In this issue:
- Yoursphere In The News
- Contest Winners & Hopefuls
- New Partner: Qwizzys World
- Inside the Spheres: Susan Boyle
- From Our Members
- Parent Forum
- Safety Tips: Sexting
- A Glimpse Inside Facebook
- WeSphere
- Riddle Help
Yoursphere In The News
Check out Yoursphere featured on FOX 45 Baltimore, including interviews with Mary Kay, a teen member, and her mom!
Contest Winners & Hopefuls
Quick--which month has 28 days? That contest question was answered by Yoursphere member cpip, who recognized that ALL months have 28 days. Simple logic that helped her win a giant three-person slip n' slide!
Think you know what the picture on the right is? The winner scored a BFF scrapbooking kit! And from one of last month's contests: What occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, but never in a thousand years?
(Stumped? Scroll to the bottom for answers.)
Meet Our Partners: Qwizzy's World
Welcome, Qwizzys World! Yoursphere is pleased to announce we are partnering with Qwizzy's World, a unique website that actually helps kids improve their test scores. How, you ask? In short, Qwizzy's World demystifies the act of test taking in order to quell nerves and instill confidence, all via fun (yes, fun) practice quizzes. Founded by wife and mother of two Julie Wilson, Qwizzys World is a helpful tool for involved parents.
Wilson understands the pressures kids and parents face in today's academic environment. As she explains in her helpful essay "Zap Test Anxiety While Building Self Esteem In Kids," Qwizzy's World grew out of her frustration with the lack of online resources available to help her kids improve their study and test-taking skills.
Says Wilson, "What's neat about [Qwizzy's World] it is that my kids learn their test material before they even realize they are studying. They input their own test questions, record answers, and then actually take the test they've created. Then, they can take this test as many times as they'd like. And they are prepared when they leave for school."
Read the entire piece here, or explore Qwizzy's World.
Inside The Spheres
From our TV & Movies sphere, Yoursphere contributing writer Elsa gets inspired by BBC and global YouTube singing sensation Susan Boyle.
Her voice is silky smooth, her attitude irresistible. Her looks? Deceiving. She is Susan Boyle. 48-year-old Susan, from West Lothian, Scotland, has never kissed a boy, or even been out on a date. However, now she is expected to win the biggest competition in Britain - "Britain's Got Talent."
As she stepped out onto the stage in front of four harsh judges, the audience crinkled their noses and looked at her as if saying, "Please, spare us. Don't even try." Susan's old-fashioned ‘grandma' sort of look tricked everyone into thinking that she didn't even have a chance. However, when she opened her mouth and began to sing, all that changed. Immediately, the crowd began clapping and cheering. The judges were speechless. Even the harshest of all, Simon Cowell, dropped his jaw.
Susan's performance of ‘I Dreamed a Dream' was absolutely wonderful. Of course, her singing voice was amazing, but she also had a way of making her performance feel magical. I think that is one of the reasons that all of Britain, along with the rest of the world, has fallen in love with her. Another thing that makes Susan Boyle so amazing is that she had never sung in front of an audience bigger than her church congregation! However, you would never guess that after her audition. She came off as a very spunky woman, and didn't look nervous at all.
Susan's personality adds to her fame because she seems like a lot of fun! I think that Susan Boyle will go very far in this competition, if not win it. Also, she will most definitely never return to her quiet life in West Lothian, Scotland, and that her career from here on out will be a very successful one. Susan Boyle teaches us all something very important: we shouldn't judge someone by the way they look. Because we may be very surprised.
From Our Members
The following was written by Yoursphere member Tina.
Being a member of Yoursphere has some really cool perks. I was chosen for a once in a lifetime experience: attending the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup event in San Francisco. I got to meet a lot of people and tell them why I love Yoursphere.
When I was there, I worked at a booth and whenever someone came to check it out I told them about Yoursphere and all my favorite parts; like the spheres we get to make, the contests, credits and cool prizes, and especially how I don't have to worry about who I'm REALLY talking to when I just want to talk to friends.
Another thing I got to do while I was there was sit on a youth panel with seven other kids. The Ypulse representative showed us commercials and advertisements and then we would say what we thought about them. The tough part was that we were talking in front of over 250 people! I was nervous at first but once I got up there it was really fun. We looked at cool ads too; like Mac vs. PC and Pepsi vs. Coke.
