Social media for Parents: what you need to know How do you as parents help your kids the challenges and pitfalls of using social media? Privacy Friends/not friends What to do when things go wrong

In elementary school, your child was probably involved in various activities to learn what digital citizenship was all about. Digital citizenship becomes even more important for teenagers!

Social Media use - parental decision, of course: Amount of time online Parents having passwords Effects of social media use on self-esteem, etc. There a number of “mainstream” social media apps out there that can be great to connect people with others of similar interest. There are things YOU should know as parents and guardians to help safeguard your children even in these mainstream applications.

Social media apps are being used… heavily Social media apps are being used… heavily! And most of it is great stuff. Finding new friends. Old friends reconnecting. Learning new things...

But there are indeed pitfalls of online activity... Charmaine… as your kids get older… they become more internet ‘savvy,’ however, there are some issues that come with increased use and exposure to social media

Beware Charmaine Cake is a live stream video chat app for teens, but Cybertip.ca has issued a warning due to its high volume of sexual content “Hot List” and “Top Cakers” includes provocative photos of young females Images/videos can be ‘captured’ of users without their knowledge or consent App encourages users to share live video broadcasts and chat with new people ‘Diamonds’ are rewarded for chatting with new people and these diamonds ultimately have a cash value Follow Cybertips.ca and/or @CdnChildProtect ‘Kik’ messenger app allows users to ‘instantly text’ people using only a ‘username’ (rather than texting from a phone) “Reviews in the App Store and Google Play store reveal that many people use Kik to meet strangers for sexting” (https://www.familyeducation.com/fun/mobile-apps/safety-beyond-facebook-12-social-media-apps-every-parent-should-know-about?slide=3#fen-gallery) Cyber-bullying through the kik platform has led to teen suicide Kik is often used together with ‘snap-chat’ where users are led to believe that the images are removed from the site soon after posting, but the photos are merely encrypted and may be accessible to saavy hackers

Charmaine - Sometimes people will do things online that they wouldn’t normally do in person. It can have a huge negative impact...

What can you do with your child? Ask questions about social media use Model appropriate behaviour Brainstorm together how to use social media for good! What can you do with your child? Ask questions about social media use Model appropriate behaviour Brainstorm together how to use social media for good!

Privacy Settings When establishing a social media account (or anytime thereafter), adjust the privacy settings to control what strangers see. Set it up right the first time (no open accounts) Including location

Every social media app has privacy settings… talk with your kids about how to protect themselves.

You can choose not to accept friend requests. Friending After you protect your social media account, you can control which friends can see your posts. You can choose not to accept friend requests. You can “un-friend” someone if you no longer wish someone to see your posts. Kids can control who sees what… and can stop others from seeing their posts if necessary.

Watch what you post! Charmaine - Talk with your kids: THINK before you post!

If things go wrong STOP - Don’t respond to any communications BLOCK - Block the sender TALK - Talk to a trusted adult SAVE - Save copies of all communications Charmaine - Teach your kids what to do if something goes wrong: stop, block, talk, and save.

CyberTip.ca provides a wealth of resources to help everyone protect themselves from and deal with inappropriate online behaviours Charmaine - It is put together by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection... .. which you can follow on Facebook and Twitter!

You can now proceed to Session #2!

Session B: Developing Independence is in Room __ Session C: Supporting Struggling and Disengaged Students is in Room ___ Teach your kids what to do if something goes wrong: stop, block, talk, and save.

Thanks for coming to Grade 9 Day! (kids will be done at 2:40)