JCCS Internet Safety

1. Identity Safety
Rick Soloman - Rick graduated from high school in June. He has a full-
time job as a management trainee at Bobby's, a local fast-food
restaurant. He is taking courses at night at the local community
college. He has decided it's time to start building a credit history for
himself, so he is completing applications for a gasoline charge card and
a local department store charge card. He's puzzled about some of the
questions on the forms. "Why do they need my Social Insurance
number?" And the name of my nearest relative...?" he wonders. He
then went to the clerk and asked if it was really necessary for him to
write down his social security number. He explained that he was not
comfortable with that choice. The clerk responded no,that he can just
enter it into the computer when he processes the application.

1. What is the privacy issue in the story?

The privacy issue is that the store wants him to write down his full
social security number. What if this paper gets lost or put into the
wrong hands.

2. In your story ending, how was the customer's privacy protected?

In the end of the story the customers privacy is protected because he
does not write down his full social security number and he just tells it
to the clerk when he enters it into the computer.

3. In your story ending, did the business get all the information it
really needed? Did it get all the information it wanted? Why or why
not?

Yes. The store still got all the information that ir wanted and needed
but the customer was comfortable and safe. The information was just
received in a different way.

4. What should the business do in the future to protect privacy of

information for its customers?
The store could block out the first five numbers and only have the last
four numbers on the hard copy. They can start to enter all of them
digitally instead of having them write private information on a piece of
paper.

2. Cyberbullying
a. "Cyberbullying is the use of technology for social cruelty, which can
include harassment, impersonation, denigration, trickery, exclusion
and stalking. Cyberbullies may use email, chat rooms, discussion
forums, instant messaging, cell phone text messaging or popular teen
web sites."
b. Week 4
c. Response to the video:
Ryan Halligan was the son of John Halligan. Ryan was being bullied at
school so he asked his dad to teach him how to fight. In the time
falling, Ryan had told his dad that the bullying had stopped. On
October 7, 2003 Ryan committed suicide. John couldn't figure out why,
until he logged onto him AOL account. He started to chat with some of
his sons friends. He learned that Ryan was not only being bullied at
school but also he had become a victim of cyberbullying as well.
Someone started a rumour saying that Ryan was gay. The thing that
was believe to set him over the edge was when a popular girl was
flirting with him online then told him that she was just kidding. Ryan's
dad then found a conversation that was saved between his son and
another boy and they were exchanging information about this website
that will tell you what is the best way to kill yourself based on your
personality. Then the last conversation said that he thinks he is going
to do it tonight and he did.
This story is devastating. When they were showing pictures of this
innocent child it broke my heart. He was only thirteen years old. It just
goes to show that people could be a victim and no one will know. This
is why we have to take extra precautions when it come to being
online. Something that was said in the video was that, "There is
something about reading words, you read them over and over again
and you start to believe it. The words make it real." I do think the
impact is harder when you can re-read it. The more I read something
the more that it gets to me. The saddest part was the end of the video
when Ryan's dad tried to talk to the family of the other child that Ryan
was talking to about suicide. The family never responded to him. If I
was a parent I would be concerned. People shouldn't take
cyberbullying lightly, the consequences could be fatal.

d. Students need to learn at a young age that teasing in person or over

the Internet is not to be tolerated. No one knows what is it like to be
the victim until they are the victim. Role playing is a good exercise.
Even though it is not real it will still have an impact on the students. It
is important to discuss that just because it is over the Internet does
not mean that it doesn't have a consequence, and sometimes the
consequences could be deadly, like in this assignment. It is also
important to remember that if students are aware of what
cyberbullying is, they will be aware that there is also a solution for it.

3. Cyber Predators

Cyber Predators: Week 3

What is a “cyber-predator”?
A Cyber predator uses the Internet to hunt for victims to take
advantage of in any way, including sexually, emotionally,
psychologically or financially. Cyber predators know how to manipulate
kids, creating trust and friendship where none should exist.

Why do cyber-predators tend to prey on teenagers?

Cyber-predators tend to prey on teenagers because they are the ones
who tend to feel needed. They are looking for people to accept them
for who they are, which these cyber-predators will.

How can you protect yourself against a cyber-predator?

