Keeping Children Safe and Secure Online: A Project Safe Childhood Presentation for Families on May 29

The U.S. Attorney General’s Office will host a presentation: Keeping Children Safe and Secure Online: A Project Safe Childhood Presentation for Families on May 29, 2018, from
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm at ARMS.

The presentation will include: being safe and secure online; Social Media 101; Digital Footprint; Gaming; Sexting and Cyberbullying; Sextortion; and Internet Predators

Click here for further information.

"Keeping Children Safe and Secure Online" Presentation for Adults on May 29

The ARPS district, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, is hosting a Project Safe Childhood Presentation on Keeping Children Safe and Secure Online. On May 29, there will be presentations at each of the schools for the Fifth and Sixth Graders only.

In the evening of the 29th, there will be a similar presentation for families at the Amherst Regional Middle School (170 Chestnut St.), from 7 to 8:30 p.m. All adults are welcome!

Dangers of Tide Pod Challenge

ARHS Principal Mark Jackson would like parents to be aware of the following information:

What is the Tide Pod Challenge?

• The Tide Pod Challenge is where students attempt to consume a plastic laundry detergent pod
• At first the challenge started as a joke but now poison control centers are warning parents about this dangerous activity
• The risks of this viral dare include: choking on the liquid by inhaling it, vomiting, change in blood pressure/heart rate, having seizures, or losing consciousness
• Ingredients in the detergent can burn the mouth, digestive system, and stomach
• When students partake in the challenge, they upload videos of themselves eating laundry detergent capsules and post them to social media for validation

Tide Pod Challenge in the news

• The so-called ‘Tide Pod challenge,’ which reportedly began as a joke, has become enough of a thing that it has garnered responses from a government watchdog, poison control centers, and Tide’s parent company, Procter & Gamble. Now YouTube is weighing in too. –Fast Company
• Children who have been exposed to the [Tide Pod] capsules have been hospitalized with vomiting, breathing difficulties and loss of consciousness. –Washington Post
• Thirty-nine reports of teenagers intentionally misusing laundry pods came in during the first 15 days of 2018 alone. –Time

Why should parents care?

• The Tide Pod Challenge is incredibly dangerous. It’s essentially ingesting poison
• Even if a student doesn’t eat the entire laundry detergent pod, just ingesting a tiny bit can lead to serious health repercussions
• If detergent makes its way into the bloodstream and organs, the effects could be fatal
•  With so many teens posting videos of this dangerous challenge, YouTube has issued a statement that it will remove any videos that show students partaking in this challenge
• YouTube is also taking further steps to completely terminate channels that have any videos of people eating laundry detergent capsules

What can parents do?

• If your student has eaten a laundry detergent pod, call 911, or contact the poison control center 1-800-222-1222 or a doctor immediately
• Consider reading Tide’s safety protocol to learn how you can protect your family and home
• Talk to your children about the Tide Pod Challenge and explain the serious health repercussions associated with it
• Monitor your student’s digital footprint to see if they are watching, liking, or creating posts about the Tide Pod Challenge
• Consider contacting your teen’s school. If your child has engaged with anything like the Tide Pod Challenge, other students might be engaging with it too
• Urge your child to report any misbehavior they encounter online and on social media

Online Smart and Safe - Digital Citizenship and Resources for Families

In October, the Amherst Regional Middle School PGO hosted a productive "Conversation with the Principal" about digital citizenship, cell phones and internet usage. Here is a web site from the American Association of School Librarians that provides many resources for parents/guardians:  http://www.ala.org/aasl/parents/internet

Parent's Internet Safety Night

Internet 101: A Parent’s Guide to the Preteen’s Life Online Presented by Cindy Boyle

Where: Wildwood School Library

When: May 6, 2010, 6:30PM
The Internet's "super highway" runs right through the middle of our children's lives. It opens up a world of entertainment, communication and educational opportunities. However, it also allows direct access to people and Web sites that can expose kids to age-inappropriate content and risky social contacts. This workshop offers a glimpse into the online lives of young people. Participants in this workshop will become familiar with those web sites that are popular with the youth in our community.

Topics covered will include: social networking sites, online gaming, popular websites and “sexting”.

Cindy is a former Pittsfield police officer and a victim’s assistance advocate for Berkshire County. She is currently the Director of Community Education and Outreach at Northwestern District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts. Cindy visited Wildwood School last year and presented to our fifth and sixth grade students about Internet Safety and Cyber-bullying. Cindy is a valuable resource for our staff and students in our anti-bullying effort.

The presentation is geared toward parents of 5th and 6th grade students. However, if you have younger children who are currently using social networking sites or email at home, please feel free to join us.

Coffee, refreshments and childcare will be provided by the Wildwood PTO.

Internet Safety Information

Joan Gallinaro, the Technology Integration Teacher at Fort River, attended the internet safety workshop presented by Cindy Boyle of the District Attorney's office last week at Marks Meadow. Joan asked me to post some information from the presentation for those of us who were not able to attend. Please click the link for a PDF document: http://is.gd/6fVzS