Social websites scrutinized

Check out this article at USAtoday.com on on the topic of investigations of potential danger in social networking websites such as Myspace.com.

Many youth are using these sites to talk to their friends, share pictures, and post their surveys, quizes, and other thoughts.

The bottom line, as I see it, is that we should
1) be informed about what our students are doing on-line
and
2) educate our students on the dangers and preventative measures that can be taken.

Examples of preventative measures:
* Make your profile private (If I haven't added you as my friend, you can't see my profile. Only available on myspace if you list your age as... 13, 14, or less... something like that.)
* Don't place your last name on your profile
* Don't put phone numbers or addresses on your profile
* Don't put which school you go to. (This may be harder to encourage, but really that could give a predator a lot about where you live or gives you an outlet to find more info.)
* Don't post provocative photos (I know that sounds weird to say. Go surfing myspace and it probably won't take long for you to see what I mean.)
* Don't post comments on other people's profiles in which you identify any of the information above for yourself or for them

Those are just a few thoughts off the top of my head. Talk to your student about their on-line presence! Email me with any questions.