WebWiseKids Blog : digital safety children

Web Wise Kids and BeSeen: An Award Finalist!

Judi Westberg-Warren, President — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:00:00 GMT

We are proud to announce that our BeSeen game has been selected as an award finalist by the Pittsburgh Technology Council!

This year’s fourth annual DATA Awards Event is part of the Creative Technology Network, developed with the generous support of the Benedum Foundation. Called Pittsburgh’s biggest creative tech party of the year, the event is a streaming mash-up of networking, interactivity and inspiration.

The 2012 Design, Art and Technology Award will be handed out at the DATA awards ceremony on June 7, 2012

BeSeenwas selected as a finalist in the “Next Generation: Kids & Creative Technology Category” recognizing the hard work and innovation of Web Wise Kids and Carnegie Mellon University.

Cross your fingers for us!

If you are new to Web Wise Kids or BeSeen, here’s more about the game:

BeSeen was created by Carnegie Mellon University and Web Wise Kids to teach youth how to be responsible in social networks by securing their private and personal information, protecting their online reputation and defending their peers.

This online safety mobile application is a single-player game that simulates a social networking website. The player creates a profile and starts earning “friend” characters and interacting with them. They learn about others through their posts and help them through challenges in order to win awards and make new friends.

In BeSeen, the ultimate quest is to make friends. At first, that is a matter of getting involved in school activities, but as more friends join a social circle, they bring their problems with them. To keep friends and make more, it’s important not only to be involved but also to be a good friend.

You can learn more about BeSeen or download the free lesson materials on the Web Wise Kids website.

BeSeen Featured in SecretlyNetwork.com!

Judi Westberg-Warren, President — Wed, 30 May 2012 21:17:00 GMT

Our BeSeen app was featured in SecretlyNetwork.com's blog about best mobile applications for kids! Web Wise Kids is honored to be listed by Secretly Networking as a recommendation for Best Apps for Kids, and we are delighted to be included with so many other great apps.

Thank You To Our Sponsors!!

Judi Westberg-Warren, President — Mon, 28 May 2012 20:40:00 GMT

With our BeSeen app gaining a lot of attention during the last several weeks-- especially since we launched an ad in USA Today-- we'd like to take a moment to thank our sponsors--CTIA Wireless Foundation, Carnegie Mellon University, Verizon Foundation-- without whom BeSeen would have never been possible.

If you are new to Web Wise Kids or BeSeen, here’s more about the game:

BeSeen was created by Carnegie Mellon University and Web Wise Kids to teach youth how to be responsible in social networks by securing their private and personal information, protecting their online reputation and defending their peers.

This online safety mobile application is a single-player game that simulates a social networking website. The player creates a profile and starts earning “friend” characters and interacting with them. They learn about others through their posts and help them through challenges in order to win awards and make new friends.

In BeSeen, the ultimate quest is to make friends. At first, that is a matter of getting involved in school activities, but as more friends join a social circle, they bring their problems with them. To keep friends and make more, it’s important not only to be involved but also to be a good friend.

You can learn more about BeSeen or download the free lesson materials on the Web Wise Kids website. Watch our video thanking our sponsors here!

What Can BeSeen Teach Your Kids?

Judi Westberg-Warren, President — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:07:00 GMT

Our BeSeen App is an online safety mobile application that simulates a social networking website. The player creates a profile and starts earning “friend” characters and interacting with them. They learn about others through their posts and help them through challenges in order to win awards and make new friends.

To get a full understanding of what our BeSeen app can teach your children, watch our official training video here.

Our BeSeen app is available to download for free on both Apple and Android platforms. To download the app and supplemental classroom materials (for free!), please click here.

BeSeen Has Global Appeal!

Judi Westberg-Warren, President — Wed, 23 May 2012 00:52:00 GMT

You Said It. BeSeen Has Global Appeal!

Word Is Spreading About The New BeSeen Lesson Materials!
It's only been a few weeks since we created a download page for the new BeSeen lesson materials on the Web Wise Kids website. But in that short time, here's what we've seen:

* We had 110 downloads of the complete lesson materials which will now start filtering through families, teachers and youth directors around the world - over 11,000 impressions!

* In the U.S., the materials were downloaded in 30 states!

* Overall, we had recent downloads in 8 different countries including South Africa,Peru, Canada, Nigeria, Columbia, United Kingdom and New Zealand! If you are among this group, thank you for being one of the first to begin formally teaching online safety via the BeSeen game. And be sure to share your feedback with us at [email protected].

