Kids and the Internet School Kids

Kids and the Internet • School Kids • Your Neighborhood Kids • Your Kids

What Kind of Online Risks? • • Meeting Someone Online Loss of Privacy Cyber. Bully File-Sharing/Peer-to-Peer Programs Making Threats/Law Breaking If I read it online is it true? Putting People In Jeopardy

What Kind of Techno Risks? • • Social Networking Sites Visiting Web Sites Setting Up A Web Site Searching Chat/Instant Messaging Sexting Email Newsgroups

Meeting Someone Online • The most serious problem imaginable is a child who turns up missing or is molested as a result of an online contact. – Most of these cases are not strangers bursting into homes and stealing young kids; they are almost all young people who have left home on their own volition, usually after "meeting" someone online ("luring" is the term for online behavior that leads to these meetings). – The vast majority of them are over 15 and female. What we have here isn't a case of bad guys snatching children; it's mainly teenagers exercising poor judgment.

Loss of Privacy • There are many ways young people and adults can lose their privacy on the Internet, and all have their own dangers. • Disclosing your address, telephone number, or even your name to a stranger can put you or family members in danger. • It's also important to not give out information that could jeopardize others - family members, friends, teachers, and classmates.

Cyber. Bullying • People sometimes get angry. It's normal, nothing to be ashamed of. The trouble with expressing anger on the Internet is that it's sometimes difficult to resolve disputes. – For one thing, you don't have the normal clues you get when you're with someone in person. When people are communicating with text, or in writing, sarcasm and some humor can be insulting instead of funny. It's difficult to know the intensity of someone's feelings. – The best defense is to avoid getting into online arguments or disagreements. That doesn't mean people shouldn't speak their minds in forums, newsgroups, and chat sessions, but it does mean that you should treat others with respect and try not to use words that could be offensive to others. – If you are going to use humor or sarcasm, you can sometimes avoid misunderstandings by using emoticons (smileys) that express emotions: A simple ": -)" (for "grin") next to a statement can make all the difference between a hostile response and a collective laugh.

Peer-to-Peer Networking • Peer-to-peer or file-sharing programs allow you to share your files with others on the Internet -- and vice versa. you should be wary about downloading files from them as well. – stop and think before downloading files through these networks. • • Computer Security – Sharing files with people you don't trust is a matter of hygiene -- and you should keep your computer as clean as possible. Spyware, etc… Pornography – Many file-sharing programs allow children to access inappropriate audio and video clips -- most of a sexually explicit nature. Kids searching for popular music files may sometimes inadvertently pull up sexually explicit files that use the same keywords. Copyright Law – Many things available on file-sharing networks, including many movies, songs, and video games, are copyrighted by the owner. That means the law protects the owner's right to limit who copies and distributes their content. Privacy – If mis-configured, some file-sharing programs may expose your entire hard drive to all other users of the file-sharing software.

Making Threats • It is wrong and illegal to threaten, intimidate, or harass other people regardless of whether those threats are delivered in person, on the phone, via the mail, or over the Internet. – It can be especially harmful to deliver such threats in a public area such as a Web site, chat room, or bulletin board.

Is it True? • Learn how to use search engines and how to limit results of searches. • Understand the difference between reliable and unreliable sources. Get to know the reliable sources on the Internet. • Cite all sources so that teachers and parents can help distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources.

Putting others in Jeopardy • It's not just your privacy and safety you need to be concerned about. There are cases where kids have posted information on the Net that puts others -- perhaps other family members -- in some type of jeopardy. • Do not post private information about the family -- especially your address or phone number.

Social Networking • share – Stories – Pictures – Videos – and other files with friends and acquaintances **Protect your passwords: even from friends

Social Networking • Post with respect: photos are a great way to share wonderful experiences. If you’re posting a photo of you and your friends, put yourself in your friends’ shoes and ask would your friends want that photo to be public to everyone. If yes, then you’re uploading photos with respect. • Comment with kindness: compliments are like smiles, they’re contagious. When you comment on a profile, share a kind word, others will too. • Update with empathy: sharing updates lets us tell people what we think. When you give an opinion on your status updates, show empathy towards your friends and help them see the world with understanding eyes. • College Ap’s: college’s are checking web history and denying entrance to those who have questionable content posted online

Visiting Web Sites • May come across material that is sexual, hateful, violent, or otherwise inappropriate. • Some Web sites invite visitors to enter information about themselves. – Do not enter personal info

Setting up a Web Site • anything posted can be seen by anyone visiting the site. – Don’t post personal information, photos, or anything else that could identify yourself. – Also, be sure there is nothing on the site that could get you in trouble at school or with the law or might be harmful or offensive to other people. • avoid infringing on the copyrights of others by not posting copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder (usually that's the person who wrote the material).

Searching • Safe Searching? • Search Engines – Bing – Google images – Yahoo – Ask – others

Chat Rooms/online Games • the area where you are most likely to get into trouble – public "place" and that you don't necessarily know the true identity of anyone in the chat room. – It's common to "meet" someone in a chat area who gains your confidence by being sympathetic and willing to "listen" to your problems.

