Facebook – Security – Kids & Parents – What you need to know and DO!

 We all know Facebook can be a great resource, lots of fun and a great method to stay in touch with friends, family and classmates from years ago.  The truth is Facebook can be a very dangerous place for not only kids, but everyone!  This is a social community and there are good and bad in all communities.

Every teacher and parent have to educate our young and make sure they are not on the wrong side of the street or are the one’s being taken advantage of in any way.  There has been many stories of all sorts of negative stuff happening on Facebook concerning the young.

For teachers and Parents to educate kids, they have to understand what it is all about. They need to know how kids are using this tool, how they may be taken advantage of and all the other dangers they are exposed to online.

I will dedicate a page on my BLOG with resources and information around this very important topic – A great start is the following article.

TODAY – a great paper was released called – A Parents Guide to Facebook

What are the risks involved in social networking?

Youth-risk research has recently made five important findings:

1. Young people who behave aggressively online are more than twice as likely to be victimized online, so children’s own behavior in Facebook or any social site is key to their well-being on the social Web.
2. The most common risk young people face online is peer harassment or aggression – in other words hurtful, harassing, or defamatory behavior.
3. A child’s psychosocial makeup and environment (for example, home and school) are better predictors of risk than any technology that the child uses, so…
4. Not all children are equally at risk online, and the children who are most at risk online are those who are most at risk in “real life,” or offline. 
5. Although, for the vast majority of youth, online social networking is largely a reflection of offline life, it can also amplify, perpetuate and widely distribute real-life problems or conflicts – very rapidly. Something posted in anger or on impulse is extremely difficult to take back, so it has never been more important for users (of any age) to think before they “speak,” post, or send a text message.

 Specific social networking risks include…

● Posting information about themselves that: a) could help strangers determine their physical location; b) could be used to manipulate them; or c) whether posted by them or others, could cause psychological harm or jeopardize reputations and future prospects

● Harassment or online bullying (“cyberbullying”) on the part of your children or others’

● Spending too much time online, losing a sense of balance in their activities (“too much” is subjective, which is why parents need to be engaged)

● Exposure to inappropriate content (this too is subjective), although typically worse content can be found out on the Web at large than in Facebook or other responsible social networking sites

● Potential for inappropriate contact with adults (parents need to ensure that social networking does not lead to offline contact unapproved by them and other caring adults in their children’s lives)

● Damage to reputation or future prospects because of young people’s own behavior or that of their peers – unkind or angry posts, compromising photos or videos, or group conflict depicted in text and imagery.

FULL Document – PARENTS GUIDE TO FACEBOOK