“Let me snap that.”
“I’m going to tweet this selfie.”
You’ve probably heard these phrases from your children or other students in and around our community. They’re from the world of social media.
Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are the most well-known social media sites. There are many others out there that very few of us over 16 have even heard of.
The names of the sites don’t matter as much as the information that’s being shared on the sites and many young people are sharing too much information. Today’s students often aren’t aware that anyone with an internet connection can view it – bad guys, employers, teachers, their school nemesis and you.
I’d like to share a few ways you can protect your children and their personal information online.
- Explain that online information and images can live forever. It can be very hard and sometimes impossible to take down information that is posted, and photos and information may already have been copied and posted elsewhere.
- Tell your children not to post any identifying information online. This includes their cellphone number, address, hometown, school name.
- Remind your children never to give out any passwords to anyone but you – not even their friends. Explain that if someone has their password, they could post embarrassing and unsafe information about them.
- Make sure that children understand that some people they meet online might not be who they say they are. It’s important to stress that young people should never meet people face-to-face that they met online.