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As a good digital citizen, decide what you would do in the following situations. #1 - Drama at School
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Pam is a junior in high school, and yesterday she told all her Facebook friends that she had a crush on Jason, a tall, cute athlete, who is one of the most popular guys at school. While Pam is a rather shy girl in her offline life, she is the complete opposite online. Why do some people think it’s okay to be different online?
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Not only did Pam tell her Facebook friends, but anybody else that had access to her profile could see that she had a huge crush on Jason. Eventually, word spread that Pam liked Jason. The word even spread to Jason’s girlfriend. OOPS! What could Pam have done differently?
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Jason’s girlfriend decided to fight back, and a huge war broke out between the two of them. A cyber-war, that is. They wrote mean things on each other’s walls and tagged each other in embarrassing pictures. Friends took sides and added to the drama. Should you believe everything people post about others? If you were a friend of either girl or felt caught in the middle, how would you handle the situation?
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Pam is so stressed out about the Jason drama, that she starts failing her classes and even loses her scholarship. She resents herself because she shared her secrets for everyone to see. She wishes she could delete her posts and make her Facebook profile private, but she knows it’s too late. Everybody knows already. Her friends even block her now because of the embarrassment. Her social life turns into a disaster. What could Pam have done to protect her online reputation?
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All those who want to share and feel connected with the world raise your hand!
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That’s everyone, of course! We all have digital rights to publish information online but also the right to protect our privacy. At the same time, we have the responsibility to be kind and respectful with others, and understand where to draw the line before a joke or comment is perceived as intrusive or harassing. Understanding Cyberbullying
View the Teens Talk Back video: URL: http://www.nsteens.org/videos/cyberbullying/
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So what should you do? 1. If you receive a sexually explicit message, do not reply to it and tell an adult you trust.
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2. Do not give into pressure from others. A person who truly cares about you would never ask you to do something that is inappropriate or makes you feel uncomfortable. 3. Understand that privacy may give you a false sense of security. Everything that is sent out via phone or posted on a social networking site can be viewed by anyone. If the content ends in the wrong hands, it may pose a risk.
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4. While in a face-to-face relationship, people retract words and apologize to each other. There is no such thing as retracting content or apologizing in cyberspace. Even if you think you deleted a highly compromising photo or comment, it’s still there somewhere.
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5. It is not only inappropriate and immoral, but also against the law to take photos of yourself, disseminate those images and/or keep them in your possession.
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Let’s say you had created some original work that you are very proud of and published it online. How would you feel if someone else took it without asking for your permission, or without paying the required fee, or turned it to your teacher as their work?
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Do you know people who download music illegally, copy and paste copyrighted images from the open Web for a school project, pirate software, or take credit for someone else’s work? Chances are the answer is yes and the first thing you need to know is that it is a bad idea.
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First let’s discuss illegal downloads. This practice is called cyberpiracy. Just because there is an easy way to take digital work that someone else created like music files, photos, videos, software, and games, it doesn’t make it legal. So why do people do it anyway? The three most common reasons are:
“If others can get away with it, I can too.”
Just because a lot of people do something wrong, it doesn’t make it right. If people think they have the right to download content without having to pay for it, it’s like saying that you can walk into a store, take whatever you like, and leave without paying. There are very real consequences for violating copyright laws, such as potential legal action by the creators or organizations. If students are taking these files to school, there is also the risk of infecting the school computers with viruses or spyware.
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Know how to use your privacy settings
Tips for Social Network Use
When entering a status update, make sure it’s true, relevant and something your friends actually care about.
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Don’t become an addict. Who would want to hang out with someone who is constantly glued to a screen?
Share your profile and photos with your friends only.
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Choose your friends carefully. Only friend online people you know in person.
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Use chatting appropriately and respect your friends’ time.
When commenting on a friend’s post, make sure you have something nice or positive to say.
Careful with what you share online! Resist the temptation to post too much information.
Be culturally and politically correct.
41 Never agree to meet someone you have only met online.