Katherine Pham and Gabriella Mariscal wanted to take storytelling at their school to the next level. Feeling inspired by the work on the Facebook Page Humans of New York, the two High School Seniors created Humans of Loara. With the support of their advisor Paul Chylinski, the students set out to improve their school the use of social media.
“We wanted to share the stories of our students here at Loara,” said Gabriella. “Once we had that idea, we took our idea to Mr. C and he was on board. He has truly been a big impact on our senior year and been a big support and making sure we do what we said we were going to do.”
“It’s crazy how many people we have covered,” said Katherine. To date the page is host to nearly 300 stories of students, staff and alumni.
The goal of the page is to bring you to a more in depth personal understanding of the people that make up Loara High School. People share their successes, struggles and experiences of their time at Loara. Some of the notable stories include a former gang member, Eddie, who went from a straight F student to a straight A student. “These stories give our students a little more inspiration and a little more hope,” says Gabriella.
“They have covered staff, students, alumni and more,” said Paul. “I’m so proud of what these two students accomplished and the impact their work has had on spreading positivity to our campus climate and culture. They posted two photos and two stories every day of the school year on top of their school work and activities, they are committed to their school.”
Loara is looking to expand their work online by establish a website later this year. In addition, they are in the process of adding a YouTube channel called “Voices of Loara.” The school has taken some of the posts and turned them into posters to be placed around campus. This is a model that other schools in the district are following to help spread kindness throughout the school district.
Celebrating Loara High School and their Humans of Loara Project on Instagram and Facebook.
About us: #ICANHELP is a Bay Area-based national nonprofit organization that creates and promotes positive, school-based solutions & interventions to online harassment and bullying. We are a project of the Net Safety Collaborative.
Loara High School is located in Anaheim, CA and is part of the Anaheim Union School District.
I usually use the power of pause when writing about posting online – pause before you post, send an email or text message. Always keep in mind — there is no rewind online.
However emotionally speaking, words can destroy your life, which have literally taken the life of many young people and even adults. The power of pause has another important meaning when it comes to getting behind the wheel of your vehicle.
At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010. – Distraction.gov
Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55 mph, that’s enough time to cover the length of a football field blindfolded. – Distraction.gov
Distracted driving kills. The friends, family, and neighbors of the thousands of people killed each year in distracted driving crashes will tell you it is a very serious safety problem. The nearly half a million people injured each year will agree.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016 is Distracted Driving Day. Be a part of bringing awareness to your community.
As part of AT&T’s It Can Wait pledge competition to achieve 16 million pledges in 2016 and end smartphone distracted driving, the company is challenging drivers to put down their phones for 21 consecutive days. Why 21 days? Experts say it takes at least 21 days to make or break a habit.
According to research, habitual distracted drivers have a false sense of security in their actions. Only 58% feel that using their smartphone behind the wheel is “very dangerous,” compared to 78% of non-habitual distracted drivers.
AT&T hopes that through the 21-Day Challenge, drivers who participate will make safe driving a lifelong practice.
Habitually stowing your phone out of sight and reach, or using a free app like DriveMode that silences alerts, can help you break the dangerous habit of smartphone distracted driving.
The 21-Day Challenge comes just weeks after AT&T’s latest It Can Wait public service announcement started airing. The powerful PSA reminds drivers we may be alone in the car, but we’re never alone on the road. The PSA resulted from research that showed people are more likely to be distracted by their smartphone when they’re alone in the car.
AT&T is hosting pledge events in more than 30 states and recruiting local organizations, schools and community leaders to participate in the It Can Wait pledge competition.
To take the pledge never to drive distracted, go to www.itcanwait.com.
The fact is, everyone knows that texting and driving is risky, but they continue to engage in it anyway. Don’t wait to become a statistic — don’t wait to hear about your friend or family member to become one. Be proactive.
Let’s take the challenge in the POWER TO PAUSE with our devices. When you turn on the car — turn off your phone. The fact is, we are guilty in being distracted by the bells, dings, whistles, and lights that our phones will send us while we are driving. It only takes a few seconds to glance over and suddenly realize you no only have control of your vehicle.
Watch the following PSA’s – and you will soon realize — #ItCanWait.
Share these with your friends and family and remember, don’t wait to become a statistic.
