“Dear Parents…”

The Teenage Brain

By Zach

You need to understand your teenageer’s brain and how it functions compared to your fully developed brain. In the teenage brain, the amygdala, which allows you to feel certain emotions and to perceive them in other people, is giving the teenager random emotions and can affect the decisions of the prefrontal cortex. Their prefrontal cortex helps them with problem solving and it can help them make tough decisions. The prefrontal cortex is affected during the age of 13-25 and teenagers at the age of 13 will not think through decisions; they will automatically jump to a conclusion and a lot of the time they make a bad decision.

By Noah

Your children can be unpredictable and you might not be able to help them, but there are certain techniques that you can use to stop these breakouts of unpredictability. The first technique you can use to help your child in stressful situations is to make sure you listen to them, not lecture them. Listening to them can make it feel like you care about their life. Another way you can help your child in stressful situations is to encourage them to spend time with friends or to spend more time with people; humans are not meant to spend 10 hours a day in their room by themselves. If you follow one of these rules you could potentially really help your child in school and find problems that you never knew were there.

Useful links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/opinion/return-to-the-teenage-brain.html?_r=0

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-brain-still-under-construction/index.shtml

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/emotional-health/anger-management.htm#aware

Kids and Digital Literacy

By Mark

First amendment rights give you the right to free speech, and I think everyone knows that. However, not many people are aware of the limitations to free speech. Children’s rights are an example, and they provide children with the rights to protection, provision, and participation. This makes online action in certain cases unpunishable. Just because of this, that doesn’t mean that all cases of cyberbullying aren’t worthy of punishment. If a cyberbully victim is potentially depressed, then they could legitimately be affected by cyberbullying. Also, things said about you by other people could affect your career, if looked into by your employer. Even if cyberbullying can be harmful, censorship is still a big issue. If preventing people from getting mad comes down to censoring legitimate opinions, you should just leave them on the website. Censorship is needed in cases of intense threats or hate speech, but not necessary in most cases. The most that can be said is that you should be careful about what you say and do on the internet.

Useful links:

http://www.humanium.org/en/child-rights/

https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-i

By Conor

There are many things that you don’t understand about the internet, but that's okay because there's nothing to worry about. You may think, “Oh the internet is all bad,” but I’ll show you that it's really not. The first thing I will speak with you is about online chat rooms. We know who is good and who is bad, and we know the signs (we can handle ourselves). The second thing is interruptions at school: we don’t use our phones to do so. Think of all we can do with technology; we would have never have been able to go to the moon without technology and you would have to wait weeks to get a letter sent and then responded to, so what's really so scary about it?

Useful link:

https://www.edutopia.org/digital-literacy-technology-parent-resources

Cyberbullying

By Blair

Cyberbullying is a serious issue in the online society that needs to be brought to attention. A cyber bully is someone who uses online communication resources such as social media platforms to bully an individual through words and sometimes images. The definition of bullying is to repeatedly use superior strength or influence to intimidate someone. A key word in this definition is the word repetitive, because for hurtful actions to be called bullying, they must be repetitive.

Cyberbullying is very different than what we might think of as traditional bullying, because the bully can hide behind their screen. They don’t have to reveal who they are in order to hurt their victim, therefore it is more difficult to stop them. Though you may not know who the bully is, the cyberbully is usually someone who the victim encounters in their everyday life. It is extremely rare that the cyberbully is a complete stranger because there would be no motive for a stranger to bully someone they don’t know. For the victim, it can seem as if there is no escape from the cyberbully because no one can stop them, which means the bullying continues.

Over half of teens and adolescents have been cyberbullied, yet only one in ten tell someone. It is very important that if a child or teen is being cyberbullied they ask an adult to help them. Cyberbullying, like other forms of bullying, can cause depression and low self esteem if it is not put to an end. It can have emotional, academic, social and behavioral effects. If you feel that your child may be the victim of cyberbullying, look for signs such as suddenly becoming withdrawn or shy, depression, and feeling anxious or stressed. Also, loss of interest in school or attending school, dropping grades and change in eating or sleeping habits may be signs of cyberbullying. In the Croton schools, we want to put an end to cyberbullying and make it our priority to keep our community cyberbully free. For more information on cyberbullying, its effects, and how to handle a cyberbullying situation, visit the links below.

