Social Media Safety: Teaching Students To Be Safe and Savvy When Using Social Media

1. Social Media Safety: Teaching Students To Be Safe and Savvy When Using Social Media

2. Your Presenters LisbethFillard School Counselor for 14 Years Works in Wake County Public Schools—Middle Creek Elementary lfillard@wcpss.net Sarah Black First Year Counselor Works in Wake County Public Schools—Fuller Elementary sblack2@wcpss.net

3. Cyber Bullying What is Cyber Bullying? Definition: Deliberately hurting another person using information and communication technology. Tools can include: emails, instant messaging, mobile phones, social networking sites, social apps, chat rooms, gaming sites, and blogs.

4. Why is Cyber Bullying Such a Big Problem? Information is communicated quickly to a wide audience. Invasive. Can be anonymous. It can be difficult for the victim to escape or avoid. We may not know about victims until something really bad happens.

5. More Common Than You Might Think!

6. What It Looks Like at Our School • This past year, we saw an increase in cyber bullying behavior. This increase correlates to the increase in the use of social apps on Iphones, Ipods and Ipads by our students. • Examples at our school: • Saying “I hope your mom dies” on Kik—Mom had cancer and did die. • Making fun of a video of a student on YouTube. Pulling it up in the computer lab for the entire class to see. • Name calling and inappropriate language on Instagram.

7. A New Population of Bullies What we found at our school was that the “cyber bullies” were “good” kids (i.e. had NEVER been in trouble before. These kids would say and do things online that they would NEVER do in person!!

8. And It’s Not Just About Bullying. . . . The more I looked into this situation, the more concerned I got. Students were opening themselves to all kinds of risks—online predators, ruined reputations, bullying.

9. So What Technology Are the Kids Using These Days?  • Instagram • Facebook • Kik • Youtube • Upcoming Apps In This Age Group: (They aren’t using them yet, but just wait!) • Twitter • Snapchat • Burn Note • Tumblr • Vine • Walkie • 4Chan

10. Instagram • Age requirements: 13 and older • Risks: Inappropriate photos that can’t be taken back; inappropriate comments made or received; strangers; all pictures/content are property of Instagram; “photo map” identifies location photos can unknowingly be saved and shared. Can be shared with Facebook and Twitter allowing more people to see your posts. Hashtags that are used can be traced to your account. • Safety procedures: Only friend people you know. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want grandma to see or read. Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in person. Privacy features.

11. Facebook • Age requirements: 13 and older • Risks: Contact with strangers; sharing inappropriate content; cyberbullying through chat/posts; photos can unknowingly be saved and shared; your location can be disclosed. • Safety procedures: Only accept people you know in real life; do not talk to strangers; monitor the material you post; set account to private.

12. Twitter • Age requirements: None • Risks: Archives tweets; strangers; inappropriate pictures that can’t be taken back; inappropriate messages received or sent; hashtags that are used can be traced to your account; photos can unknowingly be saved and shared. • Safety procedures: Set your account to private; monitor the content you post; do not accept stranger’s follow requests; do not disclose personal information.

13. Kik • Age requirements: 13 and older • Risks: Contact with strangers; inappropriate pictures/videos that can be sent to others; phone number, email, and other personal information can be disclosed for legal action and/or people at risk of being harmed; allows vague user names to anonymously post material; photos can unknowingly be saved and shared. • Safety procedures: Make sure your profile is private. Block users who you do not know or who may be sending inappropriate content.

14. Snapchat • Age requirements: 12 and older • Risks: Contact with strangers; deleted messages cannot be retrieved; messages can be captured by screen shots. • Safety procedures: Make sure your profile is private. Block users who you do not know or who may be sending inappropriate content.

15. Burn Note • Age requirements: 12 and older • Risks: Contact with strangers; inappropriate pictures and/or messages; crude language and humor; deleted messages cannot be retrieved; messages can be captured by screen shots. • Safety procedures: Make sure your profile is private. Block users who you do not know or who may be sending inappropriate content.

16. Youtube • Age requirements: 13 and older • Risks: Contact with strangers; posts and comments are allowed; videos can be shared via weblink; people can post videos of you without your permission; inappropriate videos can be watched. • Safety procedures:Set account to highest privacy settings; do not allow people to post material with you in it.

17. Staying Up-To-Date The risks change daily as new apps and sites are introduced and begin to be used by our youth. We are providing a list of the best resources on this topic to help you stay up-to-date.

18. Our Interventions Lesson plan and Powerpoint for 4th/5th graders: Educating students about the risks of technology including cyberbullying, and teaching safe behaviors. Parent Newsletter: Educating parents about the risks, ways to keep your child safe and informing them of age guidelines. Cyber Safety Speaker at PTA meeting.

19. Take-Home Resources We are sharing the 4th/5th grade lesson plan, parent newsletter, THINK poster and resource list. If you did not receive a hard copy of any of these items, they will be posted on the NCSCA site as well as on my TeachersPayTeachers.com page— http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lovetocounsel Also on the NCSCA site and TPT will be a copy of the powerpoint for the classroom lesson. All resources will be FREE!  Enjoy!