iPhone App Simulates Teen Dating Abuse

 by Zoe Fox

Parents may think they understand what it’s like to be a teenager today, but they’ve never experienced their teen’s technological life first hand. Until now.

The Love is Not Abuse iPhone app is giving parents a taste of digital relationship abuse. While mobile technology has become more widespread, it has also led to new forms of abuse especially for teens in bad relationships.

The app, launched by Liz Claibourne’s Love is Not Abuse campaign, places parents in the positions of their teenage children — texting, emailing and calling from a fictional abusive “boyfriend” or “girlfriend.” These fake messages pose situations common in digital abuse, like threatening to remove friends from social networks or to post illicit photos. While the app does not actually access the user’s Facebook account, parents get a taste of the controlling nature of a negative teen relationship.

Digital abuse is a rapidly growing trend. Nearly 24% of American teens have been a victim of technology abuse from a boyfriend or girlfriend and more than 50% know someone who’s been victimized, according to a Liz Claibourne Inc. and Futures Without Violence 2009 Teen Dating Abuse survey

The app trains parents to recognize characteristics of abusive relationships. Psychotherapist Dr. Jill Murray, a contributor to the app’s development, says most parents can’t properly identify the warning signs of dating abuse. “The main point of the app is to get parents talking to their teens. While most parents discuss drugs, alcohol and sex with their kids, only slightly more than half discuss dating abuse.”

Dr. Murray says teens, especially girls, misinterpret texts sent in the middle of the night as signs of affectionate attention. Oftentimes, this overbearing communication can be a sign of relationship abuse. “When a child is being abused, the first thing is they don’t know that they’re being abused,” Murray says.

Other warning signs include when a teen constantly checks his or her phone at the dinner table, becomes frantic at the thought of disconnecting for 15 minutes, has unexplained scratches or bruises, stops spending time with friends and family or starts making excuses for a significant other’s bad behavior.

The simulator is geared towards the specific characteristics of abusive males and females. The threatening messages come from a “boyfriend” and the excessive contact is from a “girlfriend.”

Dr. Murray encourages parents to check their children’s phone bills, doubting most parents realize their children may send up to 18,000 texts each month.”I’m a really big advocate that the cell phone belongs to the parent. If you are suspicious or concerned you absolutely can put up your hands and say “Give me your phone.”"

Before launching the app, the Love is Not Abuse campaign created school curricula and provided resources for parents on their website. The app is their first platform specifically targeting technology abuse.

Do you think this simulator can help parents understand how their teens communicate? Let us know in the 

5 Social Good Websites Aimed at Youth

Adora Svitak is author of three books — Flying Fingers, Dancing Fingers and Yang in Disguise. She is one of the TED Conference’s youngest speakers and the curator of youth event TEDxRedmond. Since age 7 she has been drumming up excitement about reading and writing among fellow students.

You know that teenagers are using the internet for social networking, self-expression and even school-work. But that stereotypically self-absorbed, trite teen you see on Facebook might just have an altruistic side. Throughout the years, countless youth have founded charities, raised money, and dedicated time and money to service; today, new websites help more students do exactly that.

A growing number of websites are centered around youth activism — whether networks of like-minded young people trying to solve problems, or large charities attracting awareness and donations through trivia websites. Below are five major websites attracting young people who want to help the world and prove that “adolescence + Internet” can be a worthwhile equation .

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1. TakingITGlobal

TakingITGlobal, an online social network for young people, is centered around linking youth around the world in order to solve problems. Joining the community opens up forums where students can write their ideas and ask for suggestions from fellow TakingITGlobal members. Students can then go to “Action Tools” and start enacting a solution.

One example is the DeforestACTION campaign, which aims to halt the destruction of rainforests. Sleek graphics and gamification elements help the project attract users, sign pledges, donate money and spread the word online.

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2. RandomKid

RandomKid emphasizes three-step solutions where you select a world issue (clean water, animal welfare, etc.), choose a solution (provided by various organizations, or create your own) and “Make it Happen” by collecting donations on your project’s page and spreading the word.

Students can donate to other youth projects that come under RandomKid’s 501(c)3 umbrella and contribute to a community seed fund.

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3. KooDooz

KooDooz is an interactive social network for “youth who want to make a difference.” Challenges are customized based on the age inputted by the user. For example, a challenge relating to stopping teen dating violence might not appear for an eight-year-old while it would for older users. KooDooz requires users to register in order to access challenges and information.

Registration is free but requires a parent or guardian’s permission. Donation buttons are well-placed across the site, while privacy safeguards, like the parental permission, help attract a younger audience.

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4. DoSomething.org

DoSomething.org features more teen-related content and has a simple interface. With its drop down-list search questions, teens can look for projects based on four criteria (What Cause? Who With? Where? and How Long?). The site's “How Long?” search criteria allows teens to find project based on how much time they can commit, from one minute up to one year. DoSomething also offers grants to worthwhile projects, and online resources.

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5. FreeRice (World Food Programme)

Unlike the other sites on this list, Freerice (which benefits the World Food Programme) is not a social network and appeals to a wide audience of users. Adults can (and often do) visit the site which asks users to answer questions in return for donating rice to needy communities. The site was initially established by a dad looking to prepare his teenaged son for the SATs. It attracts a dedicated following of educators and students alike. Sponsors donate grains of rice for each correct answer.

