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Howell Public Schools take the
health and safety of their students very seriously. HPS provides safety in many ways; security cameras,
on-site security staff, crossing guards, visitor sign-in at all schools and crisis management & response teams.
In addition HPS offers Parent/Student workshops on a variety of health and safety issues. We hope this page will provide important
information for HPS students and their families. Please continue to scroll down for all the information from the Parents Internet Safety Presentation and Wellness.
Internet Safety Information
Every Parent Should Know Presented by: Deputy Nick Williamson #385 Livingston County Sheriff Department " The Internet is like
a knife. It can be very useful, but it can also cut you if you're not careful..."
What is the Internet?
- Known as the "Information Superhighway"
- The
Internet is NOT the World Wide Web
- The
world Wide Web is a system of sharing information over the Internet
- The Internet
is a network of networks
- It Consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business and
government networks, which together carry various information and services i.e. E-mail, chat and resources of the World Wide
Web.
How do we get connected?
- Home, office or work Computer
- A laptop via a wireless(WiFi)connection
- Library Computer
- Cell Phone (i.e. Apple iPhone)
- PDA (Blackberry)
- X-Box, Playstation, Nintendo Wii
- iPod
Teen Internet
21st Century Citizens
- Now entering
cyberspace, 1,022,863,307 and growing...
- Approximately 50 million teens have Internet access.
They've never known life without it!
Teen Internet Use Patterns
- Grades 3-4: Most students are Internet users
- Grades 5-12: Almost all students are online
- By 6th Grade: More than 1/2 of students
have email accounts
- By 7th Grade: Majority of students use chat rooms & Instant Messaging
Parent-Child Digital Divide
- Children
believe they have better Internet skills than their parents
- 61% of children surveyed in
grades 5-8 believe this.
- 81% of children surveyed in 9-12 believe this.
- Parental controls are easily circumvented! This includes circumventing filters and other similar software.
- Parents overestimate what they know about their children's online activities
- Almost
all parents say that they've established Internet use rules, but many students disagree.
- 24%
(9-12 graders) 20% (5-8graders) are not comfortable going to parents if "IN
TROUBLE" online!
- Parents appear to be oblivious to their children's risky online
behavior.
How big of a problem is child sexual exploitation?
- Statistics show that 1 in 5 girls and 1 in10 boys are sexually exploited by the time they reach
the age of 14.
- Less than 35% of those child sexual assaults are reported to authorities.
Teen Girls Are Most At Risk
- Teen girls are the most frequent victims of sexual assault
- 30%
of teen girls polled said they've been sexually harassed in a chat room
- Only 7% told
their parents
Most Encounters Go Unreported
- Only 1% of online sexual solicitations are reported to police
- Only 12% of sexual solicitations
are reported to a parent or teacher
Instant Messaging/Chat Rooms
- Instant Messaging (often abbreviated simply to IM) is the
text exchange between two or more people online outside a chat room.
- Chat rooms provide a means
of communicating by sending text messages to people in the same chat room in real time.
- Chat
rooms are often categorized by location, interests, age, etc.
- AIM
- Yahoo! Messenger
- Google Messenger
- MySpace Messenger
- ICQ
- IRC
Internet Acronyms Every parent Should
Know!
- ALS - Age, Sex,Location
- SorG - Straight or Gay
- POS - Parents over shoulder
- PIR - Parents in room
- P911
- Parent Alert!
- PAW - Parents are watching
- TD2M - Talk dirty to me
- IWSN - I want sex now
- LMIRL - Let's meet in real life
- NIFOC - Nude in front of computer
- GYPO - Get your pants off
- WYCM - Will you call me?
- KFU
- Kisses for you
Blogs
- Short for web log
- Can include graphics, pictures, etc.
- Online
diary/journal
- except everyone has access to it
- The
activity of updating a blog is "Blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "Blogger"
- Very Popular!!!
"Social Networking" Sites
- MySpace
- Facebook
- Yahoo!
360
- Flickr
- YouTube
- Photobucket
- Bebo
- Friendster
It's all about me!
