Internet Safety Night
OLM School hosted an Internet Safety Night for parents on Thursday, November 29 in the Auditorium @ 7PM. Special thanks to Detective Joseph Weiss from the Merced PD who was on hand to educate us on how to keep our kids safe on the Internet.
While we cannot possibly represent all the material that was covered in this space, we thought we would highlight some of the Detective’s most interesting points here.
Students use the Internet differently than adults do. Students tend to use more social networking sites. One of the better known of the several in existence is MySpace. While access to sites like MySpace are often blocked at school, students have found ways around the filters. As an example, Detective Weiss showed us the long list of results of a Google search using the terms “Google MySpace at school”. Websites like unblockmyspace.com show students how to bypass school web servers in order to access MySpace.
Students also chat online — sometimes with their real-life friends and sometimes with strangers. Detective Weiss told us that many students have webcams and questions whether they actually need one.
Det. Weiss also suggested that parents visit the Megan’s Law website to find out about which serious sexual offenders might live in the areas that they live or spend a great deal of time (e.g. school). It was suggested that parents make their children aware of these individuals in an effort to avoid them. Also, children should know how to react if they come across such an individual.
Students are now using cell phones much more to access the internet and text/chat with friends. Modern cell phones are basically computers that fit in the palm of your hand. Det. Weiss suggested that all parents monitor their child’s cell phone activity using the cell phone’s logs and be aware of who the child is in contact with. Cell phone providers also provide a “chaperone” feature to track student movement and notify you if the child is not where you expect them to be. The Detective also recommended that students should not be allowed to take their cell phone into their bedroom at night since they would be tempted to use it to talk, text, or chat late at night.
Cyberbullying is a big problem. Students will often bully other students and say things they would say to their face. Cyberbullying goes on in chat rooms, in texts (SMS) and social networking sites. It is even a problem on Craigslist.com, a site for buying and selling goods and services. Craigslist has an open “Rants and Raves” section were anyone can say anything about anybody. Students feel they are somewhat anonymous online and are not cognizant of the pain their words may cause.
Det. Weiss made a few suggestions to fight Cyberbullying:
- First, ignore them. Responding to such attacks only makes the bully more aggressive.
- Second create a record of the bullying. All computers can take a picture of your screen which you can save and turn in to police. To do this on a Windows PC, for example, simply hit the “Print Screen” button on your keyboard. Then open up Microsoft Paint and paste the image into the drawing area. Be sure to save it for later reference.
- Encourage your children to talk to a trusted adult if they feel they are being bullied, even if it’s not YOU.
- File a complaint with your Internet Service Provider or whatever network is being used for the bullying.
Other useful websites:
Monitoring-software-review.com – For reviews on Internet Content Filtering and Monitoring software
Transl8.com – Translate chat acronyms and jargon to “adult” English.
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