An overview of what we have done and continue to do to combat Cyberbullying and current news items, links and downloads that you might be interested in to keep safe on the internet for you and your family.

There has been a lot of talk about the misuse of the Internet by students. I have put together the following list of activities that have taken place at or for the GW community to address this issue. We will continue to work our hardest to educate parents and students about how to stay safe on the internet. This is a particularly important topic for me because my own daughter was a victim of severe Cyberbullying as a high school student. I know first hand the devastation a child and family feel during and after cyberbullying occurs. I give you my pledge that I have and will continue to work with the GW Community to ensure the safety of all of our students.

 Please visit our GW site regularly to keep up to date on our activities for Cyber Safety.

 Here are some helpful news items, links, and downloads that you might be interested in:

WiredSafety.org
Teenangels.org    
WiredMoms.org 
WiredEd.org   Online Education Program by WiredSafety
Consumer Reports June 2010:  7 things to stop doing on Facebook!

10 MUST Privacy Settings for Facebook

Important Topics From The Wiredsaftety.org Website

Why And How To Protect Your Privacy On Your Facebook Account

Last week, Facebook announced that it would begin allowing third-party website access to user information. This means that your friends and even friends of your friends visit these web sites, they may be presented with information that you have not and would not share via Facebook.  It is extremely important that you understand how these applications will work and how to change your Facebook privacy settings in order to share only the information you want to share.  WiredSafety has created this tutorial that explains these applications and how you can adjust your privacy settings at Facebook. 

Social Networking Safety

With the popularity of Social Networking on the increase, WiredSafety provides schools, parents, regulators, and the media with a wealth of information on keeping Kids and Teens Safe on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Xanga, and other Social Networking Sites. The following resources are all available for viewing online and/or download as PDF files:

• Quick tips on Social Networking safety for parents and teens.

• What you need to know about YouTube and other video networks.

• Parenting Online booklet (English).

• Parenting Online booklet (En Español).

Privacy and Security

Recently, there has been a significant increase in many types of activity online which were once only conducted exclusively offline, such as banking, dating, and shopping. Make sure that you are aware of the dangers, that you know how to protect yourself (and your personal information) and also, what to do if something does go wrong online.

• Identity theft - how safe is your personal data?

• Online dating - how to have fun but be aware of the potential dangers and stay safe.

• Online shopping and auctions - advice on secure online financial transactions.

• Scams and fraud - how to tell a real e-mail from a hoax and how to report online fraud.