Privacy on Social Networking Sites

I've been thinking a lot about the awesome presentation today on privacy in the social networking sites we use. I think it's such a fascinating topic, and especially relevant for children today to be aware of so they know how to protect themselves and be smart online.

When I was on my practicum this past April, I was in a grade seven class at a grade seven, eight, nine school. While I was there we had an assembly on internet safety, and it was incredibly informative. The man that conducted the presentation was an ex-police officer, and prior to the assembly he had sent invites out on Facebook to about 100 kids in the school using a fake account he had made stating that he was a 15 year old girl. He then took the students who confirmed "his" friend request, and proceeded to find out information about them like phone numbers which he then used to text them. As creepy as it sounds, it really was an incredible way of showing how little many children think about what they're posting online and who they're letting have access to this information.

I really think educating children to "think twice and click once" is something that is absolutely necessary today. We hear stories everyday of people that have posted things online that have cost them their job, reputation and respect, but I think most children and teenagers are complacent about this ever happening to them. It is so important that children today are educated in the ways they can be smart about their internet safety and responsibilities, and I was really glad to see a presentation that highlighted this issue.