- “Distracted Driver Awareness Day” is October 5, 2016. On this day, people from around the world will use come together and use social media to help raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.
- Prior to and on October 5th, we encourage everyone to create and share posts, images, videos and real-time live streaming video shows to raise awareness as to the dangers of distracted driving. Offline we will be supporting local community events focused on educating and raising awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. We welcome your pictures, videos and stories at http://StopDD.Today and on social media using #StopDD.
- Please share “Distracted Driving Awareness Day” with your family, friends, and community. Encourage everyone to use the links and resources found at http://StopDD.today, to raise awareness and save lives!
When it comes to employment and social media, the First Amendment does not apply. You can, in fact, get fired for what you write, post, and share online, and it is not a violation of your Constitutional rights.
As HubShout’s June 2016 Social Media Conduct Survey found out, most people don’t understand the risks of posting their unfiltered thoughts and photos on social media, nor do they quite understand the actual conditions of the First Amendment.
Free Speech and its Limitations in the Workplace
When asked, ”Do you believe that getting fired because of a social media post is an infringement of First Amendment rights?”, 41.2% of respondents said “Yes,” and 30.4% said that they were “Not Sure.” That makes a total of 71.6% who do not know the truth about their rights and limitations.
In reality, if you get fired from your job in the private sector because of something you posted on social media, citing your First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech is futile. That is because this Constitutional right only allows individuals to express themselves without constraint by the government. Your speech is not protected from disciplinary action by your employer.
In other words, you won’t be thrown in jail for griping about how much you hate your boss, but you could lose your job. It seems pretty obvious now, right?
In 2015, 18% of employers fired an employee for something they posted on social media. Granted, businesses should have a social media policy for employees, outlining what is acceptable and what is grounds for termination; however, many companies don’t establish these kinds of rules at all. Regardless, an employer has the right to fire an employee because of social media even if the company has not provided a written policy. Therefore, as an employee, you cannot depend on the right to free speech.
Social Media Etiquette for the Job Seeker
It probably won’t come as a shock to learn that what you post on social media is fair game for future employers. Those privacy settings you skimmed over when you set up your Facebook account are flimsier than a rotten plywood fence. You can be sure that hiring managers can and will do their research, so you should always think of social media and your employment aspirations as closely connected.
A survey conducted by careerbuilder.com revealed that 49% of employers who screen candidates via social networks have found information that caused them to decide not to hire a candidate. There are a number of reasons to reject an employment application; here are the five most common reasons hiring managers cite.
Top Five Social Media ‘Turn-Offs’ for Employers
- Inappropriate or provocative photos, videos, or information
- Posts about candidates drinking or using drugs
- Offensive comments regarding race, religion, gender, etc.
- Negative posts bad-mouthing previous company or co-workers
- Poor communication skills
According to JobVite, as many as 93% of recruiters use, or plan to use, social media for hiring. The reality is your social media profile is an extension of your resume; it is an interview that never ends. A prospective employer might take one look at your Facebook profile and toss your application aside immediately. You may never know that those photos of you doing a keg-stand in college or that angry political rant you posted last week actually cost you a job.
Social Media: Can’t Work With It, Can’t Work Without It
If your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts are considered extensions of your resume, then they are actually much more important than you realize. Just as you can’t get a job without a resume, 41% of employers say that they are less likely to even interview a candidate with no web presence. Hiring managers need to be able to find information about you online. Wouldn’t you rather have control over what they find?
Job seekers should think of social media as an opportunity to showcase their “brand.” For the most part, when employers look for information about candidates online, they are not looking for problems or red flags; they are searching for insight into how you live your day to day life.
“What candidates do in their spare time and broadcast to the world through social media speaks volumes about their personal values and culture,” Val Matta, vice president of business development at CareerShift. “The hiring manager knows that, in hiring that person, they’ll likely bring those values and culture into the office. So it must align with, or contribute positively to, the organization’s current culture.”
Your social media profiles, or lack thereof, say a lot about you. In a nutshell, keep the content positive, professional, and representative of your best qualities.
