

In advance of the summit, we worked closely with iKeepSafe.org, and sponsored the development Project PRO – a hands-on curriculum guide and a resource kit to help educators coach youth on protecting and managing their digital reputation, and strategies to keep youth safe from bullying.   Summit attendees will be guided through the program and implementation strategies and be provided with the kit for immediate use at their school site.
Hosting this summit is just one of the ways we work to help foster a safer experience for children. To learn more about digital reputation management and tips for preventing cyberbulling, visit safely.yahoo.com.
Catherine Davis Teitelbaum
Director of Policy for Child Safety

That is why we were thrilled that Emily Hancock, Yahoo! Senior Legal Director was recently able to accept an award from the Family Online Safety Institute for her work on behalf of Yahoo! to make the internet safer for everyone.

The Family Online Safety Institute Award for Outstanding Achievement (“FOSI Award”) was awarded to individuals who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to advancing the goal of a safer Internet. We could not be prouder to have Emily accept this award. Emily cares very passionately about helping to protect children and she takes a very proactive approach within Yahoo! helping to make changes to products, services, policies and tools whenever possible to achieve that end.  She has been instrumental in the ongoing development and improvement of Yahoo!’s technology for identifying, removing and reporting child pornography.

The award came as Yahoo sponsored the third annual Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) online safety conference, Building a Culture of Responsibility: From Online Safety to Digital Citizenship on November 4th and 5th in Washington, DC. Bringing together leaders from government, industry, education and nonprofits, the conference focused on determining how to best encourage responsible use on the Internet. The conference convened key players from the global Internet community to promote cyber citizenship and coordinate efforts to connect the next billion consumers safely and responsibly.

Yahoo!’s Director of Child Safety and Product Policy, Catherine Teitelbaum also played a major role in the conference, appearing on a panel aimed at “Getting Kids Hooked On Safety When They are Young.”  Catherine spoke of her extended tenure at Yahoo!, working to create a safer online environment for kids and teens, and how the work of keeping kids safe has evolved with time. Her dedication to this issue is just another example of how Yahoo! that serves so many different audiences can also make child safety a priority and successfully integrate child safety features into our broad product offerings.

Visit Yahoo! Safely to get the facts about online safety – http://safely.yahoo.com