Useful Links:

http://www.ncpc.org/topics/cyberbullying/cyberbullying-tip-sheets/NCPC%20Tip%20Sheet%20-%20Spotting%20The%20Signs.pdf

At this link, find out more about signs of cyberbullying and what they mean.

https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/

Visit this site for information on cyberbullying, how to prevent it, and how to report it.

By Jessica

Cyberbullying is a huge problem. Cyberbullying is when someone uses electronics to bully someone else. Since the victim can’t see who the cyberbully is, it makes it more likely for someone to cyberbully someone else. It makes it seem not as bad. The cyberbully feels safer hiding behind a screen and they won’t see the victim’s reaction, causing them to not react to it. Children use online sites and social media to attack the victim. Victims often feel alone and like they don’t have anyone supporting or helping them. Cyberbullying has many negative impacts on the victim, including mental, physical and emotional stress, low self esteem, suicidal thoughts or actions and mental illnesses, such as depression. Each person responds to cyberbullying differently, and it is important to notice the signs that your child may show. Frequently, kids are too scared to tell someone, because they think they might be the ones that get in trouble. So they keep it to themselves. Cyberbullying has long-term consequences on the victim which makes it extremely important to keep your child safe on the internet.

By Sorcha

Cyberbullying is a serious issue that needs to stop; it can have severe consequences in the future on the targeted person. Cyberbullying can be anonymous, so the bully could be anyone from your neighbor, to somebody halfway around the world. Since you are not face to face with the other person, the bully can’t see your reaction; they can’t see how you feel from their hurtful words and actions. As parents, you need to make sure your kids have private accounts, and understand the dangers of talking to strangers online. You must make them understand this is a serious issue and not just a game, because you have the power to stop cyberbullying before it even starts. To keep your kids safe, you could keep the computer or device in a busy area of the house. This would be useful because if the kid is watched while on the device, all activity can be observed. You could also go over their messages, and ask them who that person is, and how they know them. As parents, you need to apply these rules to your life to keep your kids safe.

Useful Links:

http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/cyberbullying.html?ref=search

Learn more about all perspectives of cyberbullying, and how you as a parent can help.

http://www.ncpc.org/topics/cyberbullying/stop-cyberbullying

This website can tell you how to prevent cyberbullying, and what you kids should know about the issue.

By Daniel

The problem of cyberbullying is more evident than ever before because of the age of your 8th graders. Cyberbullying is when someone uses technology to harm others online. As parents there are a lot of different things that can be done to prevent your sons and daughters from being victims of cyberbullying. For example: make sure that they have private accounts on all of their social media, make sure that they tell you if they are being cyberbullied, go to a school principal so disciplinary actions can be taken upon the bully if he or she is in your son’s or daughter’s school. If you notice that your child’s self esteem is lowered, or s/he is acting in an unusual way, speak to them and find out if there is cyberbullying involved. It is crucial that you find out if they are being bullied as soon as possible to prevent any further self esteem damages and other negative impacts.

By Diedre

Cyberbullying is a very serious issue in our world. Kids make fun of other kids and think it is right because they don’t know how the other person is feeling and don’t think they are hurting anyone. But I have learnt that cyberbullying is more than just kids making fun of other kids on the internet, it is using technology to harass, threaten or embarrass someone. People use technology to intimidate other people, they say things that they won’t say to their friends or family.

If you have a kid that is being cyberbullied on the internet or in school, they will start to keep their distance from family and friends. You, as a parent, would need to have an open conversation with them. You would have to learn to understand what they are going through before giving them advice. You could talk to the principal about it or tell your child to ignore or block the bully.

Useful links:

https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/#top

This website will help you learn more about cyberbullying and the effects it has on the

victim.

https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/how-to-report/index.html

This website will show you what to do if your child is being cyberbullied.

By Cristian

I wanted to warn you about the dangers of cyberbullying and how to be safe. Cyberbullying is online harassment. Cyberbullying can happen to anyone online and is from some anonymous person. Cyberbullying is serious; people have killed themselves because of it. Kids who are cyberbullied are most likely to use drugs, alcohol, skip school, experience real life bullying, lower self-esteem, and more health problems. Some ways to solve cyberbullying is to report people who are being rude and ignore them or just talk with someone you can trust. You need to be the better person and not give them attention, it is what they want. We must give time to help people who suffer cyberbullying and talk with them. If we do not give time to these people they could experience all the effects listed or even worse, death. We can solve this problem, and if we do, the world will be a bit better.

Online Predators (Online Grooming)

By Olivia

1 in 7 kids have been sexually solicited online.

