Officials Say Internet Safety Must Be An Open Discussion Between Parents & Children

It's a parent's natural instinct to want to keep tabs on their children's Internet activity. However, some experts are saying that might not be the way to go if you want to earn your child's trust.

Several parents attended an Internet Safety Workshop at in Plum last week. The program was sponsored by the Office of U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire and

Brooke Oberwetter, the associate manager of policy communications at Facebook, and Anthony Marmo, deputy attorney general at the PA Attorney General's Office, were on hand to discuss information on responsible social networking, privacy settings, online safety and related topics.

Both agreed that open communication between parents and children is an important step when it comes to understanding the Internet's benefits and risks.

"Safety is an evolving conversation," Oberwetter said. "Think of the Internet or Facebook as a slumber party where there's an adult present. It's not a place where you have complete control, but you know it's safe.

"A lot of parents tend to freak out and put kids on lockdown when kids come to them with a problem from the Internet. The only thing that does is drive the online use underground."

Marmo said he uses Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and several other social media sites, but he is careful about what he posts.

"I don't put anything on Facebook that I don't want my father to see," he said.

However, even information that might seem harmless could be detrimental. A lot of posts and applications, such as FourSquare, use GPS to identify where a person is when they make a status update.

Marmo said he posted pictures of him and his friends at a concert on Facebook, and that night, his house was burglarized.

"It creates a level of danger because people know where you are, and in this case, they knew I wasn't home," he said.

He also suggested making sure you know everyone on your friend list, versus adding random people as friends on Facebook. Marmo cited a current case about an on Facebook to lure teenage girls.

However, Marmo said the Internet and Facebook have a lot of resources for people who have certain interests. It's a good tool for staying in touch with friends, volunteers, socialization, education, common interests, etc.

"You just need to be a responsible user," he said.

Here are some tips to stay safe online:

• Facebook encourages users to participate in a "real name" culture versus screen names and usernames, which is essential to safety, according to Oberwetter, because it makes people accountable for their actions and they can't hide behind a "veil of annonimity".
• Should someone's status updates, photos or comments be offensive or negatively directed toward someone, users have the ability to report them to Facebook. Oberwetter said support staff is on hand 24/7 to handle safety issues and reports.
• Users also can block others entirely if they want to become "invisible" to them. Those being blocked will not be notified.
• Privacy settings should be checked every month or so to ensure your profile is as protected as you want it to be.
• Children ages 13 and younger are not allowed on Facebook. Parents should make sure that children ages 13 to 18 appropriately list their age on their profile. Facebook has automatic protections and safeguards for the profiles of teens, as well as limitations on the ads displayed on the page. 
• Stay away from chat rooms, where people mostly participate under aliases.
• Be careful with what you post—employers and colleges now are trying to gain access to Facebook profiles during the interview/admission process.
• Be wary of applications that use GPS to track where you are.
• The Family Safety Center on Facebook could be a good tool for parents, teachers, teens and law enforcement. It can be found at www.facebook.com/safety. The Facebook Safety Page can be found at www.facebook.com/fbsafety.

The whole presentation can be viewed on the Plum School District website by clicking here. The video is a little bit more than an hour long.

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