Safe Blogging Tips for Teens
Online Safety Tips, Social Networking
As a teen, you've probably looked at tons of blogs and may even have blogs of your own on the Internet. For those of you who are just starting off, a blog is your very own portion of the web where you can express your views, post pictures or video and gather feedback on a variety of topics. The SafetyClicks site that you are on is a blog where we talk about online family safety tips on a variety of topics. Whether you're an experienced blogger, or just starting out, here are some basic things to keep in mind:
Think Before You Post:
What can you post on a blog? Just about anything! But that doesn't mean you should post anything and everything. As with anything that you post on the Internet, always remember to think before you post. What you say online is out there forever, and you really don't want to post something that could come back and haunt you for many years to come. Even if you delete something you posted from your blog, someone else may have copied it and posted it elsewhere on the Internet. I would recommend you also read another blog on this site, "Who's Looking at You," to understand how your virtual world could impact your success (or not!) in the real world.
Xbox 360 and Family Settings
Microsoft's Xbox 360 offers game playing and movie watching. It also offers Xbox Live, an optional, subscription based service offering online multiplayer gaming, voice, text and video chat, and multimedia downloads such as games, movies, and TV shows.
Xbox 360 offers parental controls called Family Settings to help control the types of games and movies that your children can play or view based on their industry content ratings. They also provide settings to control Xbox live. The following highlights the Family Settings for the Xbox.
Game Ratings
The default for video settings on the Xbox 360 is "Allow All Games" which allows users to play Early Childhood (EC), Everyone (E), Everyone 10+ (E10+), Teen (T) and Mature (M) games. Xbox does not support Adult (AO) games. You can change the Game Ratings setting to the ESRB rating you determine is appropriate for your children.
Video Ratings
The Video Rating option in the Family Settings has four categories: "Movie Ratings," "TV Ratings," "Explicit Video," and "Unrated Video." The movie and TV settings are based on industry ratings and are defaulted to allow all rated movies and shows which gives users access to R-rated movies and mature TV programs; however you can change this setting to reflect what is age-appropriate for your children. Explicit and unrated videos are also set by default to allow these types of videos, but you have the ability to block access to them.
Xbox Live
The default setting for Xbox Live is to allow access. If you decide to block access, there is no ability to connect to Xbox Live to interact or download content. If you decide to allow access, there are additional settings that you need to be aware of and set including access to online games, text and voice chat, as well as video chat.
Video Games and Consoles
With the holiday season quickly approaching, video games and video game consoles are sure to be at the top of many wish lists. If you are considering giving a video game or gaming console this holiday season, this article may be of particular interest.
Video gaming can be an enjoyable and entertaining experience for the whole family and there are many games to choose as well as consoles. Like other forms of entertainment there are age-appropriate considerations for both the content of the video game and the functionality offered within the video game console.
Video Games
If you are considering purchasing a video game, make certain that you take a look at the rating. All video and computer games are rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (or ESRB). The ESRB is a non-profit, self-regulatory body that independently assigns computer and video game content ratings along with enforcing advertising guidelines and helping to ensure responsible privacy practices for the interactive entertainment software industry.
ESRB ratings have two components, the rating symbol and the content descriptor. The rating symbol gives guidance on age-appropriateness of the game and is found on the front of the video game package. There are 6 age ratings:
- Early Childhood ("EC") – Recommended for ages 3 and older
- Everyone ("E") – Recommended for ages 6 and older
- Everyone 10 Plus ("E10+") – Recommended for ages 10 and older
- Teen ("T") – Recommended for ages 13 and older
- Mature ("M") – Recommended for ages 17 and older
- Adults Only (Adults Only) – Only Ages 18+
Content descriptors provide context for the age rating and are located on the back of the video game package. There are 30 content descriptors in total ranging from alcohol references, to violence, sexual themes, simulated gambling, and tobacco. For a full explanation of ESRB ratings and descriptors, visit http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp.
The ESRB also provides a helpful search tool on their homepage so you can easily find the ESRB rating for a game. The tool allows you to search by title, rating, content descriptor, publisher and platform and can be found by visiting: http://www.esrb.org/index-js.jsp. SafetyClicks also provides the ESRB rating tool on our home page for your convenience.
What Can You Do If Your Child Is Bullied Online?
The first step is to recognize that there might be a bullying situation taking place. The signs that a child is being bullied online are pretty much the same as those that you would notice if he or she was being bullied offline. If your child falls into some of the behavior patterns below, consider the possibility that they are involved in a cyberbullying situation.
* having trouble sleeping
* feeling depressed
* mood swings
* feeling unwell
* becoming anti-social and losing friends
* falling behind in homework
* spending a lot of time online
VA Attorney General McDonnell Asks Parents To Reach Out
Recently Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell paid us a visit here at AOL and we got a chance to chat with him about online safety. You don't have to be on the topic long before you realize how important General McDonnell considers educating families about online safety. He did not hesitate when we asked if he would blog on the subject for our SafetyClicks parents.
