HEADS up

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Share with Care

Interact with Tact

The Protection Connection 

Word Search

table of 

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You text, you play games, you share photos 

and video. You update your status, you post 

comments, you probably spend some time in a 

virtual world. 

Being online—connected through some sort of device—is how 

you live your life. And as you spend more of your time there, it 

can be easy to over-share, embarrass yourself, mess up your 

computer and possibly get messages from creepy people. The 

truth is there are some risks involved in socializing, playing and 

communicating online. 

Regardless of how fast your fingers fly on a keyboard, phone 

or tablet, the best tool you have to help avoid risks online is 

your brain. When you’re ready to post or send a message 

or a photo, download a file, game or program, or shop for 

something—stop for a second. Think about things like: 

Do you know and trust who 

you’re dealing with—or what 

you’re sharing or downloading? 

How will you feel if your 

information ends up 

somewhere you didn’t intend? 

Asking a few key questions first can help you protect yourself, 

your friends and your computer. Flip through and find more 

things to stop and think about before you click. 

1
Your online actions can have real-world 

consequences. The pictures you post and the words 

you write can affect the people in your life. Think before you 

post and share. 

What you post could have a bigger 

“audience” than you think. Even if you use privacy 

settings, it’s impossible to completely control who sees your 

social networking profile, pictures, videos or texts. Before 

you click “send,” think about how you will feel if your family, 

teachers, coaches or neighbors find it. 

Get someone’s okay before you share 

photos or videos they’re in. Online photo albums 

are great for storing and sharing pictures. It’s so easy to snap 

a shot and upload it instantly. Stop and think about your own 

privacy—and other people’s—before you share photos and 

videos online. It can be embarrassing, unfair and even unsafe 

to send or post photos and videos without getting permission 

from the people in them.

2

SHARE WITH CA

Sexting: Don’t do it. You may have heard stories at 

school or in the news about people “sexting”—sending nude 

photos from mobile phones. Don’t do it. Period. People who 

create, forward or even save sexually explicit photos, videos 

or messages put their friendships and reputations at risk. 

Worse yet, they could be breaking the law.
Once you post 

something online, you 

can’t take it back.

You may think that you’ve deleted 

a comment or a picture from a 

site—or that you will delete it later. 

Know that it may still be online 

or saved on someone else’s 

computer.

3

ARE

Were you ever 

sorry you shared 

something online?
4

Politeness counts. Texting is just another way for 

people to have a conversation, and texters are just like 

people talking face-to-face or on the phone: they appreciate 

“please” and “thank you” (or pls and ty). 

Tone it down. In online conversations, using all CAPS, 

long rows of exclamation points or large bolded fonts is the 

same as shouting. 

Use Cc: and Reply all: sparingly. Before you 

send a message, stop and think about whether everyone 

needs to see it. 

Avatars are people too. When you’re playing a game 

or exploring an online world where you can create a character 

and interact with others, remember real people are behind 

those characters on the screen. Respect their feelings just 

INTERACT WITH 
5

 TACT

like you would in person. Remember that your character or 

avatar is a virtual version of you—what does it tell people about 

you and your interests? 

Don’t impersonate. It’s wrong and can be hurtful to 

create sites, pages or posts that seem to come from someone 

else, like someone in your class or a teacher. 

Speak up. If you see something inappropriate on a social 

networking site or in a game or chat room, let the website know 

and tell an adult you trust. Using Report Abuse links can help 

keep sites fun for everyone. 

Don’t stand for bullying—online or off.

Treat others the way you want to be treated—whether you’re 

interacting with them online, on your phone or in person. 

Have you seen 

something online that 

made you angry?
Cyberbullying is bullying that happens online. It can happen in an 

email, a text message, an online game or on a social networking 

site. It might involve rumors or images posted on someone’s 

profile or passed around for other people to see.

You know that, right? So you know that cyberbullying 

is a lose-lose proposition: it often makes the person being 

harassed feel bad—and it makes the bully look bad. It also might 

lead to punishment from school authorities or the police. 

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CYBErBULLYING
7

If something online 

bothers you, 

who do you tell? 

What do you do if someone harasses you 

online? Keep a cool head, and don’t respond. Most people 

realize that bullying is wrong. Sometimes you can stop bullying 

if you ignore or block the person. You also can report abuse 

to the website where it’s taking place. If it continues, save the 

evidence and ask for help from an adult you trust. 

What do you do if you witness cyberbullying? 

Tell the bully to stop. Most kids don’t bully, and there’s no 

reason for anyone to put up with it. This mean behavior usually 

stops pretty quickly when somebody stands up for the person 

being bullied. 
Use privacy settings to restrict who can see 

and post on your profile. Many social networking 

sites, chat rooms and blogs have privacy settings. Find out how 

to turn these settings on, and then do it.

Limit your online friends to people you 

actually know. 

Learn about location-based services. Many 

phones have GPS technology, and there are applications that let 

you find out where your friends are—and let them find you. Set 

your privacy settings so that only people you know personally can 

see your location. Think about keeping location-based services 

off, and turning them on only when needed. Ask yourself, “Does 

this app need to know where I am?”

Trust your gut if you feel threatened or 

uncomfortable because of someone or 

something you find online. Tell someone who can 

help you report your concerns to the police and other people 

who can help.

8

PROTECT YOURSELF

THE PROTECTION 
9

 CONNECTION 

Do you download apps? If you do, you might 

be giving the app’s developers access to your personal 

information—maybe even info that’s not related to the purpose 

of the app. For example, say you download an app that lets you 

make a drawing out of a photo, but the company who made the 

app gets access to your entire contact list. It might share the 

information it collected with marketers or other companies.

You can try to check what information the app collects—if it tells 

you—and check out your own privacy settings. Also think about 

whether getting that app is really worth sharing the details of 

your life.

Some apps 

cost money. And many 

free apps let you buy stuff 

within them—with real money. 

Check with your parents to 

make sure they’re ok with you 

buying additional features, 

especially if they’re 

paying the bill.
PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION 

Some information should stay private.

Your Social Security number and family financial information—

like your parents’ bank account or credit card numbers—should 

stay in the family.

Keep your passwords private. The longer your 

password, the harder it is to crack. Don’t share your passwords 

with anybody, including your best friends or your boyfriend or 

girlfriend.

Don’t reply to text, email or pop-up 

messages that ask you to reply with personal 

information—even if the message looks like it’s from a 

friend, family member or company you know, or threatens that 

something bad will happen if you don’t reply. These messages 

may be fakes, sent to steal your information.

10
Be cautious about opening attachments or 

clicking on links. They may contain viruses or spyware. 

Learn about security software and how your 

computers are protected.

Remember that sometimes, free stuff—like 

games, ring tones or screen savers—can 

hide viruses or spyware. Don’t download unless you 

trust the source and scan the file with security software.

Whether it’s your laptop, tablet or phone, don’t 

leave it in public—even for a minute. If it goes 

missing, all the important information stored on it—like your 

messages and photos—may fall into the wrong hands.

Protect YOUR COMPUTER

11

Have you ever 

downloaded something 

that turned out to be 

different than you 

expected?
WORD SEARCH

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APPS 

PRIVACY

RESPECT

DOWNLOAD 

TEXTING 

POLITENESS

PROFILE

VIRTUAL

SECURITY

SPYWARE
Stop.Think.Connect.TM is a national public awareness campaign 

aimed at increasing the understanding of cyber threats and 

empowering the American public to be safer and more secure online.

OnGuardOnline.gov is the federal government’s website to help you 

be safe, secure and responsible online.

To order free copies of this brochure, visit bulkorder.ftc.gov.

July 2013