One of the greatest things about camp is the lifelong friendships that are created each summer.
To help cultivate these special relationships after the campers leave, we send out address books, hold our fall reunion and winter weekend, and send out newsletters that help and encourage campers to stay connected with their bunkmates.
We really enjoy hearing about all the positive interactions that take place with our campers through the year.
Things like giant sleepovers, invites to bar and bat mitzvahs, and all the endless phone calls and emails that keep our campers connected with one another.
Having our campers and their parents share these special friendships that have endured the winter and even a campers' post life, always brings smiles to our faces.
However, in the past few years, we have been hearing about interactions that have caused our smiles to turn into looks of concern.
Through the medium of email and instant messaging negative interactions between children are occurring that have hurt another person's feelings.
These negative interactions are a form of bullying, also know as "cyber-bullying".
We all know bullying isn't new, but using the computer to bully others brings a new element to this unacceptable behavior; saying unkind things, spreading rumors, all without having to see or experience the impact on the intended target, and in some cases hiding under the cover of a screen name.
Cyber-bullying is most often done directly through email or instant messaging, but it can also be done using popular social networking websites such as myspace, Facebook or friendtastic.
These sites are not only dangerous because of the ability to bully, they are also dangerous, because once the information is posted, it becomes widely available.
The messages and other information that gets posted on these sites can be forwarded or accessed by unintended and unwanted people.
Research has shown that most of the time parents are not fully aware of the computer use of their child, how long or what sites they visit or the problems and dangers associated with its use.
We have collected some strategies to help parents outline their child's computer use and their parental expectations including "net etiquette".
·First, TALK to you kids about safe computer use.
Ask them if they are using any of the social networking sites.
Talk to them about the dangers and concerns associated with these types of computer sites.
·Ask them about cyber-bullying and if they know someone who has been affected, including themselves.
Help them understand how easily words can be misunderstood, misinterpreted, taken out of context and can cause hurt feelings when there is no voice tone or body language to go along with the words.
Explain that "they should not say anything on the internet that they would not say directly to someone's face in front of there parent".
·Remind them that email and text messaging is not private; a mean remark can easily be forwarded and they are judged by many on how and what they write.
·Outline and enforce rules for staying safe on the internet.
(i.
e.
Don't give out personal information including schools, birthdates, phone numbers, addresses, last names, home towns, places they like to hang out, etc).
Set up parental controls so you can monitor the chat rooms your child visits.
Additionally, make sure children understand that passwords should never be shared; someone else could send messages from their account.
·Caution against joining in on bullying: voting on a poll for the ugliest kid in class is as bad as creating the poll in the first place.
If you find that your child has been a part of bullying, DO NOT IGNORE IT.
·Encourage your child not to respond to bullying online.
Encourage them to talk to an adult so that the adult can get involved if necessary to trace the offensive message.
·Every so often click the history button on your browser to see what sites your children are visiting.
Keep the computer in a shared space so that your children know you will be watching.
To help cultivate these special relationships after the campers leave, we send out address books, hold our fall reunion and winter weekend, and send out newsletters that help and encourage campers to stay connected with their bunkmates.
We really enjoy hearing about all the positive interactions that take place with our campers through the year.
Things like giant sleepovers, invites to bar and bat mitzvahs, and all the endless phone calls and emails that keep our campers connected with one another.
Having our campers and their parents share these special friendships that have endured the winter and even a campers' post life, always brings smiles to our faces.
However, in the past few years, we have been hearing about interactions that have caused our smiles to turn into looks of concern.
Through the medium of email and instant messaging negative interactions between children are occurring that have hurt another person's feelings.
These negative interactions are a form of bullying, also know as "cyber-bullying".
We all know bullying isn't new, but using the computer to bully others brings a new element to this unacceptable behavior; saying unkind things, spreading rumors, all without having to see or experience the impact on the intended target, and in some cases hiding under the cover of a screen name.
Cyber-bullying is most often done directly through email or instant messaging, but it can also be done using popular social networking websites such as myspace, Facebook or friendtastic.
These sites are not only dangerous because of the ability to bully, they are also dangerous, because once the information is posted, it becomes widely available.
The messages and other information that gets posted on these sites can be forwarded or accessed by unintended and unwanted people.
Research has shown that most of the time parents are not fully aware of the computer use of their child, how long or what sites they visit or the problems and dangers associated with its use.
We have collected some strategies to help parents outline their child's computer use and their parental expectations including "net etiquette".
·First, TALK to you kids about safe computer use.
Ask them if they are using any of the social networking sites.
Talk to them about the dangers and concerns associated with these types of computer sites.
·Ask them about cyber-bullying and if they know someone who has been affected, including themselves.
Help them understand how easily words can be misunderstood, misinterpreted, taken out of context and can cause hurt feelings when there is no voice tone or body language to go along with the words.
Explain that "they should not say anything on the internet that they would not say directly to someone's face in front of there parent".
·Remind them that email and text messaging is not private; a mean remark can easily be forwarded and they are judged by many on how and what they write.
·Outline and enforce rules for staying safe on the internet.
(i.
e.
Don't give out personal information including schools, birthdates, phone numbers, addresses, last names, home towns, places they like to hang out, etc).
Set up parental controls so you can monitor the chat rooms your child visits.
Additionally, make sure children understand that passwords should never be shared; someone else could send messages from their account.
·Caution against joining in on bullying: voting on a poll for the ugliest kid in class is as bad as creating the poll in the first place.
If you find that your child has been a part of bullying, DO NOT IGNORE IT.
·Encourage your child not to respond to bullying online.
Encourage them to talk to an adult so that the adult can get involved if necessary to trace the offensive message.
·Every so often click the history button on your browser to see what sites your children are visiting.
Keep the computer in a shared space so that your children know you will be watching.