| Information and safety tips included on this page are
intended to help parents maintain a safe and secure environment
for their home computer and protect their children while using
the Internet. Parental Involvement and supervision are key
ingredients for keeping your child safe in an online
environment. Be assured that the school division's Acceptable
Use Policy ensures appropriate use of school computers for a
safe and secure learning environment.
Computer Security
is defined as the measures and controls taken to protect a
computer system against denial of service and unauthorized
disclosure, modification, or destruction of data.
While there is no formal definition associated with
this term, it is showing up in an increasing number of articles
and professional publications. The term refers to Web sites
such as MySpace.com and TagWorld.com.
Social Software is becoming a major challenge – throughout the
world. The FBI has recently released an alert identifying these
types of sites as lurking places for pedophiles and child
abductors.
“A password should be like a toothbrush. Use it everyday;
change it regularly; and DON’T share it with friends.” - USENET
Difficult to remember and always changing! The truth of
the matter is the very first line of defense in computer
security is the good, old-fashioned password.
What can you do to protect your password? Listed below are
nine password protection tips that everyone should follow.
- Do not post or store your password near your computer.
- Passwords should be at least 8 characters long.
- Use non-alpha characters and capital letters. Examples
include:
- Boiler*akeR
- Iam@T3ach3r
- My2BOyz
- Do not use easy to guess passwords. Examples include:
- password
- 12345
- Computer
- God
- love
- school
- Avoid using personal information such as: your name,
spouses name, names of your children, phone numbers, and
social security number.
- Do not share your password.
- Avoid typing your password when someone is watching.
- Change your password regularly
- Always remember to log out!
1. Be aware that people may not be who they say they are on the
Internet. An adult could pretend to be a kid your age just to
get to know you. Sometimes they can do this over a long period
of time to develop your trust.
 2.
Do not give out or send personal information such as your
address, your phone number, where you go to school or
photographs to someone that you only know through the Internet
unless you have your parent's or guardian's permission. Do not
give out any information that you shouldn't give to a stranger
in a park, on the telephone or anywhere else.
3. Do not agree to meet people that you have met through the
Internet until you check with your parents or guardian, and be
sure that your parents or guardian attend the first couple of
meetings with you. The first meeting should always be in a
public place. Explain to your parents why it is important for
them to attend the first couple of meetings for your safety and
their comfort.
4. Do not respond to any messages that ask for personal
information, messages that are mean or messages that make you
feel uncomfortable. You do not have to continue -- sign off and
surf off to somewhere else.
5. Talk to your parents about setting up some rules to ensure
that your use of the Internet will be rewarding, fun and safe.
Get your parents involved and show them how much fun the
Internet can be.
The following links are all related to the topic of safe
internet surfing. Please check out these sites to help promote
online safety.
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