Chat Rooms/online Games • Remember that what you say in a chat room or instant messaging session is live -- you can't take it back or delete it later. • Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want the public to know - this includes your full name, your address, phone number of other personal information. • Don't get together with someone you meet in a chat room. • Don’t reveal your actual location or when and where you plan to hang out. • Choose a nickname that's not sexually suggestive and doesn’t give away your real name. • If someone says or does something creepy, block them and don't respond. • Just sign out if the topic turns to sex. That can often lead somewhere you don't want to go.

Instant messsaging and text messaging • Many IM clients now include an option to send a text message directly to the user's cell phone. – This feature can be abused by spammers, scammers, identity thieves, online predators and cyberbullies.

Instant messsaging and text messaging • Make sure that online profiles do not contain any personally identifiable information. • Avoid posting your cell phone number online. • Learn how to engage blocking on your cell phone. • Never respond to text messages from someone you don't know. • Never let someone you don't know use your cell phone.

Sexting • • It's illegal: Don't take or send nude or sexually suggestive photos of yourself or anyone else. If you do, even if they're of you or you pass along someone else's - you could be charged with producing or distributing child pornography. If you keep them on your phone or computer you could be charged with possession. If they go to someone in another state (and that happens really easily), it's a federal felony. Non-legal consequences: Then there's the emotional (and reputation) damage that can come from having intimate photos of yourself go to a friend who can become an ex-friend and send it to everyone you know. Not only can they be sent around; they can be distributed and archived online for people to search for pretty much forever. Not just on phones. Sexting can be done on any media-sharing device or technology - including email and the Web. Teens have been convicted for child porn distribution for emailing sexually explicit photos to each other. Many causes. In some cases, kids are responding to peer pressure in a form of cyberbullying or pressure from a boyfriend or girlfriend (they break up, and sometimes those photos get sent around out of revenge). Sometimes it's impulsive behavior, flirting, or even blackmail. It's always a bad idea.

Sexting: what can you do? • * If a sexting photo arrives on your phone, first, do not send it to anyone else (that could be considered distribution of child pornography). Second: Talk to a parent or trusted adult. Tell them the full story so they know how to support you. And don't freak out if that adult decides to talk with the parents of others involved - that could be the best way to keep all of you from getting into serious trouble. • * If the picture is from a friend or someone you know, then someone needs to talk to that friend so he or she knows sexting is against the law. You're actually doing the friend a big favor because of the serious trouble that can happen if the police get involved. • * If the photos keep coming, you and a parent might have to speak with your friend's parents, school authorities or the police.

SEXTING (Sexual text msg) • Pandering obscenity involving a minor: ORC: 2907. 32. 1 – Obscene, Minor in photo, publicly presented or possessed: F 2 (or F 3, F 4) • Disseminating matter harmful to minor: ORC: 2907. 31 – Harmful to minor but not obscene: M 1 – Obscene, observing minor is 13+: F 5 – Obscene, observing minor is under 13: F 4

Pictures on Cell Phones (Handout): Adult sends nude pic of any minor to another minor: charge sender with either Minor sends nude pic of any minor to another minor(s): charge sender with either law. . . Minor sends nude pic of an adult to another minor: charge disseminating. . . Minor takes picture of himself and sends it to another female minor (not currently dating): charge sender with either. . . Minor takes picture of herself and sends it to her boyfriend (vice versa): no charges probably (especially if it was not forwarded to others) Minor takes picture of herself on another male minor's phone, no transmission of photo: no charges if photo was not shown or sent to anyone else (and owner of phone is the only one who saw the image) (i. e. , girlfriend takes pic of herself with her boyfriend's phone, even though she is a minor, and he is a minor, no transmission occurred and he did not show it to any friends. Transmission is the issue, not necessarily possession alone. Review each case individually. ) In any case listed above, contact Children Services. . .

Email • Spam – Solicit to buy, click etc…. • Phishing – Try to get personal info • Virus – Picture, executable file, etc

Newsgroups • Newsgroups, forums, and bulletin boards areas on the Internet where people can exchange ideas, recipes, facts, stories, photos, or just about anything else. • all sorts of topics, including hobbies, sports, professions, schools • some contain material that is sexual, violent, hateful, and otherwise inappropriate. • when you respond to a message, you're not just responding to that person but broadcasting your response to anyone who joins the group. Anything you type can be read by anyone.

Final thoughts • What you put online can come back in an interview (for college entrance, job, etc) • What photo you share may be spread around the internet….

Lessons: • Check your kid’s cell phone – Sent messages – Received messages – Text and photo messages • Solutions – Restrict phone at night – Remove text plans – Buy cell phone without camera option

Lessons: • Technology – Grandparents: used to pass notes in class – Parents: used pagers to make contacts – Kids: use cell phones to communicate • Solutions – Be Aware, educate yourself