A person can protect themselves from a cyber-predator by not putting
their personal information online. Never put your home address, phone
numbers, etc. online, especially on social networking websites such as
MySpace and Facebook. You can also protect yourself from cyber-
predators by never talking to anyone online that you don't know.

It is important that we teach our students about cyber-predators so

that they know what they can be exposed to while being online. Every
student should know the repercussions that could happen to them if
they fall into the trap with a cyber-predator. We want our students to
be safe, and this includes when they are out in cyberspace. We should
teach our students to not talk to, send pictures to, or give anyone their
personal information online that they don't know. By doing this, our
students will hopefully be safer while they are surfing the web.

4. Piracy and Plagiarism

Piracy & Plagiarism: Week Three

“Lessons in Internet Plagiarism”

Definitions:
· Piracy is defined as: “the unauthorized reproduction or use of a
copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented invention,
trademarked product, etc.” .
· Plagiarism is defined as: “the unauthorized use or close imitation
of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation
of them at one’s own original work”.
Student Assignment:
1) Respond to the following prompt...
You and a friend have been working on your final research papers for
one of your classes for the past month. The night before the papers are
due, you get together for an all-night editing session. At 1 a.m., your
friend’s computer dies, and he loses his entire paper. He has no back-
up disk. Your friend is devastated, and he decides to download a paper
off of an Internet term paper site. How do you respond to his actions?
A better way to approach this would be to talk to his or her
professor personally. You could explain to the professor your
situation, and most likely, your professor will have another option, or
give you a lengthier deadline. By going to a website, and plagiarizing,
you are putting yourself at risk for getting caught, which could result
in expulsion.

2) Read this New York Times article,Lessons in Internet Plagiarism...

3) Answer the following questions….

a. How did Ms. Prestebak discover that the high school student had
taken his paper off the Internet?
Ms. Prestebak, the librarian, found out that the high school
student had taken his paper off of the Internet, by putting the first
five words of his paper into the search engine.

b. How has the temptation to cheat been increased by access to the

Internet?
The temptation to cheat has been increased by access to the
Internet, because it has become so easy to copy and paste anything.
Most importantly, hundreds of current web sites offer essays and
research papers on any topic, that students can copy and paste, or
even purchase online.

c. What happened at the University of Virginia with regards to this

topic?
Recently, 122 students are being investigated for possible
plagiarism of term papers for an introductory physics course at the
University of Virginia.

d. What did Donald McCabe’s survey reveal?

The survey in which Donald McCabe conducted, consisting of
4,500 high school students at 25 schools around the country, his survey
concluded that high school seems to be a far larger problem regarding
plagiarism. According to the survey's results: "More than half of the
high school students surveyed admitted either downloading a paper
from a Web site or copying a few sentences from a Web site without
citation".

e. According to Cathy Aubrecht, what is a sign that a student has

plagiarized?
According to Cathy Aubrecht, a sign that a student has
plagiarized is: the student most likely didn't do any work or produced
anything during the stages of the research paper, then suddenly his or
her final product is perfect.

f. What are some of the consequences for plagiarism?

The consequences for plagiarism varies; Dr. Peter G. Mehas,
superintendent of schools in Fresno Country, CA., takes away
graduation from any student who has been caught plagiarizing. In other
schools, such as colleges, students are often expelled due to this.

g. What are some resources that schools can use to find out if students
are plagiarizing materials?
According to the writer of this article: Katie Hafner , "the Web
has made it much easier to catch plagiarists. A growing number of
educators routinely use Web- based services for detecting unoriginal
work".

Why is this important to teach your students?

I feel this is important to teach our students, because we need
to let them know how important it is not to copy other people's work.
As future educators, we will probably come across this more than one
in our life time. We need to demonstrate to our students how bad
plagiarism is, and what the consequences are if you do end up doing
this. It is important for our students to know both, because they need
to be able to recognize the difference between wrong and right.