Many teachers use Freerice as a teaching tool. The "Groups" tool allows a school or classroom to compete against one another to do good. Even with all the healthy competition, the rice raised by gameplayers all goes to further the same cause: Eradicating hunger.

Other websites for education, like iEarn and ePals, link young people from around the world to fellow students in other nations, like digital pen pals. They can work together to solve problems and learn about each other’s cultures. Youth do frequently organize on a local scale, as well. Teenage Simone Bernstein founded St. Louis Volunteen, for example, a comprehensive website of youth volunteering opportunities in the St. Louis area.

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Bill Gates To Reinvent The Toilet

 by Zoe Fox

The man who revolutionized the personal computer is putting his efforts — and foundation — to revolutionizing toilets. Microsoft founder Bill Gates said he will dedicate $42 million towards reinventing the toilet.

Water hygiene and safe waste disposal are two of the biggest causes of infant mortality in the developing countries. Gates and his foundation hope to create inexpensive toilets to vastly improve the living conditions of millions of people. It may seem like a silly subject but it’s one that could save lives around the world.

“No innovation in the past 200 years has done more to save lives and improve health than the sanitation revolution triggered by invention of the toilet,” said Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the president of the Global Development Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “But it did not go far enough. It only reached one-third of the world. What we need are new approaches. New ideas.”

The initiative was launched by Burwell on Tuesday in Kigali, Rwanda.

Part of the foundation’s plan is the Reinventing the Toilet Challenge, which funds research at eight universities around the world to develop a toilet that will turn waste into energy, clean water or nutrients. The solution must be a stand-alone unit without piped-in water, a sewer connection or outside electricity. The foundation partnered with USAID to fix water sanitation as part of the UN’s 2015 Millennium Development Goals.

Today, 40% of the world’s population does not have access to flush toilets. One billion people defecate in the open. Each year, 1.5 million children die each year from diarrhea, many of which are preventable with improved sanitation.

The foundation is prioritizing convenience and affordability in the solutions it considers. The toilets must be easy to install and cost no more than $0.05 a day to maintain.

4 Ways to Do Good This Valentine’s Day

by Zachary Sniderman

Valentine’s Day is everyone’s favorite holiday. Unless you’re in a relationship and you have to plan a whole big thing for your significant other. Or if you’re single and the day just reminds you of what you don’t have. Or maybe you just don’t like holidays in general? Okay, Valentine’s Day sucks.
Even if you can’t stand February 14, we can all agree that it’s good to give back. That’s why we’ve pulled together a short collection of ways you can do good this Valentine’s Day — from charitable donations to advocacy to cards for your loved one(s).
Of course, there are probably even more possibilities out there, so please share — in the comments below — other ways to give back and do good this Valentine’s Day.


Coming soon: Valentine's Day 2011 face-off in the charity: water office. from charity: water on Vimeo.

• Causes.com: This site will donate $10 of any purchase to one of five charities, including the Campaign for Cancer Prevention, Support the National Parks and TPRF: Food for People. You can buy Valentine’s staples like flowers, e-cards, or even chocolate-dipped strawberries from online vendors.
• Change.org: Rather than donating money to a cause, Change.org is asking for your advocacy this Valentine’s. This campaign asks your support in stopping the use of forced or child labor to mine for diamonds. It might not be as “romantic” as actually giving your sweetie a real diamond but that won’t matter when you’re trying to make someone else’s life better.
• Charity: Water: charity: water is becoming known for its Valentine’s day productions, as can be seen in its Western love-duel clip above. The charity has also made sure to include some options for consumers like a diamond waterdrop bracelet from Kwiat jewelers. All proceeds go directly to charity: water. You can also give the “gift of clean water in someone’s name, and notify that person via a Valentine’s card.
• Charity Cards: If you want something that’s simple but says it all, try Charity Gift Certificates. Once you send your e-card, the recipient can then choose a charity to benefit from your gift. It’s a win-win-win.

How We Use Social Media During Emergencies [INFOGRAPHIC]

by Jolie O'Dell 

The use of social media during national and international crises, both natural and political, is something that Mashable has followed with great interest over the past few years.
As a culture, we started becoming more aware of the power of social media during times of crisis, like when the Iran election in 2009 caused a furor, both on the ground and on Twitter. More recently, the Internet and social media played an important role in spreading news about the earthquake in Haiti and political revolution in Egypt.
But what about other kinds of natural disasters or crime? Can social media be used to good effect then?
In 2009, two girls trapped in a storm water drain used Facebook to ask for help rather than calling emergency services from their mobile phones. At the time, authorities were concerned about the girls’ seemingly counterintuitive action.
However, according to new research from the American Red Cross, the Congressional Management Foundation and other organizations, social media could stand to play a larger and more formal role in emergency response. In fact, almost half the respondents in a recent survey said they would use social media in the event of a disaster to let relatives and friends know they were safe.
Take a look at the data presented below, courtesy of CreditLoan, and in the comments section, let us know how — or if — you would want to use social media during an emergency.
Click to see large version.