Interview with Yvonne Walus

Hot off the press: an interview with Yvonne Walus about her thought-provoking book "Witch Hunts on the Internet".

Find out what your teenager gets up to when online....

Teens post sensitive info online

A recent survey revealed that 50% of New Zealand teenagers think nothing of posting personal information (such as pictures, stories, or comments that they wouldn't want someone who didn't like them to find) on Bebo or Facebook.

Sensitive data posted included:

• - First and last name, or their first name and a recognisable picture of themselves (30%)
• - E-mail address (30%)
  

• - Mobile phone number (14%)

• - Home address (3%)

Does your teenager know the consequences of being too open online?

Read the thriller "Witch Hunts on the Internet", then let your teen read it too!

Too many friends?

When you're a teenager, your online status is driven - to a large extent - by the number of friends you have on Bebo, MySpace and Facebook. It's yet another measure of popularity. At first glance, it seems harmless enough. But is it?

Recent research suggests that our brains evolve to know no more than 150 people, including those in your household, family and neighbouring caves or huts. 150! Most schools alone are twice the size, and we're not counting family friends, the kids in the street who go to a different school, the mates from swimming lessons, and so on.

Add to that people you befriend online, and you can almost see your brain short-circuiting as they try to sort out the Jenny from ballet and the Jenny from school and Aunt Jenny and Jenny online who goes by the handle born2bwild....

Here's the article if you'd like to see the implications of Internet socialising on this generation's puberty and adolescence years: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10562544&pnum=0.

And here's my book about online friendships going bad:

"Witch Hunts on the Internet" (http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook77234.htm). 

Judge the book by its cover

"Witch Hunts on the Internet" has ended up on Book Cover Lovers. Check it out. 

Coming up: vote for your favourite book cover....

Will Big Brother Be Watching?

Here is an article about bits of electronic data stored forever, providing a "God's eye view" of where your mobile phone has been and which sites you've surfed. Are we worried about nothing? Judge for yourself:

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/technology/5456907/control-needed-digital-view-lives-expert/

A fabulous review of "Witch Hunts on the Internet"

Check out this review of Yvonne Walus' novella, "Witch Hunts on the Internet": http://lkhunsaker.blogspot.com/2009/03/book-review-witch-hunts-on-internet.html.

"... Witch Hunts is an eerily realistic novella that made me think I was reading an actual journal entry of a scary moment in a mother's life. When she discovers her 13 year old daughter engaged in online chats with a man claiming to be 16, she does research. With her police background, she does very thorough research, to find her suspicions were right and the 16 year old is actually 40. ..."

Buy now link: http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook77234.htm

Another video about Internet safety for kids

Parents, please watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJqCgr1pQ-8