According to the Pew Research Center, nearly two-thirds of American adults use social media, and 90% of young adults (ages 18 to 29) use it. Since the practice of posting to social networks is so prevalent, HubShout wanted to find out if people are aware of the damage that social media can do to a person’s career and personal “brand.” As a digital marketing firm, HubShout understands the importance of personal branding and was interested to see how much people really know about the social media-employment connection. The full results and analysis of the survey are in the HubShout’s 2016 Social Media Conduct Ebook.
This guest post was written by Danielle Lachance, a premium writer at HubShout.
By Lori Lee, AT&T
You’re driving alone. You hear the ding of your smartphone. Do you grab it and look at the screen?
The answer for more than 6-in-10 of us (64%) is yes.1
Interestingly, the answer changes when we have company. In fact, the same research shows that only 36% of drivers look at their smartphone screens with passengers in the car.1 If you’re driving with a child in the car, only 30% look at their screens.2
To learn why we make these choices, we look to behavioral economics, a fascinating field of social science research that examines why we do what we do.
And it’s how we plan to take our It Can Wait campaign to the next level in the coming months.
For starters, we’re leveraging social science as the strategy behind our latest advertising campaign. We created it to help all of us see “driving alone” differently.
While we may be alone in the car, we are of course, never alone on the road.
And while we may think we’re only endangering ourselves if we look at our smartphone screens behind the wheel, we’re actually putting everyone else on the road at risk. It’s time to recognize that our world is bigger than the inside of our car. Much bigger.
Our new advertising campaign explores just that—our paradoxical behavior. You can see the new 30-second spot starting today and a full-length film in coming days. Over the next few weeks, you’ll see this message across TV, print, radio, social and digital.
We’re on a mission to show distracted driving is not only dangerous, but wrong. Most everyone will admit it’s dangerous, but we must further open their eyes. It’s an inappropriate and selfish behavior.
Changing the social norm around distracted driving is essential.
So we’ve enlisted some of the brightest minds in behavioral economics and social psychology to help us uncover new insights and test them in field trials. We hope they can help us convince everyone to stop looking at their smartphone screens while driving. We’re working with:
- Freakonomics, to test how technologies, including smartphone apps and anonymized user data analysis, can help us understand motivations and drive behavior change.
- ideas42, a nonprofit that applies behavioral science to social problems. We’ll team up with them to host a hackathon, bringing together experts from the social sciences to develop cutting-edge innovations we can test through real-world field trials.
- Icek Ajzen, a leader in the field of behavioral science, will help us apply social and behavioral science insights to improve existing program elements and messaging.
- Universities to tap into their behavioral studies programs for ideas on new ways to tackle the problem.
I’m very excited about this new direction for It Can Wait. In the 6 years since AT&T launched the campaign, we and our collaborators have achieved many meaningful milestones on our journey to drive awareness, pledges and app downloads. In addition, we’re a founding member of Together for Safer Roads Coalition (TSR). TSR brings together global companies to help improve road safety and reduce deaths and injuries from crashes.
But as smartphones and mobile apps have become ubiquitous, distracted driving has become even more tempting and prevalent. So we press on.
Please join the more than 2,500 organizations and tens of thousands of individuals who are helping us spread the word.
It can, should and must wait! Watch the full 3 minute video here.
Please share it with your friends and family.
1 Cellphone survey with 1,003 respondents conducted by Braun Research. Survey fielded August 18-23, 2015. Nationally representative sample (ages 16-65, drive and use smartphone apps).
2 Ongoing online survey with 623 respondents conducted by Added Value. Data represented here was collected May 30-June 26, 2016. National panel sample (ages 15-54, drive and have a smartphone).
Selfie Generation
No one is disputing we live in a different time now, when technology rules and texting is basically your teen’s first language.
What hasn’t changed is teens and their desire to keep some of their life to themselves, or conveniently not share everything with their parents. Let’s face it — if we all honestly think back to our own childhood, isn’t there anything you kept from your parents?
The recent study from National Cyber Security Alliance on teen internet use found that only 13% of teens thought their parents understood the extent of their internet use.
What’s troubling about this is the fact that the internet, [unlike most things/secrets we (adults/parents) kept from our parents or our parents were oblivious to], can be a minefield of trouble if not used responsibly and with respect for others.
