Think B4 U Post

Do you use facebook?
Can anyone see your personal information?
Do you know all the people whom you have as friends?

Unfortunately, too many of us leave ourselves vulnerable to unscrupulous predators who use the Internet.

Laurence Jackson School ICT Department and Technical Support Team are proud to support Safer Internet Day 2010 on Tuesday 9 February which is part of a week of activities designed to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world.

What's new?
New technologies have turned us all into publishers of information, pictures, photos and videos, which can be taken at any time with a mobile phone. These can be sent to a list of contacts and uploaded on a blog or a social networking profile in an instant.

Did you know that once online, images remain and can be seen by anybody, even years after they have been posted.

The possibility of tagging people in pictures, a facility offered by most social networking services, such as Facebook or Bebo, makes it very easy to search for a person's photos online. Users can also manage their online identity in a way which may turn us into unsuspecting 'celebrities' as the clip below shows.

Safer Internet Day 2010 from Laurence Jackson School on Vimeo.

What's the problem?
Whilst new technologies give tremendous opportunities for creativity young people may be particularly vulnerable to gossip and bullying in this cyber environment.



Young people do not always realise that the personal information they post remains online and it can be accessed by anyone (including their parents, teachers, future employers, predators&). Many employers now check their job candidates online.

Some people have even lost their jobs as a consequence of posting unfortunate comments or images for all to see. Personal information contained in social networking profiles can also be used by unscrupulous individuals for purposes which may include grooming.

Innocent pictures can easily be displayed in a completely different context, leading to embarrassment, or even bullying. As a result of the digital nature of the photos, they can be cut, pasted, altered or distorted.

What are we doing as part of Internet Safety Day?
Users will be reminded that they can control their online identity, by using the privacy settings offered by social networking services, selecting friends online that they can trust, publishing their own images after thinking carefully about the potential consequences, and pictures of their friends with their permission and reinforcing the message, 'Think B4 U post !'