mailto:alooman@mtrsd.org

Thank you all for your patience this week as we began our new school year in a remote learning model. There were a few glitches and hiccups, but we are learning more each day and it will only get better as we all become more comfortable with the technology and our new approach.

Please be sure to look at the links below for our annual media consent form and our remote learning handbook.

Just a reminder to make sure you return your registration forms as soon as possible. If you have already sent them back, thank you! If you have lost them or need another copy, please let Mrs. White know.

Now that we are requiring students to be online for their learning, I feel like it's really important to share some resources about keeping children safe on the internet. It is far too easy for them to wander into a dark area, even with parental oversight. We all want to believe that online victimization couldn't happen in our home, but I've spoken with two different parents in the past two weeks who have found themselves in the very uncomfortable position of having found out that their children were victims of online predators. The more you know as a parent, the more protected your children are.

The website http://protectyoungeyes.com/ was recommended by Joanne Leonard, from the Children's Advocacy Center in Greenfield. It offers several free webinars and resources on topics from various apps to issues surrounding social media and mental health and support for how to help protect your children.

I also wanted to make you aware of a site called YouNow. This site is a pedophile hot spot. All a child needs is an email to sign up. The kids are given bars from other watchers and encouraged to remove clothing. The more you take off the more bars you are given and so forth.

A few additional resources:

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/privacy-and-internet-safety is one that is frequently cited and has some wonderful tools for parents. Disney also has some online tools as well: https://privacy.thewaltdisneycompany.com/en/internet-safety/.

Other resources: https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en_us

http://kids.ikeepsafe.org/

https://www.safesearchkids.com/internet-safety-tips-for-kids/#.XJt7HVVKiJA

https://www.safekids.com/kids-rules-for-online-safety/

The BIGGEST piece of advice I could give is to make sure you have open lines of communication; know what apps / sites your kids are using online; set parental controls through your device or a third party app (this includes restricting sites / downloads / usage / etc.). If you don't know how to use the app or site, your child shouldn't be on it or using it -- not because you don't trust them, but because if sticky situations arise, if you don't know how to use the app, you can't help them navigate.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.