5. Inappropriate Content

A. What is "inappropriate Content?"

The definition of inappropriate content is thing that can or is harmful
to minors. According to JCCS Internet Safety Project, some categories
are "
pornography, hate groups, violence, illegal activity, extremist groups,
online advertising."
B. Inappropirate Content, Week 1
C. Student Activity:
Part 1
What are some of the ways that the Internet is a useful tool? (e.g.,
communication, education, entertainment, business)
Internet can be safe when communicating with relatives that live far
away from us and that we know for sure that it is our relatives. It can
be safe when we watch movies or shows on the internet from websites
that have been approved for children. It can also be safe when doing
research for school.
Do you think that the Internet can be dangerous? Explain your thinking
or give an example.
I do think that the Internet can be dangerous. It can be dangerous
when people do not know what sites are safe and which are not. For
example, a child is playing a game online and an advertisement for a
toy pops up. The pop up might say "to win this toy click here." A child
might not catch that the website is a hoax and they will click on the
advertisement. Upon clicking on the adversisement the child might be
taken to unsuitable website.
How have you heard the word "racist" used? How would you define the
term "racist?"
I have heard the word racist several times. I would define the term as
a person or group of people what have negative bias toward a group
based on their race.
Who knows what a chat room is? Explain.
I have an idea of what a chat room is but I do not know the real
definition of a chat room if there is one. I think a chat room is a cyber
place where several people can have a conversation at the same time.
Do you think that chat rooms can be a dangerous medium? Do any of
you have any specific experiences with chat rooms that you'd like to
share? (an example might address personal safety in chat rooms)
I do think that chat rooms can be dangerous. I think that through chat
rooms is where the most undetected crimes happen. People can
pretend to be other people and you may never find out.
Do you think that chat rooms target a specific audience? Explain your
thinking or give an example. (an example of a target audience might
be children or young adults)
I think that every chat room has its own targeted audience. I know that
they target different audience because each chat room has its own
topic/topics. I mean children can find a chat room where they can talk
about their favorite TV show.
Have you ever been part of a chat room discussion in which either you
or someone else gave out false information? Why do you believe people
use chat rooms to create false identities?
I personally have never used a chat room but I know people who have.
Some people that I know that see chat rooms have shared with me that
their name online is different from their real name. Most of the time
they do this to be able to keep their identity safe but they do not
understand that other people are doing the same thing and that they
can not be trusted.
Part 2
Read "Daniel's Story"
Part 3
Describe, in your own words, what happened to Daniel.
Daniel was discriminated based on his race which he discussed in a
chat room with a stranger.
How was he feeling before the hate message? After the hate message?
Daniel was feeling excited before the messages. He wanted to go to
the baseball game with that other "boy." After the hat messages Daniel
was probably feeling hurt.
What could he have done to avoid this experience?
he could have kept his personal information to himself or simple should
have not given out his real name and phone number. Another thing he
could have done is find out the name of the other person though he
would have to take a chance that the "boy" was not lying.
What would you have done if you had been in the chat room when
these hateful messages popped up?
I would have saved the messages and contacted the authorities or
someone who could have helped me.
What are some of possible ways that people can protect themselves
from this kind of hate on the Internet?
They can keep all their personal information to themselves. They can
also only talk to people which they truly know in person.
Do you think it is ever safe to reveal personal information over the
Internet? If yes, when? If no, why not?
I think it is only safe on websites that you know are not a hoax and
that can be traced to a person. An example would be government
websites such as FAFSA.
What other kinds of hate that could exist on the Internet?
There is hate based on ethnicity, sex, sexuality, social status,
immigration status and several more.
Have you ever experienced such kinds of hate?
I cannot think of a certain time when I experienced any type of hate on
the Internet.
What could you do if you encountered hate on the Internet?
I could simply exit that webpage. I could contact someone and report
the hate crime.

D. Why is this important?

This is important because we constantly hear about how a school-aged
child has been a victim of inappropriate content. To prevent this we
need to educated children on what inappropriate content is and what
actions can they take. Children are surrounded by technology and they
should learn what they need to do to stay safe.

6. Social Networks

Social Networks- Week Two

Definition:
- A social network is a service that uses the Internet for online
communication through an interactive network of photos, web logs,
user profiles, e-mail, web forums, and groups, as well as other media.

1) Answer the following questions....

- What are the best features of social networking sites such as MySpace
and Facebook?
The best features of social networking sites such as MySpace and
Facebook, is firstly, to keep in touch with family and friends. Both
social networking sites have such easy tools to find family members
and friends that you have not seen in a while, and wish to keep in
touch with. Also, both, especially Facebook, is a great social
networking site for networking your business. For example, companies
such as Starbucks, offer coupons if you are their friend on facebook.
This helps the company make more business, and is better networking
to get their company name out there.

