Internet safety used to be all about keeping children away from inappropriate content and illegal Web sites. While that is still a concern, Internet safety has changed as the Internet has evolved. The communication explosion that has made the world closely connected has not made the world safer. Many real-world hazards have migrated to Cyberspace, such as bullying, threats, and predators, and parents need to be proactively involved in their children's Internet world more than ever before.

Almost all incidents in Great Neck involving inappropriate student behavior while online occur outside of school because of the tight supervision and filtering systems adopted by our district. However, these problems often spill over into the school in the form of bad feelings, arguments, and disruption. What we see the most includes inappropriate personal information being posted on a profile, Cyberbullying or Cyberthreats via Instant Messaging or in Chat Rooms, the posting of hurtful or threatening messages, the sharing of hurtful text messages, embarrassing comments, and inappropriate photos and videos being uploaded to social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube.

Most of these incidents occur without the knowledge or consent of parents, who aren't aware of what their children are doing when they go online either in their own home or at a friend's house. Some parents just don't feel as comfortable with technology as their children and defer to them when it comes to the computer. Some parents work long hours and just aren't available to supervise their children's computer use after school. Some parents don't believe their children would do anything wrong so they trust them to do the right thing independently before they are mature enough to handle it. They forget they are still children, still learning, still subject to peer pressure, and still subject to poor judgment.

Children, on the other hand, are growing up with technology. It is part of their everyday lives mostly for the better but sometimes for the worse. The Internet as a medium promotes communication and socialization, but often without restraint. Children don't realize that there are real-life consequences for poor online choices. It doesn't occur to them that what they post online can be copied, saved, and forwarded to others and remain long after the original has been deleted. They feel anonymous when they create screen names and online personas that can be totally different than who they are in real life. They can fall in with a bad crowd, communicate the wrong things, get to know the wrong people, and endanger themselves and those around them.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments please contact Mrs. Lisa Benjamin at 516-487-8687 x141.

click here to view the INTERNET SAFETY PRESENTATION -presented to NSHA's parent body.

click here for information on the dangers of "Instagram"and "KiK" the latest social media trends- http://www.thetreenetwork.com/the-danger-of-instagram-and-kik-messenger/ and http://beforeitsnews.com/family/2012/10/the-dangers-of-instagram-2445752.html

click here for an introduction to social networking- a guide for parents - http://www.parentfurther.com/technology-media/social-networking?utm_campaign=parentfurther-search&utm_medium=search&utm_source=google&utm_term=kids%20social%20networking