Internet Safety

1.       Make your profile private

Remember that when you have friends, they may have a link to your page, so your profile could be seen by your mother’s sister-in-law’s nephew (quite a distant relation) while this may not be that big of a deal, it can also be used by people with ill intent to learn more about you.

Keeping your profile private is one simple way to help protect you. At the same time it is also important to remember that this is not the only thing you should be doing.

2.       Verify that your friends are who they claim to be

In a technology advanced society it is not difficult to throw up a picture of someone that you found on the internet and claim to be them. It is best to be a detective with such issues. Remember that if your profile is not set to private, people can look at your friends for more information about you (what school you go to and such). If someone adds you as a friend that you didn’t know had an account on the website, it may be best to verify that it is them in person (or calling them).  You never know who is behind the keyboard, which may or may not  (in some cases) be a benefit to the internet.

3.       Keeping your parents involved

While you may think that your parents would scold you for getting yourself into a bad situation online, it is important to remember that they are there to help you – that is their responsibility as a parent to look out for you, and help you make intelligent decisions. If you are in an uncomfortable situation online, or someone is asking for information that they shouldn’t be, it may be time to get a parent involved, or if serious enough, the local Police.

No one likes constant parental supervision, but if you’re not doing anything wrong or that they may not approve of, there should be nothing to worry about.

4.       Knowing your rights

No one has the right to ask you information online that you are not comfortable giving away, if someone is asking for personal information that you do not know in person, and cannot confirm it’s truly them – block ‘em. Soliciting a minor is a serious offense, and asking personal information can mean serious trouble for the person. If you’ve been asked for personal information by some random person on the internet, it may be time to have your parents call your local Internet Crimes office of the FBI. Try to get the timestamps on any messages or instant messages that may have been conversed, and print them out so you can provide accurate information to those that need it.

If you’re ever in an uncomfortable position, do what ever you have to do to get out of it. It’s not acceptable for other people to put you in such a situation.

We hope you will take some of the advice provided above seriously, every year hundreds of teenagers are harmed by internet predators, do what you can to help fight back.