- What are some of the problems teens can encounter on social

networking sites?
Teens can encounter various problems on social networking sites,
such as MySpace and Facebook. Something that has been very common
has been cyber bullying. Many teens add people they do not know, or
use these sites as meeting a potential boyfriend/girlfriend. However, it
is very dangerous, because anyone can make an account, consisting of
a false identity.

2) Complete the following scenario worksheet.....

- Was Ian justified in teaching Mike a lesson?

Ian was not justified in teaching Mike a lesson. Coming up with a
fake account is not a mature way of handling the situation, and most
likely caused Mike much hurt and embarrassment. Two wrongs do not
make a right, especially in Ian and Mike's situation. A better way to
handle this situation would've been to confront Mike personally, and
tell him how much it bothered him that he told others a couple of Ian's
personal secret.

- How do you think Mike felt when he found out his 'relationship' was
only a cruel trick?
When Mike found out that his 'relationship' was only a cruel trick,
he probably felt completely humiliated. The fact that one of his
'friends' would go this far at getting back at him, probably embarrassed
him. Mike most likely felt a variety of different emotions: anger,
sadness, humiliation, embarrassment, just to name a few.
- What problems might result due to Ian's actions?
Due to Ian's actions, many problems could arise. Firstly, it
definitely caused a strain on Mike and Ian's friendship. Either they are
no longer friends anymore, or their is a lot of tension between the two
of them. Secondly, it could've caused parents to get involved. Lastly, it
could've caused Mike is harming himself. Recently within our media,
we hear of many cyber bullying stories, ending horribly.

Think About It: It's easy to try out new identities online, and many
teens do it. Being online is all about expressing oneself with social
networks, blogs, chat, messaging, and videos. But when self-expression
is at the expense of another person, it's wrong. When does it cross the
line from "just kidding" into cyberbullying? If the cruelty or threats are
intentional and repeated, you're already there.

It crosses the line from "just kidding" into cyberbullying, when

one uses a social network for the wrong reason. Such as Mike and Ian's
situation, creating a false identity is wrong. The fact that Ian kept
continuing with the false identity, and communicating with Ian, making
him believe that he was a girl, is crossing the line.

Find Solutions:

- What advice could you give Ian about self- control and respect?
The advice I could give Ian about self- control and respect,
would be: to confront Ian personally, rather than crossing the line, in
which he did. The mature way to solve this issue, would be for Ian to
tell Mike how he feels, and let him know that what he did was wrong.

- What advice could you give Mike?

The advice I could give Mike, is to apologize to Ian for telling
some friends about his personal secrets. This would stop Ian from even
considering getting back at him.

- Consider if Ian had told some other friends what he was doing. What
could these bystanders have done?
The bystanders in this situation could tell Ian that what he was
doing is completely wrong. Most likely, his other friends already knew
this, but were scared to stand up and say something about it. These
bystanders should've told Ian what he was doing was wrong, and maybe
could've even got a mature adult involved, such as a parent to resolve
this issue.

Take Action: Create a Top Ten Tips List; Sending menacing electronic
messages, forwarding private conversations, spreading e-rumors,
posting embarrassing photos- how can teens help one another avoid
these situations? Start with the Be CyberSmart! tips on this page, do
some brainstorming, try some research, and develop your own Top Ten
Tips List.

Tops Tens List:

1. Watch your words online. Before sending or posting, reread them to
see if they can be misinterpreted.
2. Use acronyms like JK (just kidding) to make sure others understand
your intent.
3. If you get angry, take the time to cool down and consider how to
react before you click the Send Button.
4. Do not post any inappropriate photos of yourself, or others online.
5. Do not accept friend requests, or message from those you do not
know.
6. If you suspect someone with a false identity, or if someone if trying
to communicate with you and you suspect something, go with your gut
feeling, and immediately tell an adult, such as a parent.
7. Make your Facebook/MySpace/other social networks private.
8. Do not have too much personal information on your page, such as
where you live, cell phone number, aol instant messenger screen
name, just in case.
9. Be sure your page is appropriate at all times.
10. Be Cyber Safe! Anything you may feel you are doing wrong, or
someone else is doing wrong, report to an adult, and most likely you
will be right.