The internet, as a matter of fact, can even affect your future — as we saw another new survey release this week by Monster. More than one-third of employers are rejecting applicants after reviewing their social media profiles. This concurs with Career Builder’s survey in 2015. For those students hoping to go on to college, in Kaplan’s 2015 survey, 40% of college admissions officers will browse social media profiles to learn more about their potential candidate.
Between your teen’s future higher education and employment, unlike in previous generations, their interview starts the moment they get a keypad.
With this information, parents should want to be more digitally involved — we know they are involved in their kids GPA, think of social media as a core class, in reality – it is. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
Once they (college recruiters/employers) dismiss you online – you’re dismissed offline too. They simply go on to the next candidate.
It’s not only your teen’s online reputation at risk by parents not getting involved, more concerning is the emotional turmoil a teen could be going through a due to online harassment, cyberbullying, sextortation or virtual abuse — and if parents are not in tune with their teen’s digital life, this could go unnoticed and spiral into depression or worse.
In yet another study released this month, “Toxic Ties: Networks of Friendship, Dating, and Cyber Victimization,” it revealed that cyberbullying is more common between friends or former friends, such as relationship breakups. This is not a shocking revelation, in my opinion, especially when we see the peer to peer bullying and teasing offline.
Researchers Diane Felmlee and co-author Robert Faris also defined the cyberbullying as cyber-aggression.
“We believe that competition for status and esteem represents one reason behind peer cyberbullying,” Felmlee said. “Friends, or former friends, are particularly likely to find themselves in situations in which they are vying for the same school, club, and/or sport positions and social connections. In terms of dating partners, young people often have resentful and hurt feelings as a result of a breakup, and they may take out these feelings on a former partner via cyber aggression. They might also believe they can win back a previous boyfriend or girlfriend, or prevent that person from breaking up with them or dating someone else, by embarrassing or harassing him or her.”
With both online and offline friendships that can breakdown, parents need to be involved in both areas of their child’s lives.
There will always be new apps, new social platforms and new devices. Parental monitoring systems are good – but nothing replaces parenting. I believe it’s worth noting, you must be a parent first — you can become their friend on these sites, but know you are there as a parent. It doesn’t mean you embarrass or humiliate your child, it means you can discuss with them their choices offline – calmly – if you feel they are making risky digital decisions. Be prepared to back up why you are questioning their comments or posts. You never want to alienate your teen.
We must also remember, it’s not the app, the social media platform or the device — it’s human behavior that we must address. It’s why parent involvement is imperative.
In the first survey, it stated that 60% of teens have created accounts for apps or social media sites without their parents’ knowledge. In reality, I’m not shocked by that. How many sites have you signed up for and not shared it with someone? Especially if no one asked you.
It’s probably not the same (since we’re adults), however teens believe they are invincible and parents it’s our job to continue to be interested in their online life. So where do you start?
Teens love technology, they love social media, they love apps so you have to get in the tech world with them.
- Ask them to help you with your device. You will be amazed at what you can learn from them about their online life too.
- Ask them to teach you something new. Maybe a new app you heard about, or tell them to share an app they think you would like. What’s their favorite app? Open up dialogue.
- Everyday have short chats about online life. Always learn something new about their cyber-life. Do they use #BeStrong Emoji’s when they see people being harmed online? Maybe you want to learn to how to use the new Prisa app many are using on Instagram now. Get your teen engaged with you. Show them you are in- touch with tech.
- Talk to them about the Leslie Jones trolls and cyber-hate. Have they ever witnessed this type of cyberbullying or been a victim? This is a great time to remind them you are there for them – they are never alone.
- Do they know the steps to take if they are being harassed online?
- Whenever there is a headline, like Danny Fitzpatrick, talk about it. Never let these headlines go in vain.
- Ask a relative or close friend to be their tech mentor. If you find your teen is not opening up to you, it’s important to be sure they have an adult to go to with online issues. It doesn’t mean you should stop trying – think of it like your child hates math. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t have to take it. Social media is the same way. It’s here to stay (just like you’re his parent no matter what) – and you need to get involved. Never stop talking about it.
Maybe you need to understand why tweens and teens don’t tell their parents about online issues as it pertains to cyberbullying:
1) Fear of consequences: Your child’s online existence is a critical part of their social life. With all their friends online, being excluded would be devastating them. They don’t want to risk you banning them from their friends and their digital lives.
