Facebook Predator is a Good Reminder to All Students to be Safe Online

If you don't know the story, click on this KCCI link to watch the video story. This story was forwarded around Central Iowa this past week and I think I received it about 4 times. And it is an important story even if it has not affected Carlisle....yet. The important part is that this is a great reminder how young people need to be smart and safe when online. When we decided to get the 8th graders up and blogging, I was hoping this would constantly give me chances to talk to the kids about their online behavior and online life. What they should post, not post, how they should post, where they should post, and who might be looking at the things they are doing. Would you believe that most 8th graders have a Facebook and most of their Facebook walls are visible to the public? Yep, it's true! And many 8th graders have admitted to accepting a friend invite on Facebook of someone they did not know, but they thought they knew that person or a friend of theirs was a friend of this person, so why not accept? Technology is fun and social networks are some of the most fun parts of technology, but they are not risk-free. Predators of children and other adults who have not-so-nice motives are USUALLY smarter than our students and almost always smarter than me! We can't just assume we are bullet proof and the bad things that happen won't happen to us. We must protect ourselves in at least some very simple ways. Here is some of my quick advice regarding Facebook

1. Make your wall, photos, and information only visible to friends. No reason to have your information public.

2. Limit the amount of personal information you post. This includes pictures. I purposely do not post many pictures of my kids on Facebook. I would love for people to see my kids, but I don't want my kids' photos all over the Internet.

3. You don't have to accept every friend invite. If you are their TRUE FRIEND in life, accept them. Even if you just know of them, don't accept it. If you are getting up to 200, 300, 400 or more friends (and most middle school kids are), you are friending too much!

4. Think before you post....every time! Think about what your post may mean to others, how it will affect others, and who will see it. We talk about this with our blogs, but we could talk about it everyday if we wanted to. Also, never post when emotional...and teens can be emotional often. Take a break and relax before putting your feelings online. Or better yet, talk to someone about your feelings and do not post them to hundreds.

5. Report, print, and record. If you feel uncomfortable by anything online or something doesn't feel right, print the screen immediately. Smart predators (and bullies) will remove their post once they are sure it has done its job. Write information down. Report what happened to an adult and delete the person from your friend list if possible.

Here are some great Facebook and online safety sources:

Great Guide to Facebook for parents!

SafeKids tips!

CommonSense Media.org article (one of my favorite websites by the way!)

If you have any questions, please contact me or any school counselor.