Social Media Safety 101 for Parents

1. Social Media Safety 101 for Parents

2. Welcome • The staff at Alex M. Martino Junior High wanted to make all parents aware of the technology access that you as parents have to help support your child. • There are conflicting views on whether or not we as parents invade our children’s privacy if we access things like text messages or Facebook status updates. • It is not like going into a diary or journal back in the day because it is a communication tool that is no longer a private thought but public knowledge. • It is important to be informed of the technology children are using to communicate so we can communicate with them to keep children safe.

3. Cyberbullying • Nearly 42% of kids have been bullied online and almost one in four have had it happen more than once. • Nine out of ten middle school students have had their feelings hurt online. • About 75% have visited a website bashing another student. • The psychological and emotional outcomes of cyber bullying are similar to real-life bullying outcomes, except for the reality that with cyber bullying there is often no escape. School ends at 3 p.m., while the Internet is available all the time. www.dosomething.org

4. Prevention • Engage your child in a conversation about how to behave online (Netiquette). • Look at your child’s online profile and buddy list. • Talk to your child about the dangers of posting too much information. • Talk to your child about respecting others. • Explain that whatever is posted online stays online forever. • Explain to your child that he or she is not anonymous on the Internet. • Don’t threaten to take away the computer. This can prevent children from telling you that they have been a victim of Cyberbullying. • Complete a Respect Contract with your child. www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov

5. What to do if your child is a victim of Cyberbullying? • Print out all instances of Cyberbullying. • Preserve electronic evidence. • If your child receives a mean or threatening message, do not delete the message. • You should take a screen shot of the message or store the message in a folder because it may contain important electronic information that can help law enforcement trace the source. • Google your child. You may find other instances of your child being victimized online! • Contact you local police department to file a report. • Notify the school administration of the situation so the staff can make sure the online bullying is not carrying over to school. www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov

6. Facebook • Privacy settings can be customized. To see all of the different ways go to the site listed below. • http://mashable.com/2011/02/07/facebook-privacy-guide/ • You can defriend people so they can not access you on Facebook. • To report about bullying, fake accounts, etc. go to Help Center, click on Report Abuse. • To change Security Settings, like Enable SSL Encryption, visit the Account Settings page. • Then choose "Security" from the options on the left side of the screen, click "Secure Browsing,” Click "Edit" to enable.http://www.cio.com/article/696212/4_Facebook_Security_Tips_to_Stay_Safe_in_2012_

7. tumblr • The main blog cannot be marked as private however the secondary blog can be. • The individual posts can be marked private and only the person writing them can view them. • www.tumblr.com is a blog website students are on currently. • There is a strong self harm culture on tumblr. • Some people benefit from the support available from the members. • There can be influential and graphic imagery as well as statements to encourage self harm in someone that has not done it yet. • Tumblr has people that are fans of specific interests that can be alluring for students that are curious about subculture topics…which can get them exposed to more mature material for a teenager to handle.

8. twitter • All twitter accounts default setting is PUBLIC. • Anyone in the world can look up your student by a simple google search and see their entire twitter page. • You should encourage your student to change their profile setting to private to help protect themselves.

9. Cry for help or just venting? • Things will never get better. • There are no solutions to my problems. • I will never be happy again. • I will never get over what happened. • I don't see things ever improving. • There is no point in trying anymore. • I just want to give up. • Things are hopeless. • I feel so hopeless. • There is no hope for me. • What do I have to look forward to? • The future is empty for me. • I only see things getting worse in the future. • Everything is going downhill. • I will never get back to the way I was. • It's too late for me. • There is nothing that I can do to make things better. www.suicide.org

10. Statements on the previous slide need to be taken seriously… • Some children will say they are simply posting song lyrics. • You can check the song the lyrics are from at different websites. • www.songlyrics.com • www.lyrster.com • www.elyrics.net • www.lyricsdepot.com • Talk to your child about what they have posted and contact any of the resources below: • Suicide Hotline 800-784-2433; 800-273-8255 • Will County Crisis Line 815-722-3344