This is why your consistence offline chats, assuring them that you are their advocate helps them to know you are there for them.
2) Humiliation and embarrassment: Our kids are human and have feelings. Although some kids portray a tough persona and believe they are invincible, deep down everyone feels hurt by cruel keystrokes. Your child may fear looking stupid or weak. If the incident gets reported to their school, will they be able to face their classmates? Imagine the horror of a child hearing from peers after being bullied that they somehow deserved it, brought it on themselves or should have just toughened it out rather than be a snitch.
This is why sharing news stories, as well as personal stories, can help your child know they’re not alone. Your offline conversations are imperative to build your child’s self-esteem to come to you when they are having online issues.
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Okay parents, here’s your first challenge to post on your Facebook walls, (since all parents have FB accounts) and talk to your teen’s about. Distracted driving has become a serious issue globally. I don’t think I need to get into the statistics for people to understand that within seconds your life can change with one click.
Teens today (and I venture to say, adults too) are attached to their gadgets, so much so that unplugging for a simple car ride has become almost impossible for some. Their life has become dependent upon their clicks, LIKEs, beeps, dings, texts, etc….
Please — watch and share. Here is your first communication starter with your teenager about technology.
Pokémon Go has taken over in the last couple of weeks, consuming the attention of children, teens and even adults. This game, which blends the virtual world with our real world, has made headlines not only because it broke download records but also because it has caused accidents, injuries and even robberies.
Using the GPS to determine your location, Pokémon Go challenges players to visit local spots by walking or biking, to capture Pokémons hiding in specific areas. There are some Pokémons that are easy to find and others which are rare and require players to use more Pokéballs to capture them, so they can train them later on in the game.
If you are the parent of a teenager, then you know that you are asking for trouble if you forbid your teen from doing something. Chances are, forbidding your teen from playing Pokémon Go will backfire on you, especially if your kid’s friends are all about this game at the moment.
As with many things, this game has its good and bad qualities. Knowing the good and the bad is the only way you can determine whether you should let your kid use this app. To help you decide, here are some advantages and dangers that come with playing Pokémon Go.
The good…
Getting everyone off the couch – This game’s best feature is that to find the Pokémon, players have to get out of the house and walk or bike to specific locations. This means your teen will spend more time moving about and getting some much needed exercise.
Exploring new locations – Pokémon Go uses local landmarks such as Cathedrals, museums and national parks to place its Pokémons. Through this feature, your teen is more likely to visit local landmarks that he might not have visited before and maybe learn a thing or two about the place along the way.
Meet peers in real life – We’re always telling our teens to have more real interactions rather than simply communicating with their peers through social media. With its Pokéstops and lure modules, this game helps in bringing more people together, as they gather in spots to hunt Pokémons and it is here that your teen can build new relationships without the use of a phone.
Fun time – With all of the angst, moods and insecurities that come with adolescence, having fun running around and hunting virtual creatures is far better and safer than going to parties.
The bad…
Arguing over Pokémons – A rare Pokémon in sight can quickly turn a friendly competition into a heated argument. Your kid should know that no Pokémon is worth getting into a fight over.
The dark side of the lure module – The lure module is a feature a player uses to lure rare Pokémon. The lure can also be seen by other players in the area who can choose to come closer to spot Pokémons. Robbers and sex offenders have taken advantage of this feature to lure people so your teen should be warned to be cautious of certain locations.
Eyes on the road – Players have to master a certain level of coordination when playing this game, as they have to spot the Pokémon on their screen while walking in the real world. Using the vibrate mode to alert your teen when a Pokémon is near is a way of keeping their eyes on the road. Moreover, you can “tell them to frequently look up from their phones to make sure there are no cars coming their directions.”
Money spent on in app purchases – This game is free to download and to play but there are in-app purchases such as Pokéballs to capture the Pokémon with. Ideally, your kid’s money should not be spent on in-app purchases so it’s good to monitor their app store purchases.
Respect boundaries and private property – Pokémons have appeared everywhere, even on private property. Your teen should know the rules of the world come before the rules of the game, no matter how rare that Pokémon is.
Once your teen is aware of the dangers that come with this game, then you can start to see how the advantages of Pokémon Go will benefit your kid. This game encourages live interaction and physical movement, as well as laughter, which is better than seeing our teens in a bad mood, locked up in their rooms with their phones and their angst.
