 Cyberbullying  Sexting  Social Networking  Laws

Illinois Legislation Public Act regarding Internet Safety Curriculum states: “Beginning with the school year, a school district must incorporate into the school curriculum a component on Internet safety to be taught at least once each school year to students in grade 3 or above.”

 Discuss legitimate uses of the internet  Personal safety when participating in on- line gaming  “Pitfalls” of on-line gaming  Types of cyber-bullying  Consequences for victim and offender  What to do if you are a victim of cyber- bullying  Think Before You Click!

 On-Line Gaming means people can become involved in game play with persons around the world  This can be on a computer or on a video game system  Some games allow the players to talk to each other  Can unknowingly give away personal information  “Players” may not be who they say they are  “Chat-rooms” occur in sites for younger children (Club Penguin & Webkinz) but are limited in response

 Stress that on-line gaming is very much a social networking site  Play can become heated between players and conflict can spill-over to the “physical” community  Some of the most popular games are violence-themed

 When a child, preteen or teen is tormented, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by any other person using the Internet or other digital communication technology.

 IM-ing (i.e. I hate you)  Text Messaging  Blogging  Creating Web Sites  Sending/forwarding pictures  Sending spy-ware or other hacking programs  Internet Gaming  Stealing Passwords  Impersonation (i.e. chat rooms, blogs, s)

 Survey Report for Grades 4 th -8 th  42% reported being cyber-bullied  35% reported being threatened  21 % said they have received mean or threatening  58% reported someone said mean or hurtful things to them  53% reporting saying mean or hurtful things to someone else  58% did not tell anyone about the mean message

 Stop! Block! Tell!  Stress to tell a parent, teacher or police, if the child is being bullied or if they know of someone else being bullied  Report the incident to the police  Police Investigation can lead to potential criminal charges:  Disorderly Conduct  Cyber-stalking  Harassment by Electronic Device  Child Pornography if inappropriate photos

 My Mobile Watchdog monitors your child's cell phone use and instantly alerts you if he or she receives unapproved , text messages or phone calls.  Sexting has become a national epidemic among children and early teens. Thirty-nine percent of teens have sent sexually suggestive text messages to other teens, and twenty percent have sent nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves.  Cyberbullying is the harmful use of technology by students that want to bully their victims during and beyond school hours. My Mobile Watchdog can stop them before damage is done.

 Cyber-Stalking  is a Class 4 Felony * Knowingly on 2 separate occasions, harasses another by use of electronic communication and transmits a threat or places another in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future harm, OR * Creates & maintains a website of another for at least 24 hrs, that contains harassing statements, and transmits a threat or places another in reasonable apprehension of future harm  Harassment by Electronic Device  Is a Misdemeanor offense. But can be a felony in certain circumstances  Use of any electronic communication  Making obscene comment, request or suggestion, OR  Interrupting telephone service with the intent to harass, OR  Threatening injury to the person or property  Knowingly allowing a person to use an electronic device for above purposes

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Discuss the new age of Instant Information Sharing Define “Sexting” Consequences associated with sexting: social, school and legal Discuss “texting” and appropriate message content Cyber-bullying in the form of sexting and texting Reinforce personal safety issues and good cyber citizenship

“ TEXTING” Simply, the exchange of information between cellular device users Typically uses “SMS” (small message system) “SEXTING” The act of sending and/or receiving sexually explicit messages or photos via electronic communication devices (typically cellular phones) Can include text, images and video

“SEXTING” Photos…. 20% of Teens (13 to 19) 1 in 5 teens say they have sent nude or semi-nude photo of themselves 2 in 5 have had a nude or semi- nude photo of themselves shared with others 1 in 5 admit to forwarding a nude or semi-nude photo that was meant to be private “SEXTING” Messages… 39% of Teens (13 to 19) are sending sex-messages 48% say they have received “sex” messages Statistics provided by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy

Embarrassment Harassment Take reports seriously!

Harassment by Electronic Device think “words” Child Pornography – think “pictures” - can charge the sender - can charge the recipient (who keeps the photo/does not delete it) - can charge anyone who forwards the photo - can charge juveniles with this Child Pornography charges are all felonies and can be ordered to register as a “Sex Offender”

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 Discuss “Social Networking” – positive and negatives  Discuss the basic “rules” for most popular pages  Emphasize personal safety and limiting access  Stress good citizenship  Reinforce the message of “Think before you click!”

Benefits  Allows professional networking and sharing of information  Allows an opportunity to re-connect with friends  Allows an opportunity to share information with family & friends Hazards  Physical – cyber stalking  Financial – identity theft  Allows a “look” into your life – know who you are sharing with!

 The most popular sites (Facebook, MySpace, and Xanga) have the requirement that the user must be at least 13 years of age. Kids will frequently purport themselves to be older…  Can create “false” information  Page/Site can be taken down if threatening or harassing  Varying degrees of cooperation with Law Enforcement  Be Aware of the “You Tube” Phenomenon – you may be on it!

 ANYONE can access your information, including:  Peers  Students  Parents  Administrators  College Admissions  Scholarship Boards  Potential Employers  Law Enforcement  THINK before you post!

 Make sure you protect your privacy  For staff… Good rule of thumb, do not add students as “friends”  For Parents… ASK to be added as a “friend” on your child’s site – be aware they can have more than 1 site  Be aware that information can be used against you  “Profile Pictures” can be seen even if set to private  If they do find you, do you have information on your own site that you would want to share with the school population, including pictures???

 Harassment by Electronic Device  Child Pornography  Solicitation to Meet a Child

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