- 61% of 13 to 17 year olds have a personal profile on sites such as MySpace,
Facebook, Friendster or Xanga -NCMEC, May 2006
The Risk Of Meeting Offline
- Asssult - sexual, physical
- Abduction - Kidnapping
- Robbery
- Disease - STD's
- Pregnancy
- People pretending to be who they're not
What Can
You Do?
If your child ever tells you
about someone wanting to meet offline, find out as much about the situation as possible.- i.e
subject's name, screename, e-mail address
- SAVE al e-mails, IM's, chat logs, text messages,images
etc.
- Record exact date and time of incident
- NEVER try an conduct
your own computer forensics
- Report this incident to the NCMEC at www.cybertipline.com
- Contact you local police if you feel you or your child is in imminent danger
- DO NOT DELETE THE EVIDENCE!
- Discuss the dangers of the
Internet with your child
- Encourage your child to discuss their online experiences
- Be sure they understand they should NEVER give out personal
information such as:
- Full Name
- Address
- Phone Number
- E-mail address
- School they attend
- If someone says or does something suspicious,BLOCK THEM from
your child's contact list an and don't respond.
Cyber Bullying is...
- Being cruel or mean to others by sending or posting harmful and/or hurtful material using technological
means such as the Internet or Text Messaging.
- Also known as: "Electronic Bullying"
& "Online Social Cruelty"
Cyber Bullies' Technology
- E-mail
- Cell Phones
- Text
Messaging
- Defamatory web-sites
- Chat rooms
Cyber Bullying Types
- "Cyber Stalking": Repeatedly sending messages that include threats
of harm or are highly intimidating. Engaging in other online activities that make a person afraid for his/her own safety.
- "Denigration": Dissing: someone online. Sending
or posting cruel gossip or rumors about a person to damage his/her reputation.
- "Outing and Trickery": Sharing someone's secret or embarrassing information
online. Tricking someone into revealing secrets or embarrassing information which is then shares online.
- "Exclusion": Intentionally excluding someone from
an online group, like a "buddy list"
Cyber Bullying Prevalence
- 90% of middle school students polled have had their feelings hurt online
- 65% of students between the ages of 8-14 years of age have been involved directly or indirectly in a cyber bullying
incident as the cyber bully, victim, or friend.
- 50% have seen or heard of a website bashing
of another student
- 40% have had their password stolen and changed by a bully (locking them out
of their own account) or sent communications posing as them.
Cyber Bullying Legal Issues
- Criminal law limits the following kind of speech
- Making threats
of violence to people or their property
- Making obscene, annoying or harassing phone calls
- Harassment or stalking
- Hate or Bias crimes
- Creating or
sending sexually explicit photos of teens
- Engaging in this type of activity or speech could
lead to being arrested and prosecuted!
Who May Get Involved?
- Principal
- Superintendent
- Resource Officer/Police
- Parents
- Courts
- Internet Service Provider
School Limits:
- Cyber bullying may not only be illegal, but also may violate school policies.
- Could lead to detention, suspension or expulsion.
Set Rules, Communicate, Stay Informed
- Establish which sites your
children can surf, who they can communicate with and where the computer will be located.
- Discuss
importance of telling you or a trusted adult if something EVER make them feel uncomfortable or scared online.
- Don't expect to know things if you don't do your homework
- Learn the lingo
- Have your children show you sites they visit
Strong Passwords
- Passwords are the keys you use to access personal
information that you've stored on your computer an in your online accounts.
- What makes a
strong password?
- Make it lengthy (14 characters or longer s ideal)
- Combine letters, numbers and symbols)
- Make it CaSe SensItIVe
- AVOID
using Birthday's, pet's names, children's names
- Tpw4tci2s4U2g!- build from a phrase
that a user camn memorize: "The password for (4) this computer is too (2) strong for you to (4U2) guess!"
