Cybersafety

Northcote High School takes its responsibilities to guide students and parents in matters of Cybersafety very seriously. In 2011, the school hosted the Federal ACMA authority, who made a film specifically about school aged children and cybersafety on the campus.

In 2012, the school hosted the making of several short advertisments for ACMA

Guidance on social networking sites for Parents & Carers

We recommend students and parents do not use social networking sites that require you to provide personal details on line. If you are already using such a site, we strongly recommend you do not provide public access to personal photos.

If you do use a social networking site based outside Australia, keep in mind that there is often nothing a school can do if something “goes wrong,” even if you think the other person involved is from this or another Australian school.

In the event of constant harassment, cyberbullying, theft from your account, unwanted attention from unknown people etc, try to contact the company. Contact the school immediately if you suspect it is connected to school. 

Keep evidence. Victoria Police should also be informed if continued harassment or stalking occurs.

The golden rules are

• Never respond to abuse.
• Never abuse others.
• On the internet -if in doubt, don’t.
• How much private information do you really want stored on a server in another country?

Blogs, email and person to person communication are well proven and can be supportive to study!

Advice from a Civil Liberties group

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a US based Civil Liberties group, recommends you should not accept Facebook's default privacy settings as adequate.

The group added this about Facebook Inc:

“if you don't want to share your personal data with hundreds or even thousands of nameless, faceless Facebook …[users] — some of whom are obviously far from honest — then you shouldn't use Facebook.” (Click here to go to the EFF website)

Some advice for parents about Cyberspace and Computers in the home.

Where to put the computer

• Put the computer in a common area of the house, not in the bedroom.
• Parental monitoring is vital – walk past regularly and see what your child is doing, no matter their age

Computer setup

• Installing an internet filter.
• Set Google search preferences to "moderate."

Good Computer Behaviours

• Set house rules for computer use about what can be put on personal websites, what can be said about others on MySpace/Facebook, or what information can be shared with others
• Spend time online together (eg researching the next family holiday)
• Model constructive computer use for children in the house.

Some sample house rules

• Hours of use are …
• No inappropriate (sexual or violent content) sites.
• Exit sites immediately that the family would not be comfortable with
• No aimless “googling” – all computer use should have a purpose
• No harassment or bullying of other people, or abusive language
• No exchange of personal information on the web
• MySpace/Facebook settings must be set to private (so other users must be invited by your child to share information)
• MSN (instant messaging) contacts must be people your child knows in real life
• If there is a problem, our family talks about it.
• Discuss- There is NO privacy once you are active on the web!

Don’t

• Don't respond to rude or harassing emails (keep a record in case of further investigation)
• Don't allow very young children to use the computer unsupervised

Do

• Do block senders on MSN (instant messaging) who send harassing emails
• Do teach children that the internet is not always reliable

As a parent, be aware

• Young people often don’t have refined expression skills when typing. The intent of a message can therefore be easily misunderstood. Don’t allow MSN or email to replace human contact.
• Three quarters of children will not tell a parent/teacher if bullied or harassed online, for fear of loosing their internet access!
• If you find inappropriate content about your/any child on a website contact the ISP and/or the Police.
• You need to learn something about computers – especially your child’s favourite sites, and some of the lingo
• You can start a new email account with ease if too many unwanted people know the old one.
• Facebook and MySpace can be great for keeping connected to friends. BUT, young people need to be aware, their long term privacy is compromised by using an online site or blog, even with settings on "private." (Its a bit like getting a tatoo. Once its done, there is no going back!!)

Useful Links

Australian Teacher Magazine (The Cyber Bully)

ABC Anti-Cyber bullying campaign

ACMA Federal Government Site (Teenagers)

ACMA Federal Government Site (For Parents)

ACCC Federal Government (Scam watch)

Think U Know Federal Government site (Sexting and Privacy)

Think U Know Federal Government site (Removing profiles etc)

Think U Know Federal Government site (Cyberbullying etc)

Triple J (Social Networking sites and privacy)

Wired safety (Parenting on line)

Click - NSW Site for Parents