Social Media Safety

HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY

NAVIGATE THE SOCIAL

NETWORKING WATERS

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Michele Ridolfi O’Neill, CEA Educational Issues

Specialist

micheleo@cea.org

Laurel Killough, CEA New Media Coordinator

laurelk@cea.org

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To Network or Not to Network

• Do you have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other

social networking account/page?

• Do you know your district’s Social Networking policy?

• Do you “friend” students, their parents or siblings, or

your co-workers/administrators on Facebook?

• Do you “tweet” or post status updates regularly?

• Do you “check in” to places, or allow others to check

you into places?

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0 Reported membership is over 1 billion ACTIVE MONTHLY users. 0 1 BILLION daily active users 0 Average female user has 250 “friends”0 Average user sends 8 friend requests per month 0 Users spend an average of 15 hours and 33 minutes per month on the site 0 Average user visits the site 40 times per month 0 Average user spends 20 minutes on each visit per day0 91% of Millennials use it0 27% of drivers admit to checking site while driving (!)0 200 million people access via a mobile device each day 0 More than 30 billion pieces of content are shared each day 0 Users who access on mobile devices are twice as active

#OVERSTIMULATED #TOOCONNECTED #WHYDOWEHASHTAGEVERYTHING?

M. O

'Neill C

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Are We TOO Connected? • Thirty-five percent of adults on the Internet now have a

profile on at least one social networking site. 51 percent have

more than one.

• The 55-64 age demographic has as almost as many

millions of Facebook users as the 13-17 year old

demographic.

• The Pew Research Center found that 89 percent of these

people use the sites to keep up with friends, 57 percent to make

plans with friends and 49 percent to make new friends.

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• All public employees’ freedom of speech is somewhat limited because they are public employees

• Teachers are held to a higher moral standard than others (this has always been the case)

• Lawsuits against school districts regarding the use of social media have been largely unsuccessful

• As it is with one’s certification expiration date, it is incumbent upon each teacher to know district policies

• Social media posts can be considered “disruptive to school activities” or to the “learning atmosphere of a school” (Spanierman v. Hughes, Ansonia, 2008)

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What’s the District Social Media

Policy?

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The teacher allegedly wrote, "right, this is for

picture day."

Comments by Others

“If you are going to make your child look

ridiculous, the least you can do is have them

matching.”

“Yeah, this is foolishness.”

"I laughed so hard that my contact popped out.”

Do not make fun of students.

Don’t post any material that you wouldn’t

want your students, their parents, the school

district, or your family members to see.

Don’t Post Pictures of

Students

• Do not post student photos on your personal social

media pages.

• If you have a separate work-only social media account,

only post within district guidelines, and with

permission from the parents.

Posting pictures of students is inappropriate.

Often there are some protective orders that prevent

students from being photographed.

Don’t Make Fun of

Students• A teacher took a picture of a student’s

homework assignment, posted it on

Facebook, and made fun of it.

• The teacher was given an option: resign or

face termination.

Don’t Make Fun of Students…

or Parents

Think Before You Post

• Do not post things in jest that could be misunderstood or could invoke

unacceptable comments from others.

• Do not make judgment comments or negative comments about your job,

your administrators, your school, your students or their families.

• Do not send confidential information through social networks.

• Check your profile and delete any inappropriate or questionable images,

status updates, or communication dealing with alcohol, sex, violence, or

vulgar language.

• Do not friend or share posts with students or their families.

• Do not post anything that could be considered inappropriate or sexual.

Be Wary Of…C

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o Facebook quizzes that want to access your profile

information; EDIT permissions before taking the quiz!

o Site contests that ask you to click “LIKE” in order to be

entered to win a product (not all are legitimate)

o Facebook photos that ask you to “LIKE” in three

seconds to see what happens (have you ever seen a static

photo change?)

o Emails that notify you you’ve won a lottery in a foreign

country…when you’ve never even visited there

o Emails from banks—always check the actual email

address

How to Protect Yourself

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Check your privacy settings

Don’t use full name on sites

Set permissions so you need to approve all

photo tags or posts on your page

Hide your activity log

Privacy Shortcuts

“Who Can See My Stuff ”

“Use Activity Log”

Don’t “friend” unknown people, students, or

district officials (on social media or game

consoles)

How to Protect Yourself

Consider creating a work Facebook or Twitter page if necessary

Be wary of oversharing in your photos or posts

Delete Apps Periodically

Privacy Shortcuts

See more settings

Left column: “Apps”

Delete apps

Google yourself every now and then

Watch what you text, post, “Snapchat”, or tweet

Only send money over secure sites (HTTPS)

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Scroll Down and review everything there, including:

• Who your friends are,

• The photos you and others have posted,

• The list of places you’ve visited (other people can tag you in places as well as photos), and

• All websites, books, movies, TV shows, etc. you’ve “liked.”

Make sure none of these could be considered offensive in nature!

“Facebook About” Page

Information you should never, ever

post on any public site:

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o ANY Phone number—there is such a thing as “reverse

look up”

o Your address, or information about upcoming vacations

(when you won’t be home)

o Financial Information such as, “I bank with XX Credit

Union, so my money’s protected from a financial crisis”o Private conversations/”Dirty Laundry”

o Your password…enough said

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They’re educational tools that can open the doors to global classrooms that your students may have not experienced. You can:

Adopt a Classroom – link to other teachers and communities of learners

Practice a foreign language with native speakers of the language

They’re also some of the main ways we stay connected to global events and movements. You can:

Follow Grassroots Movements (Feel the Bern)

Create groups in order to get messages out to others

To create, and invite friends to, events

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WHY USE SOCIAL NETWORKS?

Using Social Media in the Classroom

Before using social media with your

students you need

• A separate, professional Facebook/Twitter

account

• Clear guidelines for how it will be used

• Permission from parents

• Enthusiastic buy-in from administration

The Bottom Line…Don’t post anything on the internet or send anything via email

or text that you wouldn’t say or show to your principal or

students’ parents. Once it is posted, it gets archived and never,

ever completely goes away…

Even if you delete it.

And once you write something and people see it, they could take it the wrong

way, creating hurt feelings, or worse— resulting in a negative job action.

REMEMBER: EVEN THE MOST PRIVATE SETTINGS DON’T PREVENT YOUR FRIENDS FROM SHOWING YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE TO THEIR FRIENDS…OR YOUR ENEMIES.

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Questions?If you need assistance setting up a social

media page or website for your local

association, contact

Laurel Killough

laurelk@cea.org

860-725-6334

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