11. How to view Browser History PC Users On a Mac • Any browser checks the history file every time you visit a web page, which is how it knows how to change the color of links you have already visited. • You can access your history file with most browsers by typing the command <ctrl>-h. You can also specify how long to keep pages in your history file: • Internet Explorer: Tools / Internet Options / General / History • Mozilla Firefox: Tools / Options / Privacy / History • This is as simple as entering the search engine your family uses. • On the top toolbar click History. • You should be able to view the last several webpages searched listed by the date. • If you have found this box empty someone has deleted the history. You will need to go to www.ehow.com, for further instruction.

12. Check Browser History-Alternate PC Users: C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History • Here Username is your user name. Find the current location of the History folder by following these steps. • Open Internet Explorer. • Go to Tools > Internet Options. • In the General Tab, under Browsing history click on Settings. • You should be able to locate the current location of your temporary files where all your cache files, cookies and history are stored. • Click on view files. That should directly take you to the location of the Temporary Internet Files. • Go one step up and you should see your History folder.

13. Set Up Parental Controls on PC • To turn on Parental Controls for a standard user account • Open Parental Controls by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, and then, under User Accounts, clicking Set up Parental Controls.‌  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. • Click the standard user account for which you want to set Parental Controls. • Under Parental Controls, click On.

14. Set up Restrictions on PC Once you've turned on Parental Controls for your child's standard user account, you can adjust the individual settings that you want to control. You can control the following areas: • Web restrictions. You can restrict the websites that children can visit, make sure children only visit age-appropriate websites, indicate whether you want to allow file downloads, and set up which content you want the content filters to block and allow. You can also block or allow specific websites. For more information, see Limit the content that children can view on the web. • Time limits. You can set time limits to control when children are allowed to log on to the computer. Time limits prevent children from logging on during the specified hours and, if they are already logged on, they will be automatically logged off. You can set different logon hours for every day of the week. For more information, see Control when children can use the computer. • Games. You can control access to games, choose an age rating level, choose the types of content you want to block, and decide whether you want to allow or block unrated or specific games. For more information, see Specify which games children can play. • Allow or block specific programs. You can prevent children from running programs that you don't want them to run. For more information, see Prevent children from using specific programs. Found on windows.microsoft.com

15. Parental Controls on a Mac • There are Parental Controls sometimes built into the program however setting up a child account is simple. • There is a great reference on all of the options the Mac gives a parent at http://gigaom.com/apple/kid-proofing-a-mac-with-parental-controls/ • Many of the staff at Martino are well versed with the Mac and can help answer questions about parental controls if needed.

16. Did you know you can monitor your child’s texts? • There is software available for purchase to view the text messages sent to and from a cell phone like www.mymobilewatchdog.com. • Your mobile phone provider lists the numbers, date and time of each text message sent from a phone. • You can view the contact on your account online or on your bill from your mobile phone provider. • If your child is being harassed be advised to print and keep your records of texts on the phone and paper. • You can file a report with your local police department.

17. Local Law Enforcement • New Lenox Police Department Non-Emergency Phone Number is 815-485-2500. Email newlenoxpd@newlenox.net • Will County Sheriff Department Non-Emergency Phone Number is 815-727-8575. To file a report online got to: http://www.willcosheriff.com/report/ • Mokena Police Department Non-Emergency Phone Number is 708-479-3911. Email admin@mokenapd.com

18. Resources • http://teachdigital.pbworks.com/w/page/19791069/internetsafety • Thoughts on Facebook - Cornell University • All in the Facebook Family: Older Generations Join Social Networks - CNN • 100 Awesome Facebook Apps for Productivity and Learning - Select Courses • How to Survive the New Facebook - Mashable • Facebook for Parents - Common Sense Media • 10 Privacy Settings All Facebook Users Should Know - AllFacebook.com • http://facebookforeducators.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Facebook-for-Educators.May-15.pdf