Social Networking Sites - Parental Guide
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• Explain that kids should post only information that you — and they — are
comfortable with others seeing. Even if privacy settings are turned on, some — or even
all — of your child’s proile may be seen by a broader audience than you’re comfortable
with. Encourage your child to think about the language used in a blog, and to think before
posting pictures and videos. Employers, college admissions oicers, team coaches, and
teachers may view your child’s postings. Even a kid’s screen name could make a diference.
Encourage teens to think about the impression that screen names could make.
• Remind your kids that once they post information online, they can’t take it back.
Even if they delete the information from a site, older versions may exist on other people’s
computers and be circulated online.
• Know how your kids are getting online. More and more, kids are accessing the Internet
through their cell phones. Find out about what limits you can place on your child’s cell
phone. Some cellular companies have plans that limit downloads, Internet access, and
texting; other plans allow kids to use those features only at certain times of day.
• Talk to your kids about bullying. Online bullying can take many forms, from spreading
rumors online and posting or forwarding private messages without the sender’s OK, to
sending threatening messages. Tell your kids that the words they type and the images
they post can have real-world consequences. hey can make the target of the bullying feel
bad, make the sender look bad — and, sometimes, can bring on punishment from the
authorities. Encourage your kids to talk to you if they feel targeted by a bully.
• Talk to your kids about avoiding sex talk online. Recent research shows that teens who
don’t talk about sex with strangers online are less likely to come in contact with a predator
If you’re concerned that your child is engaging in risky online behavior, you can search the
blog sites they visit to see what information they’re posting. Try searching by their name,
nickname, school, hobbies, grade, or area where you live.
• Tell your kids to trust their gut if they have suspicions. If they feel threatened by
someone or uncomfortable because of something online, encourage them to tell you. You
can then help them report concerns to the police and to the social networking site. Most
sites have links where users can immediately report abusive, suspicious, or inappropriate
online behavior.
• Read sites’ privacy policies. Spend some time with a site’s privacy policy, FAQs, and
parent sections to understand its features and privacy controls. he site should spell out
your rights as a parent to review and delete your child’s proile if your child is younger
than 13.
Cyberbully411 — www.cyberbully411.org
Cyberbully411 provides resources and opportunities for discussion and sharing for youth — and
their parents — who have questions about or may have been targeted by online harassment. he
website was created by the non-proit Internet Solutions for Kids, Inc., with funding from the
Community Technology Foundation of California.
GetNetWise — www.getnetwise.org
GetNetWise is a public service sponsored by Internet industry corporations and public interest
organizations to help ensure that Internet users have safe, constructive, and educational or
entertaining online experiences. he GetNetWise coalition works to provide Internet users with
the resources they need to make informed decisions about their and their family’s use of the
Internet.
Internet Keep Safe Coalition — www.iKeepSafe.org
iKeepSafe.org is a coalition of 49 governors/irst spouses, law enforcement, the American Medical
Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other associations dedicated to helping
parents, educators, and caregivers by providing tools and guidelines to promote safe Internet and technology use among children.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children — www.missingkids.com; www.
netsmartz.org
NCMEC is a private, non-proit organization that helps prevent child abduction and sexual
exploitation; helps ind missing children; and assists victims of child abduction and sexual
exploitation, their families, and the professionals who serve them.
Staysafe — www.staysafe.org
Staysafe.org is an educational site intended to help consumers understand both the positive
aspects of the Internet as well as how to manage a variety of safety and security issues that exist online.
Wired Safety — www.wiredsafety.org
WiredSafety.org is an Internet safety and help group. WiredSafety.org provides education,
assistance, and awareness on cybercrime and abuse, privacy, security, and responsible technology use. It is also the parent group of Teenangels.org, FBI-trained teens and preteens who promote
Internet safety.
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One Feedback on “Social Networking Sites - Parental Guide”
For a fun way for parents to jump-start a discussion about internet and social networking safety, here’s a website that includes an instructional video and a very easy quiz.
http://www.auntlee.com/safety/
The video is a selection of silly clips supposedly posted to the MySpace pages of the famous auntlee.com puppy and some of her friends. The clips demonstrate mistakes kids can make online.
The 10 question quiz covers the topics of cyber-bullying, privacy, safety, dangers of spyware and malware, etc.
The quiz doesn’t really focus on stranger-danger type concerns but rather gently and humorously reminds the reader that it’s possible to hurt people’s feelings, to mislead people who don’t realize you’re joking, to remember that online postings can be seen by anybody and that postings are often impossible to remove once posted.
By Aunt Lee