Working Together Fosters A Safer Online Environment
Click here to learn more about Bob McDonnell.
Reach out to your local elected official to see if your state provides Internet safety training in the classroom. By listening to parents, government can institute sound and effective policies to foster a safer online environment. Our goal is to stop child endangerment on every front. With regard to the Internet, we have learned that a little knowledge can go a long way.
In just a few short years, the Internet has brought about remarkable advances and fundamentally changed how information is disseminated. Today, we have unprecedented access to valuable data and the ability to communicate with people around the globe instantly.
With the click of a mouse, our children can access the complete works of Shakespeare, the latest scientific journals and ancient religious texts. They have an entrée into far off communities and, at the same time, better insight into their own state and local government. The potential is wonderful.
As society's virtues have found a home on the Internet, so too have some very disturbing evils. The inherent openness and anonymity of the Internet have provided a hiding place for child predators, con artists and identity thieves.
Parenting Online
How do we parent our kids online? It's an important question as our kids seem to increasingly spend more time interacting in the online world than they do in the offline world. In fact, I am probably dating myself by distinguishing between 'online' and 'offline' when, for teens, there has been a convergence of these worlds. Teens don't often distinguish between online and offline, but go about their daily lives communicating seamlessly. It is more about interacting than how they interact.
So, where do we start? It can seem a bit overwhelming when you take a broad look at how our kids can get online – computers, mobile phones, gaming devices, PDAs, and some MP3 players – each posing potential risks; and, what they can do while they're online. (See our article on "Getting a Handle on Devices" for more information.)
My recommendation is to break it down and start with the 3 E's:
Engage
Engage in discussions with your kids about their online activity. Learn about how they're getting online and what they like to do while online. It is important to keep the dialogue going because the Internet and technology are constantly evolving – what is in today will be out tomorrow
Who's Looking at You?
Sharing Info Online, Social Networking
Your Online Persona Can Help or Hinder College and Work Prospects
Imagine this: You've spent your high school years taking the most challenging course work offered, juggling multiple extracurricular activities and preparing for and excelling in your SAT's − all with the hopes of getting into your dream college. But ultimately you are denied entry for something you had never considered would become a factor: the content posted on your social networking profile.
This can and does happen. Colleges and universities are turning to social networking sites to learn more about their applicants. A recent survey conducted by Kaplan of 320 admissions officers from the nation's top colleges and universities revealed that one out of ten had used an applicant's social networking site in making the admissions decision. The survey found the social networking site could either benefit or harm the applicant.
Specifically:
▪ 25% of those who reported viewing applicants' sites said that these viewings had a positive impact on their evaluation; while,
▪ 38% reported that the applicants' social networking sites had a negative impact on their admissions evaluation.
(Read more about the study in the Kaplan press release.)
Content that had negative impact on the admissions decision included party pictures, underage drinking, reckless behavior, and fighting.
Keeping Your Passwords Safe
Our very good friend at AOL, Consumer Advocate and fellow blogger, Regina Lewis, has written up some very effective ways to protect your password. Regina offers very practical and easy to do tips that will no doubt help increase the security of your passwords.
Safety Tips For The Social Teen
▪ Be your own person. Don't let friends or strangers pressure you to be someone you aren't. And know your limits. You may be Net-savvy, but people and relationships change, and unexpected stuff can happen on the Internet.
▪ Be nice online. Or at least treat people the way you'd want to be treated. People who are nasty and aggressive online are at greater risk of being bullied or harassed themselves. It's a vicious cycle you really don't want to get into.
▪ Think about what you post. Sharing provocative photos or intimate details online, even in private emails, can cause you problems later on. Even people you consider friends can use this info against you, especially if they become ex-friends.
Webcams: A Window into Your Child's World
Sharing Info Online, Online Safety Tips
In the real world, my children need my permission anytime they want to have friends over. I know when they arrive, when they leave, and all the activities that go on in between (usually because they're so loud that I can't help from knowing, or they are so bored that I am expected to help them 'find something to do').
In the virtual world, though, we don't always have the same ability to monitor our kids' online activities, and this is especially true in the case of webcams. Webcams pose a significant threat to online safety because they can allow virtual strangers to peek inside your home, almost as if they were looking through a window. If children aren't taking the right precautions, outsiders can potentially see how they are dressed, what they look like, what they're doing and, just as with pictures, they can learn a lot about your kids from what is within view in the background.
Does your child have a webcam? Before you answer take a good look at your computer monitor or laptop because they are now being built-in and are so inconspicuous you could look right over them (especially with the newer Mac laptops). And, if they do, do you know how the camera being used?
