Social media safety expert Josh Ochs is coming to Pacific Grove to teach parents how social media can be used to impress colleges and future employers.
His 90-minutes presentation will focus on the following topics:
What apps are unsafe (and others you should encourage your kids to use)
What apps are a waste of time for your Teens and Tweens
How to analyze your Google results to see what colleges will find
How to bury bad Google results from other users with your similar name
Examples of good and bad posts that colleges may find
Examples from real seniors that are using social media correctly
Tips you can suggest to use Google search like a college and future employer
7 Networks your kids need to be on to shine online
The presentation will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Pacific Grove Auditorium, 835 Forest Ave. Free. For more information, click here.
Showing posts with label social media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social media. Show all posts
Monday, October 31, 2016
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Peninsula districts host forum on Ogle, social media
Carmel, Pacific Grove and Monterey Unified have teamed up to offer an education forum on the impact of social media in schools and communities, with the presentation of Joe Allen, a police officer with the Glendale Police Department.
Allen helps law enforcement agencies, school districts and parents understand the impact of social media in schools and the community. He will help parents and the community understand the current social media world of blogs sites, messenger sites, photo posting and anonymous self-destructing mobile apps.
Carmel, Monterey and Pacific Grove officials meet regularly to address issues of mutual concern. Recently, all three districts faced misuse of the social media app Ogle. This forum is an opportunity to educate parents about it.
Two presentations will be held at 7 p.m. on consecutive days:
On Tuesday, April 5, at the Pacific Grove Performing Arts Center, 935 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove.
On Wednesday, April 6, at the Carmel Performing Arts Center, 3600 Ocean Ave., Carmel.
Allen helps law enforcement agencies, school districts and parents understand the impact of social media in schools and the community. He will help parents and the community understand the current social media world of blogs sites, messenger sites, photo posting and anonymous self-destructing mobile apps.
Carmel, Monterey and Pacific Grove officials meet regularly to address issues of mutual concern. Recently, all three districts faced misuse of the social media app Ogle. This forum is an opportunity to educate parents about it.
Two presentations will be held at 7 p.m. on consecutive days:
On Tuesday, April 5, at the Pacific Grove Performing Arts Center, 935 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove.
On Wednesday, April 6, at the Carmel Performing Arts Center, 3600 Ocean Ave., Carmel.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Of parenting, adolescents, and monitoring social media
I came across a very disturbing video on the Internet. It's about a man who discovers his teenage daughter has been posting incredibly insulting comments about him on Facebook.
First, Dad makes a video of himself explaining in detail how he found the offending information on his daughter's page. Then he proceeds to insult her extensively, calling her an ingrate and saying he's going to post this video on Facebook for the world to bear witness. Then he proceeds to destroy her computer in a very violent way.
Bone chilling. You can find the video here.
One of the reasons why adolescence is one of the most perilous periods in human development is because the brain has not fully developed. The part of the brain that precisely needs to form is the one that allows us to foresee the consequences of our actions. It's the time when young people do really stupid things -- like posting really offensive comments about their relatives on Facebook -- without thinking how is that going to play out in the future. How that's going to really hurt Mom, Dad and Auntie; and how perhaps it's not a good idea to post it to begin with.
It's a modern-day dilemma that I consider dangerous. In the old days if you wanted to badmouth your teacher or your former best friend, you wrote a note in class and passed it to your new best friend, or you whispered in her ear. Now, you post it on Facebook or Twitter for the world to see.
What's worse is that, precisely because of the lack of brain development, young people believe they're so clever, so much smarter than their parents, teachers, tíos, etc, and therefore safe from scrutiny.
They're not. None of us is.
There are so many examples of how social media is getting young people in trouble, namely for posting inappropriate photos, comments, etc., things they should learn early on they're a bad idea to do. No, it's not OK to rant against ANYBODY on social media. No, it's not OK to threaten somebody and think you're going to get away with it.
Just this week, a Texas teenager was jailed because of a sarcastic comment he posted on Facebook in which he said he was going to go "shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts." You can read more about it here.
Justin Carter then wrote 'LOL' and 'JK' online acronyms for "Laughigh out loud," and "Just Kidding."
Apparently, the woman who reported him to the police did not share his sense of humor.
And that's the problem. Young minds are still too immature to realize social media is not their "private" bubble, whether or not they've allowed you to "friend" them. Parents now have the added responsibility of turning their children into responsible citizens AND cybercitizens.
But not by force, for crying out loud.
That's where I found fault in the Dad making the terribly hurtful video of how he destroys his daughter's computer. Children at this age have limited planning capacity, so we need to help them in that arena. We need to be their pre-frontal cortex. How would you like them to treat you if their brain was fully functioning?
Do not lash out at them. Go to your room, take a deep breath, and show them by example, not by revenge.
And insist upon them Facebook is not private. No electronic media is.
First, Dad makes a video of himself explaining in detail how he found the offending information on his daughter's page. Then he proceeds to insult her extensively, calling her an ingrate and saying he's going to post this video on Facebook for the world to bear witness. Then he proceeds to destroy her computer in a very violent way.
Bone chilling. You can find the video here.
One of the reasons why adolescence is one of the most perilous periods in human development is because the brain has not fully developed. The part of the brain that precisely needs to form is the one that allows us to foresee the consequences of our actions. It's the time when young people do really stupid things -- like posting really offensive comments about their relatives on Facebook -- without thinking how is that going to play out in the future. How that's going to really hurt Mom, Dad and Auntie; and how perhaps it's not a good idea to post it to begin with.