Grooming is a serious issue in our generation. Kids in middle school are available to the media in any sort of way. Kids have to be safe online. Groomers can be anywhere online like on game sites, social media, any talking websites (kik); they can be anywhere in the online world. A way to prevent this is to follow the SMART rule:

S- SAFE Being safe is to keep your personal information to yourself, not to share with anyone online. Such as your address, phone number, name, etc.

M- MEETING Meeting someone you have only talked to online can be very dangerous.

A- ACCEPTING Accepting emails, IM messages or files from people you don’t know can be dangerous- they may contain nasty messages or viruses.

R- RELIABLE Most groomers will be lying about their identity and telling false information.

T- TELL Tell someone you trust what is going on. Someone you can tell can be a parent, teacher, close family member, guidance counselor, an adult you trust.

I recommend teaching your child the SMART rule. After teaching this to them, your child will know what to do to stay safe.

Useful websites to keep you informed about grooming:

http://www.parentsprotect.co.uk/online_grooming.htm

This article explains the SMART rule and much more.

https://nobullying.com/online-grooming/

This article explains everything you need to know about grooming. Some topics in this article include: what is grooming online, what do predators do, online grooming statistics, signs of online grooming, and what can you do about it.

http://internetsafety101.org/grooming

Learn about online predators in detail and what they would do to the child to gain their trust.

By Kirsten

One important thing I learned about this year was grooming. I felt this was a HUGE problem because it occurs a lot more often then I thought. Dangerous people are posing as someone else and talking to another person, with a hope of meeting them and once they’re with you you don't know what could happen. They could kidnap, rape or kill you. Parents need to get involved and stop the problem before it becomes dangerous. One thing parents could do is get close with your child and help them trust you, and feel free to tell you anything. Another thing is to “scare” their child into not doing it. By scare I mean tell them some stories or something about grooming. You may think it won't work but you would be surprised. Also help them realize that not everybody is who they say they are online. Please help and stop this from happening to your child before it's too late.

Useful link:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/child-abuse-and-neglect/grooming/

By Desiree

Grooming is a very serious topic. It doesn't have to be something to worry about all the time. I'm here to teach you about grooming from a child's point of view and how to protect your child from it. Grooming happens to children all over the world. As long as your child has access to a computer, phone, and really anything that connects to the internet, child predators can reach your child, way too easily. To help protect your child from the horrors that come with grooming, you can do many things. Some of the most basic things to do would be to have internet restrictions on your child's computer/laptop/phone. While this method may be effective and help keep your child safe in the long run, I'm here to tell you from a child's point of view what will help. Putting restrictions on your child's personal laptop, phone,etc., will just make them upset. I know from experience that kids also usually find a way around these restrictions. Some methods that will not upset your child, and will work, are things like sitting them down and explaining what grooming is and the dangers of it. Many children don't know exactly what grooming is and how scary it is; informing them will make them more cautious and therefore protect them from grooming.

Useful links:

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Child-Sexual-Abuse-6-Stages-of-Grooming

http://educateempowerkids.org/8-ways-predator-might-groom-child/

By Thomas

Grooming is a serious matter for the kids and their parents. Child grooming is when a person becomes very good friends with a child over the internet and gains their trust by saying that they have all these things in common, when in real life, the groomer is actually just pretending to be a young kid like the victim so the victim trusts the groomer. Eventually the groomer isolates the child from family and friends. They don’t let the child talk to anyone else and keep them online for about 8 hours a day when they can. If the child is offline for long periods of time the person will get angry with them and tell them to stay on. Eventually the groomer asks them to meet up and they trust them so much that they do meet up with them and the groomer will sexually abuse them. So, child grooming as you can see is a very serious matter and must not be taken lightly. So, if your child shows any of the signs of being groomed, (which you can find out more about in the links we’ve provided) do something and don’t let it go any further.

By Natalia

I’m here to inform you about a serious topic that I learned about this year called “Grooming”. Many children these days are all over social media and their phones. But little do we know, a lot of the people they talk to aren’t who they say they are. Men and women around or in your town are most likely to try to groom your child. Believe it or not, the groomer may be someone you or your child know, or it could be a totally random person. The way that the groomers get children to talk to them and befriend them is by talking to them multiple times, constantly, everyday. Isolating the child is what their main goal is. They want to gain the trust of the child and share the same interests as them. Make sure as a parent, you know who your child is talking to and that they are who they say they are.

