MacSolutions Plus Newsletter 8/28/2013
Keeping Your Kids Safe
Adjust Your Privacy Settings
13 million Facebook users have never touched their privacy settings. While nothing on the internet is 100% private, helping your kids understand how to adjust their privacy settings should be the first step in setting up a Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Myspace, or Google Plus account. Facebook offers a help page for parents where you can see some commonly asked questions and answers. Of course, the staff at MacSolutions Plus is always here to help.
Stay Inside Your Circle of Friends
Have your child follow these steps when setting up their Social Media accounts:
- Limit their “friends” to people they know.
- Adjust their privacy settings to restrict who can have access to or post on their Social Media profile page.
- Adjust their privacy settings to make sure that only friends can find their phone number or email address.
- Think about whether or not posting their location is safe.
- Never share passwords.
Once it’s on the internet, it’s on the web forever.
Tell your kids to think about the long-term effects of what they’re posting. Something inappropriate, vulgar, or hurtful might seem like a joke, but it’s a joke that can’t be taken back.
91% of employers use Facebook to screen employees. This is an important statistic for kids in high school to realize. What they post can become part of their resume. They can also risk sharing their personal and financial information.
Make it clear to your child that, if they ever feel uncomfortable from an interaction with someone on the internet, they can come to you. Show them how to report any suspicious, abusive or inappropriate behavior.