How to help kids use social media safely

Theresa M. Payton, National Cyber Security Expert, shares advice for parents on how to let their kids use social media websites safely
Kids Online Safety Advice | Using Social Media Safely | Kids in the House
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How to help kids use social media safely

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So a lot of parents will say to me I know my kid is not old enough to be on Facebook or MySpace but the rest of my family is out there and they live so far away. And so I lied about my kid´s age so they can be on Facebook to share information with their relatives. And I pause because every family is different and I do not want to judge but when we ask our kids to always tell us the truth, but then they see us lie to put them on social media networks to talk with our relatives, it gives me a little bit of pause because you want to make sure you are passing on the right life lessons. But then the second piece is think about this. These free sites want as many people online as possible and why did they build the site? To make you share information so the information is valuable to marketing and advertisers. So there is a reason why they have put an age limit on these sites because they want to protect children. And the goal is again getting you to share information so that it can be packaged and sold. The reason why I like products like Highboard and there are other products, it is not the only one, is they were built from the ground up to be a private network where families can share recipes, photos, stories. It is a paid service. And the focus is just connecting relatives and friends to each other and creating these very closed, private, tight knit network. So it is a completely different environment. Still have to follow the safe ground rules for safety. But it is a different environment, a different purpose and it is focused on family first, marketing and selling information second.

Theresa M. Payton, National Cyber Security Expert, shares advice for parents on how to let their kids use social media websites safely

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Theresa M. Payton

National Cyber Security Expert

Theresa Payton is a well-known and highly respected national authority on cybersecurity, e-crime and fraud mitigation, and technology implementation. She has over twenty years of advanced business and security technology expertise and leadership at the highest levels of government and in the financial services industry, including being the first woman to serve as Chief Information Officer at the White House.  She is a wife and mother to three fabulous and fun kids.  She is also the co-author of the newly released book Protecting Your Internet Identity: Are You Naked Online? and the founder of the S.A.F.E. Kids initiative - a classroom-based, digital safety program.

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