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Contributor: Amy Williams, a journalist and former social worker passionate about parenting and education.
You can follow Amy on Twitter.
If your child is awake, chances are she’s online.
According to research, children are spending several hours a day using a smartphone, computer, or other electronic devices.
The risks associated with kids online include cyberbullying, accessing inappropriate chat rooms, sharing personal information with strangers, and the list goes on.
With students headed back to school soon, AT&T offers these tips to help you ensure your children use online technology and mobile devices safely and responsibly.
- Take advantage of parental controls. Ask your wireless and Internet service providers about parental controls available to you. For example, AT&T Smart Limits for wireless allows parents to block unwanted calls and data use; set text and purchase limits; limit phone use during certain times of day; check on daily phone activity; and get customized alerts and weekly reports. Parental controls for Internet service include the ability to block access to specific services, view your child’s activities online, and receive tamper controls alerts.
- Be aware of what your kids are doing online. Talk with your kids about cyberbullying and other online issues regularly.
- Know the sites your kids visit and their online activities. Ask where they’re going, what they’re doing and who they’re doing it with.
- Tell your kids that as a responsible parent, you may review their online communications if you think there is a reason for concern.
- Ask for their passwords, but tell them you’ll only use them in case of emergency
- Ask to “friend” or “follow” your kids on social media sites or ask another trusted adult to do so.
- Encourage your kids to tell you immediately if they, or someone they know, is being cyberbullied. Let them know you will not take away their device if they confide in you about a problem.
Establish rules about appropriate use of computers, cell phones and other technology.
- Be clear about what sites they can visit and what they are permitted to do when they’re online. Show them how to be safe online.
- Help them be smart about what they post or say. Tell them not to share anything that could hurt or embarrass themselves or others.
- Encourage kids to think about who they want to see the information and pictures they post online. Think about how people who aren’t friends could use the information.
- Remind them to keep their passwords safe and not to share them with friends because sharing that information could compromise their control over their online identities and activities.
- Check privacy settings on social media. Make sure you set the privacy settings on whatever social media your child uses but emphasize that there is no privacy. The more private, the less likely inappropriate material will be received by your child, or sent to their circle of acquaintances. Make sure your child understands that everything sent over the Internet or a cellphone is public and can be shared with the entire world, so it is important that they use good judgment.
- Talk to your teen about the dangers of smartphone distracted driving. Stress to your teen that no text, glance, post, or email is worth a life. It can wait. Get your teen to take the It Can Wait pledge (www.itcanwait.com) to keep her eyes on the road, not on her phone. Also, take advantage of apps that help prevent smartphone distracted driving. For example, the free AT&T DriveMode app silences incoming text message alerts so you can keep her eyes on the road and stay focused while driving. The app sends an auto-reply letting the sender know you’re behind the wheel. And parents with young drivers can receive a text message if the app is turned off.
Courtesy of Kelly Starling, AT&T
Do you know what you’re teenager is up to when using their smart phone? Today, 70 percent of teens try to conceal their online behavior, and temporary and anonymous apps are gaining popularity, but there are significant dangers that lie within the apps.
Cyberbullying, sexting, exposure to adult content are just to name a few of the dangers. Teenagers should know the boundaries in which they can share details, but sadly, they still cross those boundaries.
The infographic was put together by Rawhide Boys Ranch that lists out the top nine temporary and anonymous apps, the dangers they impose and what parents can do.
Many parents think nothing of posting photos and stories about their kids on social media. Who doesn’t want to see photos of that gummy grin or read something funny that your little one said? Sharing your life on social media is the norm for many parents, who use Facebook to stay connected with far-flung relatives and connect with other parents.
But just because posting about your kids is “normal” and practically everyone is doing it, does that mean it’s safe? As it turns out, many parents are actually endangering their kids with their innocent social media posts without even realizing it.
Digital Identity Theft and More
Imagine you are online, checking out some blogs, and you suddenly come across a photo of your child — and someone else is claiming to be her parent. This person is posting photos, talking about activities and milestones, and even responding to comments pretending to be your child’s parent.
