Transcript A PARENT’S GUIDE TO INTERNET SAFETY

A PARENT’S GUIDE TO
INTERNET SAFETY
MAINE PRINCIPAL’S
ASSOCIATION
STUDENT TECHNOLOGY ABUSE
*MY SPACE.COM *FACEBOOK.COM
*ZENGA.COM
*LIVEJOURNAL.COM
Students are using the sites above to
interact with kids all over the world
The information they place on these sites
are used daily by pedophiles
Students who type in the name of their
school and their first name can put
themselves in serious jeopardy; a person
with evil intentions might find them in,
literally, under a day.
WHAT CAN SCHOOLS DO?
 Assistant principals
all over the state are
given privileges to
view these sites at
schools, so they can
do searches of who
and what students
from their schools are
posting.
WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO?
Help
 Assistant principals are
creating profiles, pretending to
be a student at his/her school
 He/she receives hits
immediately from students
from the school
 He/she goes directly to the
student to explain they could
have been a “bad” guy
 Many kids have disappeared
and been found dead;
authorities are tracing it to a
meeting that was set up on
MySpace.com
TEACH THE CONTROLS
 There are safety features that can be
enabled on MySpace, that kids are
not using
 However, they need to be diligent to
still not put in identifying info.,
because the “bad” guys have found a
“back door” to get into the profiles.
 Actually visiting to a student’s site
that contains too much information,
during an assembly, and illustrating
how, within seconds, someone can
have a photo of this child’s home
available…. is very powerful.
CYBER BULLYING
 Kids are using school e-mail and even personal
e-mail accounts to send threats to other kids, to
teachers, and to create a bomb threat (weapon
threats in Southern ME)
 One student sold another student’s truck on e-Bay
 Kids are taking photos, with camera phones, of an
immoral nature and posting them online….they
think it’s in secret but….
EDUCATORS HAVE HELP
 No matter if a threat was written at home or not,
we can take action
 Isolate the computer
 Contact our IT personnel, or student’s ISP
 Inform local law authorities
 Call MCCTF, Detective Scott Bradeen (Maine Computer
Crimes Task Force)
Any threats of shooting or bombing, call Det. Bradeen
 Call Federal Agencies – FBI has a Maine office
that works mainly with hate crimes, civil rights
issues in schools ([email protected]
MORE ADVICE….
 Students logging in is critical
 We need our tech people to save
router log files. This will save
enormous man hours in case of a
cyber bomb threat etc.
 We should add remote desktop
assistant on classroom computers
 Even if a “hate crime” on computer
did not originate at the school, we
need to offer mediation and/or
counseling.
 Having a banner that must be read
before logging onto any computer
stating, “YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS
TO PRIVACY” is effective.
See no evil? Not an excuse for
schools anymore
 EVEN IF WE FIND
SOMETHING ON A BLOG OR
MYSPACE THAT WAS NOT
CREATED IN SCHOOL, WE
CAN STILL READ THE RIOT
ACT AND INVOLVE PARENTS
 ONE STUDENT PUT A PHOTO
OF SELF IN A DRUNKUN
STATE…..SCHOOL DID
ABOVE…student not allowed in
sports
 USE IDEA “DISTRACTS
FROM DAILY EDUCATIONAL
PROCESS”
RESOURCES AVAILABLE
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www.haltabusektd.org/resources/online.htm
www.netcrimes.net
Bullying.org
Bullybusters.org
Jayne Hitchcock, president of Halt Abuse
Harassment issues require a warning that it is
illegal & is better if message given by a law
enforcement officer
 Personal computers, floppy disks, and plug in
drives from home should be banned; way too
much can be brought in; puts school in a high
risk
 Plus, personal computer search will require
probable cause; school computers do not
WHAT ELSE DO WE NEED TO
THINK ABOUT REGARDING OUR
POLICIES?
 FILE SHARING PROGRAMS – INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS CAN BE
CIVILLY LIABLE IF A DOWNLOADED COPYRIGHT MUSIC OF
SOFTWARE IS TRACED TO HIS/HER COMPUTER
 ITUNES, DVD’S, VIDEOS, IF NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO
EDUCATIONAL USE; NOT ALLOWED
 IPODS, IF NOT BEING MONITORED SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED
 Cell phones with video capability are a very serious threat. If we have any
issue with improper use of cell phone, such as a picture showing up on a
myspace blog, we can call cell phone provider and get help in the abuse of
the phone. (i.e. harassment)
 SRO’s (student resource officer) should be considered at high school
level…..they are not armed; they can discern if and when Attorney Gen. is
required, or help create sanctions at schools.
IT WILL TAKE ALL OF US:
HOME, SCHOOL, & LAW ENFORCEMENT
TO STAY ON TOP OF THESE ISSUES
 A Parent’s Guide to
Internet is a great brochure
 Internet Safety Tips
 List of those to call in order of
seriousness:
local police
local FBI
www.ic3.gov
www.cybertipline.com
www.missingkids.com
www.netsmartz.org
Training CD’s available at
www.fbi.org