Social Circle City Schools – Resource Officer Internet Safety For Parents Officer R. Todd Wood Social Circle City Schools – Resource Officer

Solutions and Strategies The Digital Landscape I. II. Cyberbullying III. Solutions and Strategies

68% use IM (instant messaging) The Digital landscape Born after 1990 Highly connected 97% play video games 75% have cell phones Point here is to emphasize difference in upbringing between child and parent and show the disconnect that exists. Use the phrase “digital divide” when referring to this disconnect. 68% use IM (instant messaging) 70% use SN sites(social networking)

The Digital landscape Personal relationships heavily influenced by “bubble” that the Internet represents Accept web as dominant medium for social interaction with peers “Bubble” is the distance and anonymity web provides, leading to exaggerated versions of our personalities. Normal filters we have for face-to-face interaction are disabled. Web is the social spot for kids. Not gas station parking lot or dead end. Because kids have grown up with web, they are more comfortable with less personal privacy More comfortable with a public persona

The Time Machine Time spent online up to 13 hours per week from 8 hours five years ago Social Networking and games dominate time spent Pediatricians recommend no more than 2 hours/day for youth American Academy of Pediatrics says no more than 2 hours total screen time per day for kids 16 and under.

Friend or Foe? Easy to fake online persona Predators adapting to Social Networks Practice of “Sextortion” includes using digital content for blackmail Recent examples: Man in UK created 8 different fake Facebook profiles to groom “up to 1,000 kids”; NAMBLA pages found on Facebook; in sextortion cases kids are tricked into revealing themselves in some way, and then the person uses the digital content to blackmail them into other things; in other cases the kids are tricked into doing things for other reasons, such as believing someone hacked into their Facebook profile or can get them into trouble somehow. 15-year-old girl on Facebook

Adults Only? Pornography more available and graphic than ever before Increasing chances of accidental exposure due to spam attacks on social networks Main thing to emphasize is just pornographic content on web growing and getting worse every day. Stress that kids are getting their sex-ed this way. Average age for first exposure to pornography is… 11

Solutions and Strategies Contents I. The Digital Landscape II. Cyberbullying Solutions and Strategies III. Just note that Cyberbullying is leading cause of concern in online safety today. Two recent suicides linked to Cyberbullying.

What is Cyberbullying? Bullying through electronic means Text, Facebook, YouTube common mediums Potentially fatal Define it

Megan Meier-13 Alexis Pilkington-17 Phoebe Prince-14

Ubiquitous Phones, computers Public Visible to anyone Constant School, play, home Point here is to stress that Cyberbullying can be worse than physical bullying because kids can’t escape it, it’s very public, and it’s permanent Viral Social mediums

A Parents Role Ask specific questions about online activities Ask them what they think about online bullies Tell them to tell you if they encounter kids being mean online

A Parents Role Changes in online activities Changes in mood Shifts in attitude towards social activities Desire to be alone while on the internet Suddenly closing or turning off computer when you enter the room

Solutions and Strategies Contents I. The Digital Landscape II. Cyberbullying III. Solutions and Strategies

Be a Parent Decide when your kids are ready Stress respect of others Consider maturity of peers and child Set clear rules Set clear consequences and follow through with them.

Strategy Take the problem seriously Don’t react to the bully Cyberbullying Take the problem seriously Don’t react to the bully Record and report Photo is of a parent responding to cyberbullies, which only worsened the problem. Parents should first comfort the child, tell them they did the right thing by coming to them, record the activity for proof, and then go through the proper channels to report the problem, starting with bully’s parents.

Georgia Laws O.C.G.A. 16-5-90 / Stalking; psychological evaluation For the purposes of this article, the term "harassing and intimidating" means a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person which causes emotional distress by placing such person in reasonable fear for such person's safety or the safety of a member of his or her immediate family, by establishing a pattern of harassing and intimidating behavior, and which serves no legitimate purpose. This Code section shall not be construed to require that an overt threat of death or bodily injury has been made. O.C.G.A. 20-2-751.4 / Schools For purposes of the Georgia educational policy, “bullying” means an act that occurs on school property, on a school vehicle, at a school bus stop, at a school function, or through the use of school software or electronic technology that is: Photo is of a parent responding to cyberbullies, which only worsened the problem. Parents should first comfort the child, tell them they did the right thing by coming to them, record the activity for proof, and then go through the proper channels to report the problem, starting with bully’s parents. an intentional written, verbal, or physical act that a reasonable person would perceive as being intended to threaten, harass, or intimidate and that substantially interferes with another student’s education or substantially disrupts the orderly operation of the school and is so severe, persistent, or pervasive that it creates an intimidating or threatening educational environment.

Be Proactive Get savvy Get interactive Get the right tools Stress dealing with problems before they are problems, getting ahead of the game. Download and sign InternetSafety.com Gameplan

Questions?