Skip to content

‘Raising a Selfie Generation’ focus of presentations

Alec Cuoros, a professor of educational technology and media with the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina, helps adults and youth navigate the digital age while providing them with strategies to avoid the pitfalls that come with technolo
unity
Alec Cuoros, a professor of educational technology and media at the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina, made presentation about wise online choices at area schools. Photo by Sherri Solomko

Alec Cuoros, a professor of educational technology and media with the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina, helps adults and youth navigate the digital age while providing them with strategies to avoid the pitfalls that come with technology and social media.

Cuoros recently made presentations at area schools.

As a father of four children, Couros recognizes the attraction of the Internet and social media, but he also commits to teaching the tools needed to inform users on how to avoid mistakes, regrets and consequences of posts or naive use of apps.

Couros spent the morning with students, then facilitated a lunch and learn session for about two dozen parents at UCHS. From there, he travelled to McLurg to deliver a similar message to student and parents.

Couros started his presentation with alarming statistics that included: 92 per cent of U.S. toddlers already have a digital footprint; 34 per cent of children have a digital footprint before they are born; 59 per cent of children under 10 already have social networking; by age five children already have thousands of images on social media sites; 54 per cent of students have sent or received “sexts” with 40 per cent of these intended to be a joke; 34 per cent had a sexy intention while 12 per cent were sent under peer pressure.

Couros maintains that the more a person uses social media the more depression, mental health issues or anxiety become prevalent especially in teens, as they are marred by social comparison and plagued by the “grass is greener” mentality. Couros wants children and parents to remember that any social platform is a filtered version of people’s lives rather than the reality. Posts, images and streaming tend to be the extreme good side of living rather than the reality version of how things may really be.

Couros talked of the complications of naive users with several apps and social media sites, including the popular app Snapchat wherein users believe the message is only shown for seconds. Yet, that same Snapchat message can be captured in a screen shot and saved or forwarded. He also talked about the high percentage of posts that are forwarded, whether the initial poster wanted or intended them to be or not. He also cautioned against the practice of forwarding images without permission, especially in underage youth.

When shown a slide on various apps for sharing and messaging. Couros asked parents if they knew how their children were communicating. He then demonstrated, as well as cautioned against, the use of a current live streaming app. Couros said that phones are similar to carrying around a 24/7 broadcasting box and live streaming apps offer the capability of tuning into multiple people’s lives and videos. Some of the live streaming devices offer incentive to users to use more risky behaviour to earn bonuses but he once again cautions that these sites can be record and shared quite and provided a quick demonstration.

He also added alarm bells to parent’s minds when he reviewed several anonymous messaging sites. He said these sites are setting children up for bullying.

Couros wrapped up his session with some important reminders for parents. He reiterated the importance of a positive digital identity and reminding children anything online can be copied, edited and shared many times and can be viewed by millions. He said the rule of thumb used to be “private by default, public by effort” but in today’s technology savvy world this has reversed.

He presented a slide that showed the acronym THINK that would help parents remind their children on the tools for positive posting: T – is it true, H – is it helpful, I –will it inspire, N – is it necessary and K – is it kind.

Another bizarre reality of today’s online world is the higher incidences of fake news as well as “trolls” that encourage the fake news, or harass others online incessantly. He emphasized children should not accept friend requests from people they don’t know.

Couros reviewed several common scams including “catphishing” that he was a victim of. He said catphishing creates fake profiles, using  Photoshop to alter an individual’s photos captured from social media. A fake profile is then used to create fake relationships and misconceptions about the person. Some tips for recognizing this is noting how the language is a “little off” as well as the photos showing obvious fuzzy portions and Photoshop techniques.

He also showcased several instances of bad selfie choices as well as accompanying captions, and how one of these examples actually cost a woman her job