- Check out site blocking, parental filters or monitoring software- if necessary
- Spector
Pro- eBlaster
- Net Nanny
What Are We Doing? Internet Crimes Against
Children Task Force
- Michigan
State Police
- Livingston County Sheriff Department
- FBI
- US Secret Service
- US Postal Inspectors
- Dept. of Justice
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Remember
- Report any suspicious online activity to NCMEC@ www.cybertipline.com
- If someone says
something suspicious BLOCK THEM and don't respond
- Save any creepy,threatening or harassing e-mails and all images sent to your child.
- Encourage
your child to be good online citizens and not to do anything that hurts other people or is against the law!
Available Resources
- www.cybertipline.com
- www.netsmartz.org
- www.stopcyberbullying.org
Contact Information:
- Deputy Nick Williamson #385
- Voice- (517)
333-4117
- Cell- (517) 403-5739
- Fax- (517) 336-2025
- e-mail NWilliamson@co.livingston.mi.us
Wellness "Super Size Exercise Challenge" Submitted
& Written by: Saralee Bloese
One of the greatest wellness
accomplishments in student health at Howell Public Schools has been the "Super Size the Exercise" challenge.
This has been the fourth year that the seven elementary schools have enrolled in a 3 week challenge to improve their nutrition
and physical activity habits. To take the challenge, each participant must log their
exercise and healthy food choices each day for three weeks on the challenge calendar. Successful participation is defined
as exercising 30 minutes per day, at least four days per week, and eating a healthy snack or food choice each day. PE
classes and recess times do not count! All information should be logged into the calendar. Parents must verify
their child's completion of the exercise and healthy food requirement each week by signing in the space provided.
Once the child has successfully completed the challenge calendar, it is brought to their PE teacher. A fully completed
calendar, including all signatures, awards the child with a choice between "free admission" to an Open Swim at the
Howell Aquatic Center, or "free admission" to one of the Howell Varsity Basketball games. Their participation
also increases their schools' chance of winning the HPS Wellness Trophy which is a rotating prize that is awarded to the
school with the highest score at the end of each challenge. This year's results are listed below. Super Size the Exercise Challenge Results
Oct/Nov 2007
SCHOOL PE TEACHER
Students 2-5 GRADE
%
(Completed) (Total students) Southeast
R. Dubay 50
362 13.8% Challenger J. Williams
29 370 7.8% Latson
R. Miller 48
343
14.0% Voyager D. Holmes
36
351
10.3%
Northwest M. Chanavier
35
350 10.0% Hutchings J. Adams
21
400
5.3%
Southwest E. Osborn
24
500
4.3%
Totals
243 2,729
8.9% The winner of the challenge is Latson!
** For more information on "Learning Wellness for Life" Please go to our Quick
Links page for a direct link or visit HPS Wellness Initiative at:
www.howellschools.com/wellness/index.htm
Get FITT! A Success
Submitted and Written by Ryan
Trudeau, HP Wellness Committee Southwest Elementary held a family fitness night on Friday, January 11,
2008 from 7-9 pm entitled “Get FITT”- FITT standing for Families In Training Together. The
purpose of this Get FITT event was to encourage families to exercise and make healthy lifestyle choices together. Admission
to the event was free thanks to the many volunteers who helped and the Southwest Elementary PTO. The
event began with a healthy snack in the cafeteria. Next, students and parents broke out into the many sessions that were set
up in the student’s classrooms, the cafeteria, and the gymnasium. Parents were encouraged not only to accompany their
children to each session, but also to get involved and active with their children. Sessions included
Karate by Ohana, Pilates and Strength Training by Fit Zone, Junior Jazzercise by Howell Jazzercise, Only Abs by Howell Fitness,
Power Yoga by Ms. Joslin, Meal Planning by MSU Extension, a one mile, indoor walking course, and a preschool obstacle course.
Perhaps the biggest hit of the night was the jump roping session hosted by Jumpin’ All-Stars, a local jump rope team. If staying healthy wasn’t enough incentive to attend the Get FITT event, prize drawings were held. There was
a raffle for a one month gym membership and if participants attended four, 20-minute sessions, they were entered to win a
pedometer. Also, for participating in the event, students were awarded a jump rope to take home and continue the quest for
being physically active.
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