Internet Safety: Are you doing your part?

Do you know what your child is doing when they are on the internet? Statistics from recent national surveys on teens and internet safety find that:

61% have posted a personal profile on social networking websites such as MySpace, Facebook, Friendster or Xanga, and half of them have also posted pictures of themselves

34% saw inappropriate material online that they didn’t want to see

40% think it’s safe to respond to or chat with people they don’t know

20% think it’s safe to share personal information on a public social networking website

30% have considered meeting someone they have met online

Reeds Brook Middle School would like to remind parents that when students bring the laptops home they are intended for school work only. Through the use of state and local network filters, we make every attempt to filter inappropriate internet content at school, but once the laptops leave the building, the sites your child visits are only as safe as what you allow in your own home. If your home network is unfiltered, it is possible for your child to use the school’s laptop to access inappropriate content. Even if your own network is secure, an unfiltered wireless network at a nearby neighbor’s house could provide your child unrestricted access as well.

33% of teens say that their parents know little or nothing about what they do online

Please don’t be part of this statistic.

Insist that your child use their laptop in a supervised area where you can see the screen.

Insist that your child share their MySpace/FaceBook passwords with you so you can check in once in a while to see what they are posting about themselves.

MSAD#22 will be hosting an informational night for parents on March 31 at Reeds Brook from 6 to 8 pm. Some Reeds Brook staff members will be offering sessions on internet safety.  Please join us.  Informed, actively engaged parents are one of the best tools in protecting children from online threats.

In the meantime, please visit http://tinyurl.com/cncaq9 for a collection of excellent online resources to inform and educate parents and children about Internet safety.