Last week brought a closer look at the actual online behavior of kids with the release of the new Pew Report, “Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites.” The in-depth study examines teens’ use of social network sites, their experiences and behaviors on the sites, their privacy and safety concerns, and the role of parents in digital safekeeping.

The study was conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project in partnership with the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) and with the support of Cable in the Classroom.

The cable industry’s education foundation, Cable in the Classroom, has a long history of providing educators with tools and resources that help them do their job better. CIC has been an advocate within the education community and elsewhere for “digital citizenship,” which is a holistic approach to helping children learn how to be both safe and smart participants in a digital world.  This means helping kids understand their rights and responsibilities, recognize benefits and risks, and realize the personal and ethical implications of their online actions.

This new research, with its insights into how kids learn online behavior, how they navigate and behave in the online world and who they turn to for advice and guidance, can help determine the most useful and relevant approaches to take, as the online safety community considers and designs tools, resources, and policies to help keep kids safe online.

It’s no surprise that social media use is widespread among teens: Fully 95% of all teens ages 12-17 are now online and 77% are users of social media sites. For the most part, these kids have positive experiences online and in social networks.

The study found that some 69% of the teenagers who use social networking sites say their peers are mostly kind to one another on such sites. While, 88% of these teens say they have witnessed people being mean and cruel to another person on the sites, 47% say they saw such behavior “only once in a while” and only 12% say they witnessed cruel behavior “frequently.”

Adult social network users are less likely to say they witness or experience this type of behavior, but they still report that it is prevalent: 69% of the adults who use social networking sites say they have seen people be mean and cruel to others on those sites.

Kids are mostly acting responsibly while online. While 19% have been bullied, around 80% have taken some action to support the target or get the bully to stop. Most kids (55%) have refrained from posting something because it might reflect unfavorably on them in the future.  Four of five kids are using some privacy controls on their profiles.

As they try to navigate difficult social environments, virtually all teens say they receive advice about online safety from a wide variety of people in their lives. Parents are the top source: 86% of teens say they received advice from their parents about how to use the internet safely and responsibly and 70% received advice from teachers and schools. Teens reported that parents were also the biggest influence on shaping what they think is appropriate or inappropriate behavior when going online or using a cell phone. At the same time, 18% of teens say that “no one” influences them about their attitudes towards online behavior.

This is an important point. Even though your kids might not act like they’re listening, they will take it to heart if you can provide them with proper tips. There are some great opportunities for parents and teachers to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to offer useful and effective advice when called on.

Broadband can be a powerful tool. But all tools need some instruction to be used wisely. We’ll continue to promote the use of cable content and technology to expand and enhance learning for children and youth nationwide, but we’ll also continue to promote safety tips and education on how best to do so.

Online safety and Internet literacy are still a big challenge for many broadband users.  Cable ISPs and content providers have acknowledged this for some time and worked to address the issue in a lot of ways.

The latest initiative in this effort comes from The Advertising Council (Ad Council) and a new task force it has assembled, the Internet Safety Coalition.  NCTA and Cable in the Classroom are partners in the effort, and Ad Council has just launched a modest new public service campaign.

“Beware What You Share” unites more than 40 industry leaders to help keep teens safer online.   We’re in good company, with other coalition members that include AT&T, Google, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Microsoft, and the Wireless Foundation (for a complete list, visit www.internetsafetypartners.org).

Our message offers teens some simple digital safety guidelines: “If you wouldn’t wear it, don’t share it. Beware what you share.”  Videos and Web banners show teens the consequences of sharing personal information online.

Beware What You Share campaign materials are being shared with cable systems and cable networks to help educate their customers and viewers.

We hope these messages help empower teens to be smart about what they share online.  We also hope this work with a variety of large companies and organizations further helps shape attitudes and change behaviors behind a variety of social issues linked to Internet use.  Ultimately, of course, we want to help keep our children safer in cyberspace and help families enjoy a more positive and productive Internet experience.

A single campaign – no matter how brilliant – can’t do much to move the needle.  Online safety for families can only be enhanced by broader education about Internet use and digital citizenship; a deeper commitment to media and digital literacy on the part of all companies in the Internet ecosystem; and providing to families the right tools to help them better and more effectively manage Internet content and use.  Cable’s commitment to these objectives is embodied in our PointSmart.ClickSafe. initiative.  Campaigns such as Beware What You Share help us keep the flame burning for improvements in online safety.

Recently, I mentioned the PointSmart.ClickSafe. Summit, which took place in Washington, D.C.  Here is some more information about what took place.

Joe Laramie, from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, spoke at the Summit, appearing on a panel entitled “Children’s Online Safety in Context: The Health/Prevention Science View.” In this interview, he speaks about the best ways to address cyberbullying. During his panel, he noted that law enforcement has to be careful about addressing online safety concerns. Both intent and content must be weighed, he cautioned, and teachers and parents should be the first line of defense.

Alan Simpson, Director of Policy for Common Sense Media, moderated a panel during the Summit on the topic “The Parent View: Defining Best Practices in Online Safety and Literacy.” Common Sense was one of our partners in putting together the Summit, along with the Internet Keep Safe Coalition (iKeepSafe) and Cable in the Classroom. In this video, he offers some advice for parents.

There was general agreement by speakers that education is the best weapon in addressing online safety. Dr. Michael Rich, Director of the Center on Media and Child Health, said that we can’t rely on legislative fixes, hardware fixes or software fixes; instead we have to fix user firmware – the mindset of parents and children.