High school Internet safety means controlling privacy and reputation

High school kids are living their lives online. They're checking their friends' status updates (and posting their own), they're watching their favorite shows, they're uploading photos and videos, they're playing games, chatting on IM, video-chatting, exploring their interests, and accessing information and files that fuel their passions. They're also becoming part of Internet culture, where it's all about what's new right now. Because information on the Internet moves at the speed of light, high schoolers are likely to get involved in new stuff way before you've gotten used to yesterday's news.

What is it?

Internet safety at this age entails continuing to monitor high-schoolers' online lives, staying involved as much as you can, and injecting your own values to counteract some of the less savory aspects of the Internet. In the high school years, teens' online interactions can really impact their future. Much of what they discover and contribute to can be positive and enriching -- if they play by the rules. If not, their privacy, reputation, and even their physical safety could be compromised.

Why it matters

In today's 24/7 media world, it's hard to believe that remnants of your digital footprint can remain online for a long, long time. Teens don’t realize that once something is posted on the Internet it can come back to haunt them. Even if they take an inappropriate photo down, the electronic record remains. And in the time that a potentially embarrassing photo is public, it may have been copied and circulated to thousands of people without their knowledge.

Teens also don’t realize that what they post sets their reputation -- others judge them based on their profiles. Is not just sexy photos, its also underage drinking, drugs, and mean-spirited chat. As kids get older, stuff they’ve posted in the past can reappear. College admissions officers and employers are now Googling candidates and checking profiles to see what information comes up and making decisions based on what they find. Teens make new online connections all the time. Programs that connect people -- like social networks or location-sharing apps -- can potentially expose your kid to people they don't know, give up their privacy, and even identify their actual physical location.

Basic Internet safety for high schoolers:

• make sure personal information like their name, school, age, or address is protected by privacy settings

• use social networks privacy settings so only their friends can see their stuff

• don't send pictures to strangers

• passwords are private (except to parents)

• people aren’t necessarily who they say they are in cyberspace

• if they meet someone, it better be in a public place, with a friend

Strategies for respectful, responsible -- and safer -- online life:

There’s no such thing as “private” online. Anything posted can be seen by or forwarded to strangers, college admissions officers, and potential employers.

Have an agreement about what’s OK to post. Teen years are full of self-expression and rebellion. Just make sure that your kids know your rules about suggestive material, alcohol, and drug references.

Help your teen be a good digital citizen. Online cheating is still cheating. And flagging inappropriate content isn’t ratting – it’s keeping the Web a place where people want to hang out and where they can feel safe.

The Golden Rule applies in cyberspace. If they wouldn’t do it in real life, they shouldn’t do it online. No humiliating or cruel posts, no hate speech or groups, no compromising pictures they wouldn’t want the world to see.

Agree on downloads. What music is okay? Which video sites? What games?

Encourage critical thinking. They should ask “who posted this? and why?” This will help them find trustworthy information, and it will also help avoid online scams that deliver spyware and viruses directly to your home.

Stay in safe neighborhoods. Just as your teens learn not to walk down dark alleys alone at night, they need to know how to avoid creepy places online. And if they do venture there, remind teens that unpleasant or suspicious communications should get trashed immediately.

View your own habits carefully. You are the ultimate role models. Keep channels of communication open.

Better safe than sorry. Make sure kids are comfortable telling you if anything menacing or cruel happens -- no matter what site they were on.

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