Youth
Being connected to your friends, family and everyone else online can be awesome! But nothing we do online is really private, including emails, text messages and even the apps you use on your own phone!
Don’t worry, you’re in control of how much or how little you want to share with your friends, your networks and the world. As long as you know how to use social media and the internet safely, you can protect yourself!
FAQs
Just like you put a case on your phone to protect it on the outside, you can protect your apps and personal info on the inside. If you’re not sure what info your apps have access to, you can review app permissions through your phone’s privacy settings. In your settings, you can also make sure location settings are off and that your phone isn’t regularly charging your credit card or posting on your social networks. Feel free to ask an adult for help doing this!
Cyberbullying refers to cruel or bullying messages sent online. These might be from former friends, people you go to school with or other people you know. Sometimes it’s hard to know where it’s coming from or who’s doing it because of screen names, but if someone is sending you mean messages online, don’t be afraid to ask for help!
It’s often recommended that you ignore bullying messages instead of responding to them, but we know that’s tough! Instead, you could try to delete or block bullies, so you don’t see their messages or texts. Ignoring cyberbullying isn’t your only option, and you definitely don’t have to face it alone! It’s a good idea to get help from a parent, school counselor or another trusted adult. That’s especially true if the cyberbullying contains threats.