It seems unrealistic, but it has happened. Known as digital identity theft, criminals have been known to download photos from Facebook and other websites and use those photos for their own purposes. Some simply pretend to have children, but others use the photos for more nefarious purposes, like advertising, child pornography, or trafficking activities.
The possibility of digital identity theft is actually quite high. And worst of all? It’s technically not a crime. It’s definitely a violation of the terms of service, but so far, there are no laws on the book relating to stolen photos and videos. Usually, a parents’ only recourse is to report the violation to the site where it occurred, and contact the person using the photo and demand it be removed.
Digital identity theft isn’t only about stolen photos, though. Thanks to information posted on social media, hackers can often piece together enough information to steal your child’s identity, something that you might not even realize until they are old enough to apply for their own credit. Facts like full names, date of birth, where they were born, and where they go to school can all give hackers what they need to steal your child’s identity.
Location-based services can also endanger your child. Not too long ago, parents were advised to remove the geo-tagging feature from their phone cameras, since criminals could pinpoint the exact location where the photo was taken, potentially endangering your child.
There have even been reports of child predators using social media to find children who may be isolated, depressed, or have other issues that would make them more likely to respond to the advances of a “friend.” A major source of this information? Social media posts.
No parent wants to ever endanger their child, even by accident, so what can you do to keep them safe while still using social media?
Keeping Kids Safe and Social
Parents have a number of tools at their disposal for keeping their kids safe online. By combining them with caution, you can safely post about your kids.
- Use privacy settings. Set your privacy settings to the highest level, so that only your contacts can see what you post. Be sure that you’ve locked the settings so that others cannot share or download your photos.
- Use custom settings. When you post on Facebook, you can create custom settings so that only a specific audience is able to see your posts. Create a group specifically for posts related to your kids so that only people you trust can see them.
- Ignore requests. Unless you know someone well, do not accept their friend requests. If you post about your kids on Twitter or Instagram, set your privacy so that you can approve or deny follow requests.
- Use internet security software. All of the privacy settings in the world aren’t going to help if a hacker gains access to your computer. Install internet security protection to block hackers and viruses, and use strong passwords on all of your accounts.
- Discuss social media with others. If others take photos of your child, such as at a birthday party, ask them not to post the photos on their social media pages. Respect others’ preferences regarding photos of their kids online as well.
- Never post compromising or embarrassing photos. Yes, your baby is adorable in the bath. Save that photo to show Grandma in person. Don’t post anything with nudity online.
- Keep some things to yourself. Avoid sharing details about your kids that could be used by a predator.
Social media is a useful tool, but you have to be cautious when you bring your kids into it. You can still share those adorable baby snapshots, but be careful and consider the dangers before you do.
The Internet is a wild and wonderful place, and can be an excellent resource for kids – as well as an essential tool that has become necessary to be acquainted with. However, the freedom and accessibility that make it so useful can also be the source of hidden dangers. And just as we exercise caution with the ‘real world’ environments that we allow our children to visit, the Internet should be regarded with a healthy dose of vigilance and awareness. And prior to letting your kids go online, it’s your responsibility as a parent to teach them basics of digital safety.
Many of the dangers inherent with using the Internet are just as applicable to parents – from vulnerability to stalkers or fraudsters to maintaining our own levels of online etiquette. Openly discussing issues such as Internet safety problems, protecting their identity and reputation will help kids to develop their sense of responsibility.
Taking the time to go through tech safety steps such as setting privacy settings can help your young ones learn to look after themselves. Additionally, there are also a few tweaks you can make on your own to keep kids out of certain types of trouble: safety settings to restrict mature websites, permission restrictions to pay for apps, etc. Phishing is a form of online fraud that requires the unwitting participation of the victim, so the best defense is awareness: research the warning signs with your children, and don’t forget to memorize them for yourself!
Bullying on the Internet is one of the ugliest side-effects of the WWW age, with 35% of high school-age kids suffering from cyberbullying. It can be an embarrassing issue for a young one, so encourage them to talk to you, let them know what is the best way to respond to online taunts, and be sure to report any bullying to the appropriate authority. This information, along with nine other guiding principles to ensure your child is both safe and responsible online, is clearly detailed in this great new infographic. The Internet needn’t be a dangerous place if treated with caution and respect.
10 Internet Commandments for Kids Going Online [Infographic] by the team at Pumpic.