Useful link:

https://www.internetmatters.org/issues/online-grooming/

By Julietta

I think grooming is a serious issue because it is very dangerous; your child could get kidnapped or beaten, even raped. Maybe your child is looking to meet someone online, and they meet someone who is LITERALLY them, but in another person. If they start to keep your child on the computer or cell phone for hours in order to isolate your child, and get very controlling, it probably means that they are either a groomer or looking for trouble. When they are aware that they have your child’s trust and your child thinks he/she loves this person, that is when they decide to ask to meet up. If your child agrees to this meetup, he/she is agreeing to meet up with a complete stranger and you never know what he/she is wanting to do to you, they also never use an actual photo of them when they are talking to you, like they can have a picture of a famous person when in real life they are a normal person nobody knows. Tell your kids to stay away from people online they’ve never met in real life, because they will lie about their identity and convince them they are this person they're not, they will make them believe that he/she is their best friend or maybe their boy/girlfriend when they don't even know them.

Useful links:

http://laurelhouse.org.au/?page_id=36

This website will help you understand if your child is being groomed.

https://www.reference.com/world-view/grooming-95e3f0bc388b8e89

This explains a little bit more of what grooming is.

By Max

As you may know, your children are at risk for groomers online. If you teach your child the red flags you should let them use their own judgment. But that does not mean that you should leave them alone with the depths of the internet; you should check up on them to make sure that they are on the right path. One of the red flags is if your child is asked “Do you have your own computer?” That is the one that as soon as you see that you should stop talking to the person and block them. You do not always need to worry because not everyone you meet online turns out to be a groomer and not everyone meets strangers online. For instance, I do not have any internet friends.

Useful Links:

http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/net-safety.html

http://www.safesurfingkids.com/index.htm

Piracy

By Brenna

Piracy is a big issue in today’s world with today's technology. There are so many movies, videogames and TV shows out there that kids and even adults can find for free; people use pirated movies every day. The amount of piracy has decreased because we have been raising awareness and improving laws about piracy. Over one hundred six million people enter pirated websites each day. The economy loses about 12.5 billion dollars and about 71,060 people lose their jobs each year. Overall piracy is a big issue in the world and we need to continue to raise awareness.

(See the Digital Citizenship Newsletter Volume 1, Number 2, for statistics and articles related to online piracy.)

Sexting

By Maya

Among teens, sexting has become a pressing issue. When teens sext someone, their pictures get out of their hands. The picture they thought was private could be spread around the whole entire school, making their lives miserable. But having your reputation ruined isn’t the only repercussion of sexting. If the person who sexted or the person who received the sext is under 18, they can be charged with creation, distribution or possession of child pornography. These are serious crimes and can put you on the sex offender registry or even put you in jail. Many teens are not educated on the consequences of sexting, and consequently still do it. To them, sexting may appear harmless. Make sure to discuss with your children about the repercussions of sexting and regulate what they do on social media.

Useful links:

Teen Sexting on the Rise: What This Could Mean For Your Child

http://www.teensafe.com/blog/teen-sexting-rise-mean-child/

This article goes over many ways to prevent your child from sexting.

Chances are, your teen has sexted

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/18/living/teens-sexting-what-parents-can-do/

This article goes over how common sexting is among teens and how little they know about sexting.

By Antonio

I write this letter to you so you can be informed of the dangers of sexting. This information is vital for you to teach your child so they do not make the mistake of sexting and ruining their life. I have been inspired to write this letter to you because of the recent court case we did in Media and Communications class and the effect it had on the perpetrator’s life. First and foremost it is important that you look up the sexting laws in your state because in some states it is illegal and in others it’s not depending on the situation. It is also very important to know that if your child posts a sext on the internet it can never be erased and if they send it to a boy/girlfriend it is in their hands not your child’s. Depending on the state, if your child sexts it could mean up to five years in prison for one sext, and the more pictures they send, the bigger the punishment. To make it worse your child can become a sex offender and can also be fined. One of the most important things is if your child is considered a legal adult and they sext with a minor boy/girlfriend it is considered child pronagraphy, and the charges for that are very consequential. Sit down with your child and talk to them about the dangers of sexting and why it is incorrect, and not just by the law but also morally.

Here are some websites that explain the dangers of sexting as well as the rules in New York State about sexting:

New York State Sexting Laws

Dangers Of Sexting

PVC Home Page

District Home Page