Diane Griffin on Internet Safety for Teens (Guest Post & Giveaway)

I am delighted to have Diane Griffin here on the blog today, as part of the Protecting your Teens Tour (brought to you by the Virtual Book Tour Cafe), to discuss cyber bullying and Internet safety for children and teens. The Internet is this all-knowing entity, and can be a very unsafe hangout, especially for younger teens who might not understand the importance of keeping personal information to themselves. We hear stories every day of children being bullied online (sometimes to the point of extreme depression and even suicide) and targeted by predators. In this post, Diane explains how to be safe on the Internet, and how parents can help too.

Tips for Kids on Internet Safety:  BE SMART

S 

(Safe)

Keep safe by being careful not to give out personal information when you are chatting or posting online. Personal information includes your email address, phone number, home address, city, state, birthday, password, last name.  You get the idea!

M

(Meeting)

Meeting someone that you only know online can be dangerous.  Only do so with your Parents or Caretakers permission and then only when they can be present. Remember that online friends are still strangers even if you have been talking to them a long time.

A

(Accepting)

Accepting email, IM messages, or opening files, pictures or texts from someone you don't know or trust can lead to problems.  They can contain viruses or nasty messages.

R

(Reliable)

Someone online may lie about who they are and information on the Internet may not be true.  Always check information with other websites, books, or someone who knows.  If you like chatting online, it is best to only chat with your real world friends or family.

T

(Tell)

Tell your parent, caregiver, or trusted adult if someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable or worried or if you or someone you know is being bullied online.

(Source : Kid Smart)

Diane Griffin's  Five Tips for Parents to Preventing Cyberbullying

1. Draw up a contract. - You know that the use of a cell phone is a privilege, not a right. Make your teen aware of this and open up the possibility for open and honest dialogue by drafting up a contract. I’ve include a sample parent/teen contract in the Reference section at the end of my book.

2. Educate your teens about online behavior. - If you don’t regularly engage in activity on the Internet, this may take some studying of your own. However, you do have experience in dealing with people and know that not everyone has their best interests at heart. Teach your teens how choose friends online wisely and if they want something to remain private, it’s best not to post it somewhere as a text or Internet message.

3. Be a role model. - If teens see you texting jokes or other material that you would be upset if they shared, you are only showing them by example that this kind of behavior is acceptable. When you are with your teens, only text if it is necessary. And if so, only text appropriate material. Teach and express positive moral values.

4. Use technology to fight technology. - There are a wide variety of free and pay-for filtering and blocking software applications. Although these tools alone won’t keep your teens safe, they will help minimize the possibility of incidents.

5. Monitor your teens’ texting activities. - Appropriate boundaries for this will be set in your contract. It is important that you find the balance of giving your teens’ freedom and responsibility with the understanding that you have their best interests in mind when you will periodically review their texting activities

Diane Griffin is the founder and president of Security First and Associates. She works with a variety of clients throughout the industry, and has also worked in a wide array of fields to include training, facilitation, communications, human resources and industrial security management. She is the current chapter chair for the National Classification Management Society (NCMS), Chapter 26.

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Check out Diane's Books:
Safe Text - Protecting Your Teen from the Dangers of Texting Social Media Secrets
Protecting Your Teens on Facebook

Diane is giving you the opportunity to win a Kindle Fire or one of two Amazon $50 gift certificates! There are several ways to enter. If you choose to do a review of one of these books to get the extra entires, the reviews must be up by May 11th. Good luck! I hope you win. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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