There are many ways for parents/guardians to stay involved with their children as they navigate the world of technology. Berlin Central School District strongly encourage parents and guardians to be vigilant about their children’s digital activities and online safety. Monitoring online interactions and maintaining open communication with your child about their digital habits are critical steps in keeping them safe. Any inappropriate behavior or interactions, whether online or in person, should be reported immediately to the school or local authorities.
Things to keep in mind as you work with your child to keep them safe and secure on the Internet:
- Media Balance & Well-Being
- Privacy & Security
- Digital Footprint & Identity
- Relationships & Communication
- Cyberbullying, Digital Drama & Hate Speech
- News & Media Literacy
Youth Online Safety Resources from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services
Kids (age 6-10)
- NetSmartzkids.org offers videos, games, activities, and a fun way to start educating younger kids about how to use the internet safely.
- Checklist: Supporting 6-10-year-olds online: Early use of digital technology has been shown to improve language skills and promote children’s social development and creativity but it’s not without risks for young children, who may come across inappropriate content or begin to copy what older children do online. This checklist provides tips to help understand what you can do to give young children the best experience of going online.
Tweens and Teens (age 11+)
- NSTeens uses games with zombies, quizzes, videos, and choose your own adventure comics to talk all things related to the internet.
- Revenge porn, sextortion, and more – Information on what this all means and tips for how to talk to your teen about it can be found at stopsextortion.com.
- Internet safety checklist for pre-teens: As children between the ages of 11 and 13 make the transition to a more independent stage with the move to middle school, they become more confident internet users with more varied habits. This checklist provides resources for 11-13-year-olds including age appropriate apps and tips on talking to children ages 11-13 about internet safety.
- Internet safety checklist for teens: As your child becomes a teenager, it’s likely the internet will be a part of their daily life. This is a compilation of practical tips to help teens have a safer online experience and build up their resilience to get the best out of the digital world as they grow.
5 Minute Parenting Guide: Catfishing
Selfies, Socials, and Screens: Navigating Virtual Spaces for Youth
NYSED Internet Safety and Cyberbullying Tips
SCHOOLSAFETY.GOV Online Safety Resources
Cyber Safety Tips for Parents

Common Sense Media, is a great source of information about how your children are interacting with technology. For example, you can see age-appropriate ratings for movies, books, games and apps. We encourage you to use this resource to understand your child and their technological world better.
Berlin CSD Counseling Staff
Rachel Teplitsky
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Rachel Harrison
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Ryan Steller
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James Taylor-Shaw, MS
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Jen Poli
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Knowing the websites and apps that children are using:
Understanding what websites your child uses and how often they frequent them can help you understand the knowledge and skills they are seeking. It’s important to ask them about what interests them as well as monitor their use to make sure the sites are not only age appropriate but that they use safe practices. Most social media do not want children under the age of 13 to join their apps. This is because the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which was passed in 1998, restricts websites from tracking data on children under 13.
The following is a list of apps and websites that children frequently use. How many have you heard of? Click on the linked websites below for in-depth information about each.
Other resources for helping your children stay safe on the internet:
Facebook Parent Portal: Tools and resources to help your child navigate Facebook and other social media safely.
NetSmartz:
Created by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® and Boys & Girls Clubs of America An interactive safety resource that teaches kids and teens how to stay safe on the Internet.
National Crime Prevention Council:
Start or join a crime prevention program in your area or check out their resources on addressing the issues of drinking, drugs, guns, conflict, and bullies.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:
Free child safety and prevention webinars and courses about how to protect your kids from online predators. You have to sign up and register to receive the free content.
Essential Applications for Internet Security at Home
Free:
Ad-Aware:
Designed to provide advanced protection from known data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components.
Subscription-based:
Norton Internet Security
Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite
Kaspersky Internet Security
McAffee Antivirus
Software for Parental Control, Filtering and Tracking
Net Nanny is a popular and well-rated parental control program. This software link is being provided as a courtesy and not an endorsement by the Ballston Spa School District. Keep in mind that home-based filtering programs do not act as a firewall for your computer.
If your child is currently on social media or if they’ve been asking to join, it’s important to talk to them about what social media is, what rules you have for it and how it doesn’t always show an accurate picture of someone’s life.
“Social media makes it easy to compare oneself to another,” says child psychologist Kate Eshleman, PsyD. “Most people put on social media what they want you to see. And by using social media, all of us have the ability to access endless information anytime we want to, and that can be very hard for kids.”
Dr. Eshleman discusses the negative effects of social media and — if you’re allowing them to use it — how to talk to your kids about how to stay safe, not overdo it and not take a lot of what they see on there too seriously. – https://health.clevelandclinic.org/dangers-of-social-media-for-youth