Growing Up DigitalBill Balderaz

Megan Meier’s Story

Megan Meier met Josh Evans on MySpace and they started a friendship

Josh was from Florida and had recently moved to Megan’s hometown. He was homeschooled, had two brothers, and played the drums and guitar

Megan was interested in Josh and was excited that he was also interested in her

Megan had struggled with depression and self-esteem issues, but her friendship with Josh seemed to be helping those problems

Megan Meier’s Story

One day Megan got on her MySpace and received a disturbing message from Josh, “I don't know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I've heard that you are not very nice to your friends.”

The next day Megan got on MySpace to see that Josh was still being mean to her. And now not only Josh was being mean to her, but some of her other friends too.

Megan’s mother had her got offline and Megan went up to her room upset

Later that evening Megan’s mother went up to Megan’s room and found that she had committed suicide

Megan Meier’s Story

After Megan died, Megan’s parents tried to find Josh on MySpace, but his account had been deleted

A couple weeks later a women from the neighborhood told Megan’s parents that the mother of a girl who Megan had a falling out with had created Josh’s fake MySpace account in order to learn what Megan was saying about her daughter and to be mean to Megan

After all this happened Megan’s mom, Tina, started the Megan Meier Foundation to teach people about Cyberbullying and how it can harm people

CyberbullingWhen someone tries to hurt another

person using computer technology

Who Has been bullied

What is Cyberbullying? Online harassment: aggressive behavior, “harm

doing”, insults, impersonation, exclusion, activities associated with hacking – stealing information, breaking into accounts, damaging websites, profiles etc.

Cyberbullying: online harassment that is… repeated over time Involves a power imbalance between a perpetrator and a

victim. Power imbalance may be differences in online skills.

Other complicating factors: Cyberbullys are also often victims, sometimes online, sometimes elsewhere. Internet bullying can be particularly hard to disentangle.

Where Cyberbullying Occurs E-mails Texting Instant Messaging Chat Rooms Gaming Social Networks, such as Facebook, Twitter,

MySpace

How Cyberbullying occurs Almost 50% of Cyberbullying incidents include

former close friends. Mid-teens (ages 14-17) is the age of greatest

prevalence of online harassment & bullying Perpetrators of online bullying (similar to offline

bullying) are generally the same age as their victim.

How Students Experience Cyberbullying 32% of online teens have

experienced one of the following forms of online harassment: 15% of teens reported having

private material (IM, txt, email) forwarded without permission

13% had received threatening messages

13% said someone had spread a rumor about them online

6% had someone post an embarrassing picture of them online without permission

What to do if you are Cyberbullied Don’t reply to abusive messages, that may only

encourage the bully Keep a record of events/messages or pictures Think before you send pictures of someone via

email, it can spread far beyond your circle of friends

If you receive a rude image do not forward it You have a right not to be harassed and bullied

online, make sure you tell someone Treat your password like your toothbrush, don’t

let anyone else use it

Staying Safe OnlineLearning how to protect yourself and others

Safety in Social Networking Social Networks include:

Facebook, twitter, MySpace, and similar websites

Provide only information that you need to provide on these websites

In a profile, generally speaking, do not provide your last name, your phone numbers, home address, date of birth, school or team name, or travel plans.

Exceptions to Safety Rules Birth Date: You may be required to provide your

birth date to sign up for a social network or other online service.

Arrange your privacy settings so the birth date is not visible on your profile. If you want to display your birthday, show the day of the month but not your birth year.

School Name: Although you generally should not provide your school name online, some sites feature school-specific networks, and the name of the network will reveal your school online.

Be Careful what you Post Unless you would be willing to share it with your

parents, your grandparents, teachers, and coaches don’t post it. If you wouldn’t put it on a poster and hang it on your locker or your bedroom wall, don’t post it.

Once something is posted it stays online forever. Think before you post!

Passwords Keep your passwords in a

secure place. Do not share passwords. Experts suggest: the

strongest passwords have at least 8 characters and include numbers and symbols as well as letters.

Change your password every 90 days or so.

Use a different password for every online account you access (or at least a good variety).

Use Privacy Settings Only share the

information you are comfortable sharing.

Limit your audience. Default settings

usually allow sharing. Take affirmative steps to limit disclosure.

When it comes to Strangers Don’t invite people to

be your friends on-line if you do not know them in the real world.

If you must accept a “friend” that you do not know, do so cautiously, recognizing that often people are not who they claim to be.

Never give a stranger a photograph of yourself

Never agree to meet a stranger

21st Century SkillsTeens and young adults among most

knowledgeable and creative users of the Internet

Teen Internet Use 93% of teens 12-17 go online 63% of online teens go online daily 89% of online teens go online from home, and

most of them go online from home most often 77% of teen go online at school 71% go online from friends or relatives house 60% go online from a library 27% go online on their mobile phone 76% of households with teens go online via

broadband, 10% via dial up, and 12% do not have access at home.

What Teens are doing Online 94% go online to do research for school

assignments; 48% do so on a typical day. 81% go to websites about movies, TV shows,

music groups, or sports stars 64% of online teens have created some kind of

content online 62% go online to get news 57% have watched a video on a video-sharing site

like YouTube or GoogleVideo 55% go online to get information about a college,

university or other school that they are thinking about attending.

48% have bought something online like books, clothes or music

31% have looked online for health, dieting or physical fitness information; 17% have looked online for sensitive health information

Online Behavior: Teens and Technology 60% have a

computer/laptop 97% play computer games 93% use the Internet 30% write blogs 70% use Social Networking

Sites

Technology Age Society is changing The skills and knowledge required for work and

civic life in the 21st century are shifting Computers and the Internet are an important

source for teenagers and knowing how to use them effectively will be beneficial as they grow up.

What Students need to learn Keyboarding: In one school district 5th graders are

expected to be able to type 2 full pages in one sitting

Researching Online: Using the correct websites to find information online

Vision for 21st Century Learners Information and Communications Technology

The ability to use technology to learn content and skills –so that they know how to learn, think critically, solve problems, use information, communicate, innovate, and collaborate

Life Skills Leadership Ethics Accountability Adaptability Personal productivity Personal responsibility People skills Self-direction Social responsibility

Closing/Questions