For Immediate Release
June 30, 2009
LOCAL TEEN ADDRESSES “SEXTING” AND WIRELESS SAFETY AT COX TEEN SUMMIT
YouTube Message Offers Insight into Summit
Chesapeake, VA – For the fourth consecutive year, Cox Communications, in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) and TV host and children's advocate John Walsh presented original research on the behavior of young people online at the Cox Internet and Wireless Safety Summit held in Washington, D.C. on June 24. Together, the organizations are focusing on ways parents and guardians can help children be safer at home online and on the go.
Ronald Stewart, 19, a graduate of I.C. Norcom High School (Pictured at right with Virginia Congressman Bobby Scott, D - 3rd District) in Portsmouth, VA was one of 11 students nationwide who discussed the findings from the research. Stewart is an Access College scholar and will study media arts at James Madison University in Fall 2009 on a full scholarship as a member of the university’s Centennial Scholar Program.
Stewart has documented his experiences as a teen delegate through a video diary, including interviews with fellow teen delegates to gain insight on how they are interacting with social media, the pros and cons of social media, and how best to combat potential dangers on the Internet and in cyberspace, and the post-Summit virtual media press conference featuring John Walsh and research results from Harris Interactive. The video diary will be posted on www.youtube.com/cox11hamptonroads.
This year, the study and discussion included findings on teens and wireless activity. Walsh led the teen participants in a discussion focused on ways parents and guardians can help children be safer online and using wireless devices such as cell phones. Discussion topics included sexting, cyberbullying and parental controls. Participating students delivered the news from the research and Summit directly to Capitol Hill in meetings with members of Congress on June 24-25.
“It’s important to make our parents and children aware of the educational opportunities and the potential dangers on the Internet and cyberspace,” said Gary McCollum, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cox Hampton Roads. “The Cox Summit has been expanded this year to address concerns over wireless safety because Cox is committed to learning about the things children are experiencing, and to share the ways we can help them use technology safely.”
Results of a new survey conducted by Cox in conjunction with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) about the behavior of young people online include:
- Nearly three-quarters of teens have an online profile on a social networking site.
- About one in five teens go online via a cell phone.
- Nearly one in five teens have engaged in some kind of sexting.
- Approximately one in five teens have cyberbullied someone online or by text message and one in 10 have been cyberbullied by someone else.
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For more information, contact Felicia Blow at 757/222-8432 or felicia.blow@cox.com.
About Cox's Take Charge Initiative:
Cox's Take Charge! program was launched in 2004 to educate parents and guardians about the importance of Internet safety and to help families get the most out of mass media in the home. It provides scores of resources to help parents and guardians manage what their children’s’ use of the TV, Internet and wireless devices -- from instructions on setting parental controls, to a guide to the lingo teens use online, to tips for more constructive conversations between parents and kids. Teaching young children and teens how to stay safer online is a major element of the Take Charge program, thanks in part to Cox's partnership with the NetSmartz® Workshop, NCMEC's Internet safety resource available at www.NetSmartz.org. Cox has donated more than $30 million worth of advertising time to NetSmartz and NCMEC to encourage safer online behavior among children.
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More information on Take Charge! is available at:
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About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children:
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Since it was established by Congress in 1984, the organization has operated the toll-free 24-hour national missing children’s hotline which has handled more than 2,377,000 calls. It has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 138,500 children. The organization’s CyberTipline has handled more than 688,500 reports of child sexual exploitation and its Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed and analyzed more than 22,829,500 child pornography images and videos. The organization works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice’s office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
To learn more about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com.
About the Survey:
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Cox Communications between April 9 and 21, 2009 among 655 U.S. teens ages 13-18. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated; a full methodology is available.
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Media Contacts:
David Grabert: 404-269-7054 or david.grabert@cox.com
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