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Basic Guidelines for Keeping your Child Safe, Appropriate, & Responsible Online

• No technology in bedroom at all-no cell phones, laptops, tablets, iPods. Bedrooms are PRIVATE…technology is not. Kids get a false sense of security.

• Technology needs a curfew! Create a time where all technology use is done for the night.

• Cell phones are charged each night in the kitchen. Kids need a safe place to rest without being connected to their peers.

• You need to have every username, password, and passcode. You need access to every account. You must learn it…this is their world, and you must understand it to keep them safe in it. Follow them, and be their friend on Facebook. They won’t allow you? Then, they don’t have access. Cut off the data plan on their phones. YOU OWN THE TECHNOLOGY AND THE WIRELESS! Having technology is a privilege…NOT A RIGHT.

• Be aware that kids create multiple accounts…ones that parents have access to and then their “real ones.”

• Check cell phone setting under location services. You need to turn location services off for the camera.

• Check up on them. Kids can NOT have privacy using technology. Read their stuff…stay on top of it. Choose your battles…

• Ask them to teach you about this social media world…If they want access to it, they need you to be onboard. Ask questions…I Google everything because it is ever-changing!

• Ask for help! It takes us working together to keep the kids safe!

• Feel free to contact me anytime! I have a vast amount of information on this topic!

Facebook…make your profile private!

• Click gear shift in upper right hand corner.

• Click privacy settings.

• Where it says who can see your future posts, click friends.

• On left, click Timelines & Tagging…make sure all settings read friends.

• Also on left under blocking, you can restrict users.

Instagram…photos must be PRIVATE!

• Click flag icon in bottom right corner.

• Click gear shift in top right corner.

• Make sure it says ON where Photos are Private.

“#” Hashtags for Twitter & Instagram

If you have been on Twitter and/or Instagram, you may have seen a “hashtag.” To put it simply, a hash tag is simply a way for people to search for tweets or pictures that have a common topic and to begin a conversation. Hashtags are a way to connect topics among tweets or pictures.

For example, if you search on #LOST (or #Lost or #lost, because it’s not case-sensitive), you will get a list of tweets related to the TV show. What you won’t get are tweets that say “I lost my wallet yesterday” because “lost” isn’t preceded by the hash tag.

You can search on just about any topic you can think of just by entering “#” before the topic title. If you want to check out running, then you would enter #running, or maybe you are interested in coffee, put #coffee in and see what comes up.

The “@” symbol for Twitter & Instagram

This is probably the most common of the symbols. It is used for updating. People use this symbol on a daily basis. You will see the @ symbol before another person’s name. It means that whoever left the post is referring to a certain individual. Let us say for example that you wanted to reference me in your post. You would type @staceyangell because that is my user name for Twitter & Instagram.

You can hover over the post you want referenced. You will see a link which says “reply”, this will fill in the name automatically for you, saving you time.