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November 2009 Internet Saftey/Cyber Bullying
October 22, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
At various times during the school year, we do encounter some internet safety concerns for students and staff. I recently attended training about cyber bullying and internet safety, and I would like to pass that information along to you to utilize as you see fit.
Some suggested safety tips that can protect your child from internet related danger:
- Move the computer to a populated area of the home, such as the family room, so parents can monitor their child’s activities.
- If your child minimizes the screen being viewed when a parent walks by the computer, treat it as a “red flag.” Learn what sites the child has been visiting.
- Talk to your child to learn what he/she uses the computer for. Be especially aware of popular kid sites, such as xanga.com and myspace.com where children often upload photos and personal information. They can unknowingly supply information to child predators.
- Use Internet Service Provider (ISP) filters to restrict your child’s access to certain areas/items on the Web. Some ISPs can even be set up so that when a child visits a Web page, an email is sent to the parent’s email address notifying the parent of your child’s “journey” through cyberspace.
- Teach your children the responsible use of the resources online. There is much more to the online experience than chat rooms.
- Take the time to talk with your child to learn what they are doing. If you have any concerns, contact your local police department, or the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office.
One step for practicing safe internet usage is knowing what dangers web users face online. The six main types of risks online include:
- Sites that allow the accessing of inappropriate information, including pornography, hate, intolerance, bigotry, gore, violence, hoaxes, and misinformation and hype.
- Sites that provide access to dangerous products and hazardous information, such as bomb-building recipes, the selling of guns, alcohol, poisons, tobacco products, and drugs, as well as online gambling.
- Sites that allow the posting of personal information, like blog sites. If not monitored, this can lead to the child being stalked or harassed by others who may pose to be a friend or who may be rude, insulting and make threats. Additionally, the information may be accessed to send viruses or hack into computers.
- Sites that provide forms that solicit personal information to enter contests online and, as a result, information providers are targeted by irresponsible solicitors using unfair marketing techniques.
- Sites, if not legitimate, that allow for the purchasing of products online run the risk of disclosing important financial information to others, such as credit card numbers, pin numbers and passwords.
- Dishonest “cyber-predators” may pose as adolescents in chat rooms or on networking sites. Their goal is to lure an unknowing child into a face-to-face meeting.
If your child has been exposed to trouble on the Internet, here are some things you can do:
- Remain calm when learning of exposure to inappropriate material.
- Work with your child so that you can both learn from what happened and decide how to keep it from happening again.
- Be understanding and supportive of your child if they tell you about an uncomfortable online encounter. It is important to protect your child, not blame them or punish them.
One additional item is webpage bullying or cellphone bullying. Here are some things to do:
- If you know the perpetrator in these incidents, report it.
- Threats of violence should be reported to the police.
- Keep the evidence.
- Have your child block screennames.
- Consider removing messaging from child’s cellphone account. Your child may be upset, but in the long run he/she may feel better and will be less susceptible to abuse.
- Teach your child to cope with cellphone bullying. Remind them:
- Never give our proprietary information (about yourself or your friends)
- Limit your buddy list, and ask your friends not to forward your screenname to others.
- Never respond to abusive messages.
As with most things, prevention is easier than reaction. Just talking about these issues will help your child a lot.
These are just come suggestions that you can see about internet safety for your child, as well as potential ways to address cyberbullying.
