Internet Safety for Parents Minneapolis Public Schools IT Services

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Internet Safety for ParentsMinneapolis Public
SchoolsIT Services

• John McCreary
• john.mccreary_at_mpls.k12.mn.us
• Kean Meyer
• kean.meyer_at_mpls.k12.mn.us

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Information Revolution
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Yesterday vs Today

• Radios
• 45 Records
• Telephones
• Postal mail
• Go to store
• Pong
• Go to mall

• iPods
• iTunes downloads - 99 cents
• Cell Phones
• Email
• Amazon, SimonDelivers, ebay
• Runescape, World of Warcraft
• MySpace, chat rooms, Instant Messaging, blogs

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Tips for Parents

• Keep computers in an open areas
• Online Safety Tips
• Parents should know usernames and passwords
• Point your kids to safe and useful resources
• Nurture relationships with your children
• Nurture young readers
• Have family meals

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Keep Computers in Open Areas

• If a computer is in an open area teens average 47
  minutes a day
  
• If a computer is in a bedroom teens average 90
  minutes a day
  
• Walk by computer from time to time and observe
  what is on the screen

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Online Safety Tips

• Dont say a single word that could help someone
  find you - where you live, where you go to
  school
  
• Never say my friend Jane, say my friend J.
• Never post pictures of yourself, use clip art of
  comic characters
  
• Never agree to meet someone you meet online
• Tell a parent if you feel worried about an online
  exchange or if you feel like someone is harassing
  you

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More Online Safety Tips

• Change Preference Settings in Google
• Go to Google.com
• Click on Preferences
• Click on Use Strict Filtering next to SafeSearch
• This setting must be adjusted for each user
  account you wish to filter
  
• Ask your son or daughter to show you Runescape or
  their My Space account
  

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Parent should know usernames and passwords

• Parent should know usernames and passwords in
  case they need to check online use
  
• Teach kids to create gender ambiguous screen
  names without any identifying information

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Point your kids to useful and safe resources

• http//www.mpls.k12.mn.us/Students
• Click Online Resources
• See your school media specialist for home
  access passwords to these great resources!
  
• Culture Grams
• NetTrekker
• World Book
• Discovering (Biographies)
• Infotrac (Magazines)
• EBSCO (Magazines)
• ProQuest (Newspapers)

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Nurture Relationships

• Listen to your children
• Try not to freak out when things go wrong
• Drive them alone to sporting events
• Try not to over-schedule activities
• Look for opportunities to talk when they dont
  have to make eye contact

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Nurture Young Readers

• Read together
• Provide magazines newspapers
• Visit the library
• Listen to audio books
• Read books see the movie, for example, Hoot

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Regular family mealtimes correlate with

• better nutrition
• better grades
• less drug use for kids
• ---William J. Doherty, Ph.D
• 40 of families have TV on during meals

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Books

• Dr. Daves Cyberhood by David Walsh
• Putting Family First by William Doherty, PhD

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Websites

• National Institute on Media and the Family - Dr.
  David Walsh
  
• http//www.mediafamily.org/
• Internet Safety Education for Parents, Educators,
  Kids and Teens
  
• http//www.isafe.org/
• Online Safety Kit - tips for parents and kids
• http//msnbc.msn.com/id/11030746
• Net Nanny http//www.netnanny.com/