Kerry Newman, principal of the Glenwood High School sent out an email this week with information on Email security. GlenwoodNet feels this is important lessons and thus we are republishing the information.

OMGINBD….Any guesses? During the fall legal lab in Des Moines Wednesday, administrators and lawyers explored a variety of issues and this term came up describing the teenager view on most of them. OMGINBD – “Oh my God! It’s NO BIG DEAL.” Some of the behaviors that this “no big deal” refers to are videotaping criminal activity, having a face book or a my space account with “friends” they don’t know, chatting online with people they “meet” on the net, and most devastating of all – electronically sending a “nudie” – naked picture of themselves, to someone they either know or don’t know! Internet crimes against children are skyrocketing. The details and circumstances that coincide with these crimes against children were some of the most disturbing I have ever been given. One of the federal agents who presented shared details about real Iowa cases and how children between the ages of 12 and 17 were targeted.

1. According to some statistics given to us on Wednesday- 20% of all teens between the ages of 12 and 17 have “sexted.” Sexting (sex and texting ) is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between cell phones. Of those, 71% have sent naked pictures to boyfriends/girlfriends, 21% sent naked pictures to someone they want to “hook up” with, and 15% sent naked pictures to someone they only knew online. When I heard these statistics my first instinct was, “That can’t be! Those are way too high.” Then I began a proactive approach to my thinking and assumed that regardless, even if ONE STUDENT is doing this, it could damage their life. I urge you to pay attention to these numbers and really talk to your child about the devastation that a naked picture floating around the internet could cause in their life.

2. According to the federal agents who talked with us, the single most dangerous thing that ANYONE can do is meet someone in person who they do not know in a location that only the two of them know about.

3. If there is a digital picture of a teen on the internet it will never go away. That picture will be passed on, touched up, and available long after that teen is retired.

4. Many of the schools at our conference have dealt with real situations where students were forwarding naked pictures of other students. This coming after that student sent the original naked picture. These cases always ended badly.

5. There are serious consequences for students who take naked pictures, send naked pictures, and forward naked pictures. Matt Carver, Director of Legal Services, School Administrators of Iowa, wrote an article in one of our newsletters. He urged us to share it with parents, as it is still very relevant. That article can be found online (page 4) at http://www.sai-iowa.org/storage/sai-report-archive/209Report.pdf. The title of his article is, ‘Sexting’ Students Could End Up in a Sex Sting.

6. The majority of internet predators are most “active,” chatting online, checking facebook, emailing, etc. between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. – when we, the parents, are sleeping.

7. Some online resources for you to learn more:

a. www.missingkids.org – Child abductors are finding your child online. Good information on this site.

b. http://www.netsmartz.org – They have a parent link with great information!

c. http://www.theantidrug.com/advice/teens-today/teens-and-technology/internet-lingo.aspx This is an online lingo page that gives some very good information as you look at your child’s online chatting and texting. This lingo could be used by a predator who could be enticing your child. Some examples:

· WYCM – Will You Call Me?
· ASL – Age/Sex/Location
· MorF – Male or Female
· KFY – Kiss For You
· MOOS – Member(s) Of the Opposite Sex
· ADR – Address
· LMIRL – Let’s Meet In Real Life
· HAK – Hugs And Kisses
· ILU or ILY – I Love You
· KOTL – Kiss On The Lips
· SMIM – Send Me an Instant Message
· SMEM – Send Me an E-Mail
· WUF – Where Are You From?

Other slang:

mir – mom in room
mmamp – Meet me at my place

More slang terms can be found at http://www.noslang.com.

Reprinted with permission.