Thanks to Yoursphere, this was an awesome experience and I loved being able to help spread the word.
Parent Forum Welcomes Your Input
Completely separate from Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere's parent-only forum aims to answer your questions about Yoursphere and Internet safety in general, and provide a nexus for parents like you to share experiences with other adults. It's also a place to listen in as Yoursphere team members blog about tech issues, site news, and all the other intriguing questions that make what we are doing here so unique. Recently, Mary Kay blogged about a handy new service that, for a fee, enables parents to set limits on their child's cellphone use. Also, tips on how to prevent sexting. For more about sexting, read on.
Safety Tips: Sexting, And How To Prevent It
As our friends at connectsafely.org explain, "sexting" usually refers to teens sharing nude photos via cellphone, but it's happening on other devices and the Web too. The practice is illegal and can have serious psychological consequences. The problem is a multifaceted one:
Many causes. In some cases, kids are responding to peer pressure in a form of cyberbullying or pressure from a boyfriend or girlfriend (they break up, and sometimes those photos get sent around out of revenge). Sometimes it's impulsive behavior, flirting, or even blackmail. It's always a bad idea.
Not just on phones. Sexting can be done on any media-sharing device or technology - including email and the Web. Teens have been convicted for child porn distribution for emailing sexually explicit photos to each other.
Non-legal consequences. Then there's the emotional (and reputation) damage that can come from having intimate photos of yourself go to a friend who can become an ex-friend and send it to everyone you know. Not only can they be sent around; they can be distributed and archived online for people to search for pretty much forever.
What To Do About It
Here are some sexting-prevention tips for concerned parents:
- If your children have sent any nude pictures of themselves, make sure they stop immediately. Explain that they're at risk of being charged with producing and distributing child pornography. If they've received a nude photo, make sure they haven't sent it to anyone else.
- Either way, the next most important thing is to have a good talk. Stay calm, be supportive and learn as much as you can about the situation. For example, see if it was impulsive behavior, a teen "romance" thing, or a form of harassment.
- Consider talking with other teens and parents involved, based on what you've learned.
- Some experts advise that you report the photo to your local police, but consider that, while intending to protect your child, you could incriminate another - and possibly your own child. That's why it's usually good to talk to the kids and their parents first. If malice or criminal intent is involved, you may want to consult a lawyer, the police, or other experts on the law in your jurisdiction, but be aware of the possibility that child-pornography charges could be filed against anyone involved."
A Glimpse Inside Facebook
From Newsweek May 1 article, "Walking the Cyberbeat."
"It's just before lunchtime in the sunny, high-tech headquarters of Facebook in Palo Alto, Calif., and Simon Axten is cuing up some porn. A photo of a young couple sloppily making out pops onscreen. It's gross, but not against the rules, so Axten punches a key to judge the image appropriate. Next up: a young woman in panties only, covering her breasts with her hands. "That's pretty close," Axten says, pondering the image. There's nothing arbitrary about his judgments: at Facebook, they have developed semiformal policies like the Fully Exposed Butt Rule, the Crack Rule and the Nipple Rule. In this photo there's no visible areola, he decides, so it stays. The next photo is a male clad only in a black thong and angel wings. Utterly nonplussed, Axten OKs the picture."
Read the rest here.
WeSphere--Meet The Folks Behind Yoursphere
Ela Cacciola, Program Manager
With years of experience in customer service and Web design, Ela leads Yoursphere's relationship marketing and partner outreach programs. As such, Ela is the point person for a network of parents working to create a better, safer Internet experience for their children.
An avid blogger and former dancer, Ela and husband Brian have a 21-month old son, Kameron. Kameron is training to be an Amtrak and rail freight conductor via a strenuous, near-obsessive program of Thomas The Train coursework.
Riddle Help!
Still stumped? Read it again: What occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, but never in a thousand years?
The letter m!
And that weird squiggly picture? A closeup of the human eye.
Thanks for continuing to entrust Yoursphere with your child's Internet experience, and helping "raise the bar" for teen networking,
Mary Kay Hoal And The Yoursphere Team
