Student online safety guidelines

It can be a challenge to talk with your kids about the content they post online — especially if you don't feel like a computer-savvy parent or teacher.

students should consider five things before posting online:

  1. Audience: Who will read or see the information?
  2. Anonymity: Nothing they post online is truly anonymous.
  3. Permanence: Like it or not, information posted online can stay around for a very long time.
  4. Copyright: It's illegal to copy others' work and pass it off as their own.
  5. Free speech: This doesn't mean they can publish threats or try to ruin another person's reputation without legal consequences.

Things to consider

Audience: Anything you publish could eventually be read and seen by anyone. Even though you may think that only certain people are able to access your information, pictures, or videos published, you may be wrong because we do not have complete control over it once we write, print, send, or post something. You never know who is looking over your friends’ shoulders, or if those friends might take the content, spread it around online, or use it against you.

Anonymity: Using a pseudonym (fake name) can attempt to disguise your identity while developing your writing or artistic skills. Technology has made it much easier to appear to publish something anonymously because you can use a screen name, alias, or temporary email address. That said, just about everything that is published can be traced back to a specific person since everything done online has what is called a “digital footprint.” This footprint can enable authorities to discover where every piece of information on the Internet came from and who wrote/posted it.

Permanence: What you publish may be seen by others for many years to come. This can be a huge benefit, but it can also be problematic if you publish something inappropriate, embarrassing, or hurtful to others. Think about how you would feel if your parents, future college admissions office, or employer saw what you published?

Copyright: It is wrong to copy, use, or publish anything under your name that you did not personally create without getting permission from the person who did. For example, if you are using someone else’s words or pictures, you should give them credit by acknowledging what they wrote or said, or get permission from the person who originally took the picture. This is more than just common courtesy; it is also the law.

Free Speech: Publishing our thoughts or ideas is a form of speech that is often protected by the First Amendment. Having the right to free speech, however, doesn’t mean that we can say whatever we want, whenever we want. You can’t, for example, publish threats against someone else or ruin their reputation.

When it comes to using the internet, it doesn't matter how old you are, you should always be cautious when posting, emailing, talking to people and even browsing websites. We have posted some internet Do's and Don'ts points below

DO

• Do ask your parent before joining any chat sites or social networks
• Do use an anonymous e-mail address if possible
• Do use graphics instead of pictures of yourself
• Do use monitored chat and social sites

Don't

• Don't use your real name
• Don't put photos or videos of people without asking their permission
• Don't put your phone number, email address or real address on your website or social network
• Don't give your phone number, email address or real address to anyone you don't know online
• Don't leave a website without logging out first
• Don't purchase anything with a credit card
• Don't agree to meet with anybody you don't know personally

Above all the biggest thing to remember is be SMART! If you wouldn't give someone certain information in person, then don't do it online. And if you aren't sure about something ASK your parents or a teacher!

Get Net Wise has lots great screen capture tutorials. An online service of companies and non-profit groups concerned about child safety on the Internet. The Web site provides a comprehensive "Web-wide" resource with safety tips, ways to report online trouble, tech tools for families, great Web sites for kids and a glossary of Internet terms.

Security/Tools

If you like watching videos rather than reading safety guidelines the link below is the place to be

[[1]]

Take the Quiz !!!

How smart are you with online safety? Link provided [[2]]

For Parents

If you aren't the most tech savvy person don't worry, there are still ways you can make sure your children are safe on the internet. Here are some helpful tips for you:

• Make sure the computer is in a family room, so you can see the computer
• Make sure they take a break every 30 minutes
• Make sure they ask you before they download anything
• Make sure they ask you before they sign up for anything
• Try and have them use family safe search engines

 here is a website that lists family safe search engines: http://www.wisekids.org.uk/Kids_safe_search_engines.htm 

• Use software that allows you to set parental controls

 here is one such example: http://www.labnol.org/internet/how-parents-can-protect-kids-from-adult-content/9267/