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NWHerald.com
THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN McHENRY COUNTY
By KEVIN P. CRAVER
Photo illustration provided
TEEN ONLINE SAFETY
Study: 90 percent of parents have talked to their kids about online behavior By the numbers
When Matt Batt speaks to parents about monitoring their kids’ online activity as part of his program The Parent Feed, he finds their reactions often sit at the far ends of the spectrum. “First they’re surprised: ‘Oh my gosh, I guess I should be monitoring this,’ ” Batt said. “Then you get the other extreme, parents saying, ‘What software can I download to know everything they’re doing?’ ” A recent study from Pew Research Center shows that parents of teenagers ages 13 to 17 across the country are grappling with how to supervise their kids’ Internet activity. Adults seemed to be aware that technology could pose a problem: More than 90 percent of parents in the study had talked with their teen about how to behave online. Roughly 6 in 10 said they had checked their teen’s social media profile or looked at which websites their teen visited. Fewer parents had taken advantage of software to control activity: 39 percent had used any parental controls, while fewer than 20 percent had used parental controls or monitoring tools on their teen’s cellphone.
n 61 percent of parents said they checked which websites their teen visited. n 60 percent of parents said they checked their teen’s social media profile. n 39 percent of parents said they used parental controls to restrict their teen’s online activity. n 65 percent of parents said they have taken away their teen’s Internet or cellphone privileges as punishment. n 56 percent of parents are connected with their teen on Facebook, Twitter or other social media. n 94 percent have talked to teens about what is appropriate to share online.
– Pew Research Center study
Voice your opinion How often do you monitor your teenage children’s online activity? Vote online at NWHerald.com. Batt, a Cary parent who started The Parent Feed two years ago to educate other parents on new technology, said he doesn’t recommend parents immediately download
44 28 Complete forecast on page A8
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By CAITLIN SWIECA
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@NWHerald
Address’s focus on economic progress
PARENTS NAVIGATE HOW TO MONITOR KIDS’ ONLINE ACTIVITIES
cswieca@shawmedia.com
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software that will allow them to spy on everything their kids do. “The advice I’ve given well before this study came out was you need to balance as a parent between accountability and trust,” Batt said. “We have to let kids be kids, and it just so happens they have these mobile devices to communicate which we never had before.” Batt said parents should have full access to devices they pay for, and research shows many parents do: Nearly half said they knew the passwords to their teen’s email account, although fewer knew cellphone or social media passwords. Although the study was aimed at parents of teenagers, experts say kids are getting phones and other Internet-connected devices at younger and younger ages that need to be monitored accordingly. While families figure out how to handle the issue in their homes, local police agencies are working to spread awareness of the issues. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has a Cyber Crimes Unit that investigates crimes that may occur online, but it also works to
See TEENS, page A5
WOODSTOCK – Improving the county’s economic engine will again be one of the themes of this year’s State of the County Address. McHenry County Board Chairman Joe Gottemoller said his address at Tuesday morning’s meeting will touch on the economic situation today, what’s b e e n done in the past Joe year and Gottemoller how it can be improved tomorrow. Despite the state’s slow economic recovery and the ongoing budget stalemate in Springfield, Gottemoller said he will touch on positive developments as well. “There are a lot of places in the world that would envy our position,” said Gottemoller, R-Crystal Lake. This will be Gottemoller’s second address since being elected chairman by the County Board in December 2014. The office, starting this year, is now elected by the voters. That first speech also stressed the need for a business and regulatory environment that is conducive to the creation of
If you go n WHAT: McHenry
County Board meeting n WHEN: 9 a.m. Tuesday n WHERE: County Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock good-paying jobs, with a particular focus on its manufacturing base. Steps toward economic development this year will include hosting an economic summit in February, and continuing to support the building of an interchange at Interstate 90 and Route 23, which Marengo wants to develop into an industrial hub between Rockford and O’Hare airports and close to several major rail hubs. Along those lines, the County Board also is expected Tuesday to vote to accept a comprehensive economic development strategy for McHenry, Boone and Winnebago counties. The plan will allow the region to receive grants and assistance for economic development projects from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the county Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock.
America and its politics are in flux as 2016 voting begins By JULIE PACE
The Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa – First there was the promise of political change in Barack Obama’s historic 2008 election. Then the pledge to upend Washington’s ways after the 2010 tea party wave. But for some Americans, the change and disruption have
come too slowly, or failed altogether. On the eve of the first voting contest in the 2016 presidential election, these voters are pushing for bolder, more uncompromising action, with an intensity that has shaken both the Republican and Democratic establishments. Candidates with deep ties to party leadership have been unexpectedly challenged
LOCAL NEWS
Donald Trump
Ted Cruz
by a billionaire businessman-turned-reality TV star, a young senator loathed by GOP
leaders, and an unabashed democratic socialist. “A lot of people feel like the status quo is a machine that’s grinding them down,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri. “They are gravitating toward candidates that are disruptive and promising massive change.” Indeed, the campaigns of Republicans Donald Trump and
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‘Last Chance Mustang’
Book details McHenry County horse’s rehabilitation under trainer Bornstein / Style, 6-7 BUSINESS
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Crowds cheer junior jumping competitors Saturday during the 111st annual Norge Ski Jump International Winter Competition / A3
Ted Cruz, as well as Democrat Bernie Sanders, have been fueled for months by anger, frustration and anxiety over an economic and national security landscape that is undeniably in flux. Wages barely have budged, and the costs for housing, education and health care are
See POLITICS, page A5
Inside n League
of Women voters to host forum for McHenry County-wide office candidates. PAGE A3
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