Here's What You Are Saying About BeSeen!
"I work for law enforcement and go to all schools in the county and most of the city to discuss various topics, including on-line safety. I plan on using your information to update my presentations and to continue makng education fun." --- El Paso,TX
"Can't wait to see this one - we use Missing and love it need it for newer computers or iPads. --- Ft. Clahoun, NE
"Loved using the Missing Game and thrilled you came out with something new :)" ---Tolland, CT
"I appreciate these resources made available to teachers...." --- Berkeley, CA
"Anxious to try this app and offer it to students. Thank you!" --- Tustin, CA
"Hey, I didn't know about this app!!!!" --- Penn Laird, VA
"I want teach my students how to be safe on social media. I don't speak English, but I'm working with the teachers on ESL." --- Santiago, Chile
"We would like to build in a link to these materials from our site. This and BeSeen would fit into our Digital Citizenship section really well" --- Clinton Twp, MI

Thank you for all this feedback and positive encouragement! We are so excited to see where you take BeSeen over the coming weeks. Who can you share BeSeen with today?

Teen Bullying Suicide Pushes Newspaper to Take a Stand

Judi Westberg-Warren, President — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:32:00 GMT

A teen in Iowa, 14 year old Kenneth Weishuhn Jr., committed suicide because of bullying, and a newspaper is now taking a stand. Shaken by Weishuhn’s death, The Sioux City Journal dedicated its entire front page of its Sunday edition paper to an editorial rallying the city against bullying. Full front page editorials are rare, but the Sioux City Journal felt that it was the only way to address the enormity of the situation in order to garner the attention of its readers.

I certainly commend the Sioux City Journal for devoting their front page to discourage bullying. It is hard to believe that yet another young person has taken their life due to bullying. When are we going to realize as a society that bullying another person physically or emotionally causes irreparable damage? We must continue to educate the public, parents and children that bullying is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. Thank you Sioux City Journal for taking this public stand.

One of the ways WWK combats bullying is through our educational games, like our free mobile app, BeSeen. Learn more about BeSeen--and how it can teach our children to combat cyberbullying--here .

BeSeen Classroom Materials a Hit!

Judi Westberg-Warren, President — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:44:00 GMT

Our new BeSeen program that provides downloadable lesson plans – complete with handouts, worksheets, instructional videos, and 12 lesson plans-- allows educators, youth directors and parents to instantly begin sharing the benefits of BeSeen with their kids.

So far, the materials have been downloaded 65 times in 20 states and five countries (hello to our friends across the US and in South Africa, the UK, Peru and Canada)!

These classroom materials give teachers a step-by-step guide for leading students through the materials. We designed them to help facilitate discussions and dialogue with your students as they are playing the game. BeSeen is a valuable learning tool – but it is also fun for kids!

We hope that those who have downloaded our materials have found them useful so far, and that other parents and educators will continue to download and use our BeSeen materials.

You can download our BeSeen Classroom Materials for FREE here!

Web Wise Kids' New Official Speaker Discusses Organization Mission

Judi Westberg-Warren, President — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 01:30:00 GMT

Watch Web Wise Kids' newest trainer and official speaker, Rommel Anacan, speak more about our organization's missions and goals here

Web Wise Kids And The Fight Against Bullying

Judi Westberg-Warren, President — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:04:00 GMT

A new documentary from The Weinstein Company called Bully is about to hit theaters and aims to raise awareness about America’s bullying epidemic. Unfortunately, the MPAA recently announced that the film will receive a “R” rating and restrict minors from attending the movie without an adult present. If bullying is a problem that primarily affects children and teens, shouldn’t they be allowed to see it most? Web Wise Kids, a leader in the fight against cyber-bullying and for online safety believes so. Katy Butler knows what it means to be bullied. She was harassed, picked on, and even physically abused by bullies in her school. In fact, Katy was once shoved into a wall and had a locker slammed on her hand that actually broke her finger. When Katy heard that this movie would receive an “R” rating, she decided to start a petition on Change.org and get people involved. In response, The Weinstein Company appealed the MPAA’s decision and asked for the movie to be reconsidered for a “PG-13” rating. Unfortunately the appeal failed but Katy doesn’t see this as a reason to give up. Web Wise Kids, a national non-profit organization and recognized leader in Internet safety education, supports the motion for the MPAA to reduce this movie’s rating. Katy’s perseverance’s deserve to be amended and with your help the petition can continue to make progress toward making Bully available for all teens to see. To sign Katy’s petition, please visit: http://www.change.org/petitions/mpaa-dont-let-the-bullies-win-give-bully-a-pg-13-instead-of-an-r-rating?utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert To learn more about Web Wise Kids, please visit. http://www.webwisekids.org