It's a modern-day dilemma that I consider dangerous. In the old days if you wanted to badmouth your teacher or your former best friend, you wrote a note in class and passed it to your new best friend, or you whispered in her ear. Now, you post it on Facebook or Twitter for the world to see.
What's worse is that, precisely because of the lack of brain development, young people believe they're so clever, so much smarter than their parents, teachers, tíos, etc, and therefore safe from scrutiny.
They're not. None of us is.
There are so many examples of how social media is getting young people in trouble, namely for posting inappropriate photos, comments, etc., things they should learn early on they're a bad idea to do. No, it's not OK to rant against ANYBODY on social media. No, it's not OK to threaten somebody and think you're going to get away with it.
Just this week, a Texas teenager was jailed because of a sarcastic comment he posted on Facebook in which he said he was going to go "shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts." You can read more about it here.
Justin Carter then wrote 'LOL' and 'JK' online acronyms for "Laughigh out loud," and "Just Kidding."
Apparently, the woman who reported him to the police did not share his sense of humor.
And that's the problem. Young minds are still too immature to realize social media is not their "private" bubble, whether or not they've allowed you to "friend" them. Parents now have the added responsibility of turning their children into responsible citizens AND cybercitizens.
But not by force, for crying out loud.
That's where I found fault in the Dad making the terribly hurtful video of how he destroys his daughter's computer. Children at this age have limited planning capacity, so we need to help them in that arena. We need to be their pre-frontal cortex. How would you like them to treat you if their brain was fully functioning?
Do not lash out at them. Go to your room, take a deep breath, and show them by example, not by revenge.
And insist upon them Facebook is not private. No electronic media is.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Of CSTs, dead frogs, and instant communication
So, a 13-year-old girl who I love more than life itself posed next to a dead frog she and her classmates had presumably just dissected in biology class. This wonderful child is smiling broadly, like she does in all the photos everyone takes of her (she's very popular) giving a thumbs up, right next to the eviscerated amphibian.
Maybe it's because I'm a vegetarian (have been for the last 20 years). Or maybe it's because I'm an adult, and adults don't know the fun they're missing. But something about that photo doesn't sit right with me.
I'm sure my wonderful 13-year-old didn't think any of this: she was having a great time in school with her friends (hey, I love it that she likes school, gets good grades, she's brilliant, what can I say). But I'm afraid that this seemingly innocent past time -- documenting every single moment of your life -- can get out of hand when left unchecked.
Yeah, maybe it's a leap, but think of U.S. soldiers posing with Afghan corpses. Is it a stretch to think that, when we don't teach our children what's OK and what's not, they'll be snapping completely inappropriate photos next? And uploading them on tumbler?
When do we intervene?
We're in completely uncharted territory here. When I was growing up, we only had one camera at home -- a very fancy one I was forbidden to touch. Not only that, but film was extremely expensive to buy and develop, so you could not waste it child's play.
These days, photos are like pollution, you can't escape them. But because we were not raised with them, we don't now how to deal with them. We don't know how to make sure our children have a good sense of what's appropriate and what's not when it comes to documenting their lives for public consumption.
Just this week, the California Department of Education discovered that at least 100 students from 34 school districts were taking pictures of the CSTs and posting them up on social media sites. A big testing nono. Not surprisingly, the CDE is an uproar. For the students, it's just an Instagram moment. For CDE, is a security breach. (My colleague John Fensterwald wrote a good story about it here).
The moral of the story? Follow your young ones on Faceme, Tweetme, Instagratificateme. Question their taste. If you're not sure, ask them, do you think this is appropriate? It's not just about scolding them, it's about having them develop a sense of what's right and what's wrong. We don't want to do the thinking for them. We just want them to learn to question that cool photo before it goes public to the world.
Maybe it's because I'm a vegetarian (have been for the last 20 years). Or maybe it's because I'm an adult, and adults don't know the fun they're missing. But something about that photo doesn't sit right with me.
I'm sure my wonderful 13-year-old didn't think any of this: she was having a great time in school with her friends (hey, I love it that she likes school, gets good grades, she's brilliant, what can I say). But I'm afraid that this seemingly innocent past time -- documenting every single moment of your life -- can get out of hand when left unchecked.
Yeah, maybe it's a leap, but think of U.S. soldiers posing with Afghan corpses. Is it a stretch to think that, when we don't teach our children what's OK and what's not, they'll be snapping completely inappropriate photos next? And uploading them on tumbler?
When do we intervene?
We're in completely uncharted territory here. When I was growing up, we only had one camera at home -- a very fancy one I was forbidden to touch. Not only that, but film was extremely expensive to buy and develop, so you could not waste it child's play.
These days, photos are like pollution, you can't escape them. But because we were not raised with them, we don't now how to deal with them. We don't know how to make sure our children have a good sense of what's appropriate and what's not when it comes to documenting their lives for public consumption.
Just this week, the California Department of Education discovered that at least 100 students from 34 school districts were taking pictures of the CSTs and posting them up on social media sites. A big testing nono. Not surprisingly, the CDE is an uproar. For the students, it's just an Instagram moment. For CDE, is a security breach. (My colleague John Fensterwald wrote a good story about it here).
The moral of the story? Follow your young ones on Faceme, Tweetme, Instagratificateme. Question their taste. If you're not sure, ask them, do you think this is appropriate? It's not just about scolding them, it's about having them develop a sense of what's right and what's wrong. We don't want to do the thinking for them. We just want them to learn to question that cool photo before it goes public to the world.
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