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Keeping it private
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Privacy scenarios: What should you do?
Scenario 1: A kid you know at school gets bitten by a weird insect that causes an ugly multicolored rash on her stomach. She doesnʼt want other people to know.
- Do other people have a right to know?
- Should you be the one to tell them?
Scenario 2: Someone writes in their personal journal. Another person copies what they wrote and posts it online.
- Was the other person wrong to post the journal entry?
- How would you feel if someone did this with something you intended to keep private?
Scenario 3: Someone posts, “Have a good vacation,” on a friendʼs social media page.
- Had the friend announced publicly that they were going away? Did they want everybody to know?
- Are there more private ways to communicate this message – such as sending a direct message or text?
Scenario 4: You know a student made a fake social media account impersonating another student in a negative way and includes their personal information.
- Does the student have a right to know?
- Should someone tell a teacher or other trusted adult? How? What could happen if nobody does?
- It’s not obvious who made it, but you know who did it. Should you give this information to a trusted adult?
Activity
Review four scenarios with your children and discuss how each one might have a different privacy solution.
Takeaway
Different situations call for different responses online and offline. It’s always important to respect other people’s privacy choices, even if they aren’t the choices you’d make yourself.
Vocabulary
Search engines have a safe search filter to prevent children coming into contact with inappropriate content. Only search results that are appropriate for the whole family are shown. This filter is enabled as follows:
Bing: in the upper right corner, click Settings and then Safe Search to enable the filter (you can choose “moderate” and “strict”).
Google: click Settings > Search settings in the lower right corner. Select Turn on SafeSearch.
Yahoo: in the upper right corner, click Settings > Search Preferences and choose SafeSearch mode ("moderate "or "strict").
YouTube also has a mode to filter inappropriate content. Click your account icon in the upper right corner > Restricted Mode and activate. Or you can download the YouTube Kids app on your smartphone, tablet or smart TV. This app is aimed at children aged between 3 and 12 and contains child-friendly videos only.
The internet offers endless opportunities, but there are some things you should avoid.
1. Teach your children to identify dangers and avoid risks. Explain to them that just like in real life they should not talk to strangers or give personal data.
2. Explain to them that they should never meet with an online friend without first letting you know.
3. Explain to them how location services work and what the risks of sharing their location on social media are. Advise them to disable this option, unless they need their GPS to navigate.
4. Once online, always online. Discuss with your children what is appropriate to post or to share online and what isn't. Explain to them that everything they post – comments or opinions – will always be visible to everyone. The internet remembers everything. Even posts on apps such as Snapchat, which are only visible a couple of seconds can be stored and shared by someone taking a screenshot. Tell them this: “Do not post photographs on social media you wouldn't want to see in a frame at your grandmother”.
5. Explain to them that they are not anonymous or protected because they are online and that they should never write online what they wouldn't say to someone in real life. Depending on their age talk about illegal downloads, plagiarism, pornography and stalking.