What a way to ring in 2023—we’re Guidestar Platinum Transparent! Come celebrate the spirit of openness that runs throughout our organization. We provided detailed information on how we run our operations, programs, and finances to the public to achieve this coveted designation. It is the highest level of transparency that a nonprofit can attain on the Guidestar platform. In other words, Guidestar vouches for our transparency!
At SafeTeensOnline Inc, we are committed to transparency and accountability in all that we do. We believe that it is essential for our stakeholders – including donors, volunteers, and the communities we serve – to have access to information about our organization. By providing this information, we hope to build trust and foster relationships with those who support our mission.
Our organization is dedicated to promoting internet safety for teens and young people. Through our educational programs and resources, we aim to empower young people to make safe and responsible choices online. We believe that this work is more important now than ever, as the internet plays an increasingly central role in our daily lives.
We are honored to have received this recognition from Guidestar and are grateful for their support. We look forward to continuing to serve our communities and promote internet safety for teens. If you would like to learn more about SafeTeensOnline Inc and our work, please visit our website or follow us on social media. Thank you for your support!
Do you think the Internet is a safe place? If you do, you aren’t alone. Many people believe the Internet is safe; however, they could not be more wrong. Many people can and do deny the hard truth about the place they know and love; however, the facts and evidence speak for themselves. It is clear that the Internet is a dangerous place as the malicious sites, mischievous people, and unexpected traps contained in our “safe haven” are far from friendly.
Malicious sites are something that roams the Internet and are the bane of websites all over the platform. Websites are sites on the web with domains (https://website-name.something) such as Google, Wikipedia, or Youtube. The sites I listed are some of the ones that we use often and are identified to be relatively safe to use. However, some sites are more hidden in the dark and have more malicious purposes. These websites can contain IP grabbers (tools that can be used to find your location), viruses/malware (tools that may infect your computer and take sensitive information), and more ill-intended software that can not only threaten your digital life but your real one as well. tathli.com, and aladel.net are a few examples of this (both have been taken down), with both of them containing malware and other sites such as Grabify publicly allowing people to create their own IP grabbers, all while taking your own at the same time.
Mischievous people are humans or robots that lurk on the Internet, waiting for a new victim to infect. These people have many purposes ranging from developing those same malicious websites that we mentioned before or displaying traits of cyberbullying/predation. Simply posting pictures or traits that you publish on social media can motivate skilled hackers to find your identity in the span of minutes. An example of this is the story of Alicia Kozakiewicz, a young girl who got kidnapped by an internet pedophile. Luckily she was saved; however, it just shows how seemingly insignificant details such as your face or your name can cause the difference between happy internet browsing and a lifetime of regret and fear.
On the other hand, many people argue that they/their children are responsible enough to flow through the Internet safely. Many would agree that you can gracefully navigate the Internet safely and avoid a good amount of things I have talked about in the essay. However, unexpected traps are placed all over the web. They can come with the face of a fake celebrity, friend, family, or on the other hand or dark emails that blackmail you into doing unspeakable things like the story of Nicole Hayden being catfished by a man on the internet.. The point is that you can always try your best to be safe on the Internet, but sometimes there are simply things out of your control.
The Internet is a great place. It holds the information we need and apps that we love but if you have picked up anything from this essay is that the Internet can be a dangerous place. With all the terrible people, sites, and traps, you might think I hate the Internet or advise you to stop using it. In truth, however, it is the opposite. I am on the Internet every day, whether doing schoolwork, gaming with friends, or coding. I have experienced these things I talk about first hand, but it does not scathe my undying love for the web. So, in conclusion, you should keep in mind that the Internet holds dangers but still use it for the wonderful tool it is.
Our Ambassadors visited T-Mobile in Bellevue, WA this summer to celebrate with other T-Mobile Changemaker Finalists. During this trip, they heard from other Changemakers about focusing on inclusion. This emboldened them to move forward with ensuring that the SafeTeensOnline curriculum is made available to native Spanish speaking students in the US and abroad.
Under the leadership of SafeTeensOnline US & Caribbean Ambassador Siona “Dolly” Pramoda, the organization identified a Spanish language partner in Ganar Juntos. The organization is focused on providing employment opportunities in the Dominican Republic, where the unemployment rate is a whopping 75%. With the support of the Changemaker Award provided by T-Mobile, the SafeTeensOnline is proud and excited to move forward in the Spanish language curriculum initiative.
If you are in a predominantly Spanish speaker school, please contact us (admin@safeteensonline.org) to be part of our program. We are excited to welcome you!
-STO Team
Nuestros embajadores visitaron T-Mobile en Bellevue, WA este verano para celebrar con otros finalistas de T-Mobile Changemaker. Durante este viaje, escucharon de otros Changemakers acerca de centrarse en la inclusión. Esto los animó a seguir adelante para garantizar que el plan de estudios de SafeTeensOnline esté disponible para los estudiantes de habla hispana nativa en los EE. UU. y en el extranjero.
Bajo el liderazgo de SafeTeensOnline US & Embajadora del Caribe Siona “Dolly” Pramoda, la organización identificó un socio de habla hispana en Ganar Juntos. La organización se enfoca en brindar oportunidades de empleo en la República Dominicana, donde la tasa de desempleo es del 75%. Con el apoyo del Premio Changemaker proporcionado por T-Mobile, SafeTeensOnline se enorgullece y emociona de avanzar en la iniciativa del currículo en español.
Si estás en una escuela predominantemente de habla hispana, contáctanos (admin@safeteensonline.org) para ser parte de nuestro programa. ¡Estamos emocionados de darle la bienvenida!
Hi, I’m Natasha Singh, a sophomore at Notre Dame High School in California. Recently, I had the opportunity of interviewing a young teen boy named Vivek. He created a chat based application during the pandemic where he could chat and socialize with his classmates.
In the first stages, the site was going well with friends and classmates actively participating in conversation however he then encountered some issues. Vivek observed rude and bullying behavior towards a group of kids. This took him by surprise as he was very disappointed since this was not his intentions at all.
The idea was to create a platform where he and his friends can socialize while physically being away from each other. After observing the negativity that was happening, he realized that he needs to have safety measures in place to prevent such harmful a犀利士ctivity.
He has learned from this experience and is working on creating a similar application that will try to minimize bullying behavior. We wish Vivek all the best as he works to develop application with an environment where he and his friends can safely socialize and keep a positive environment to chat.
Jayanth M, a SafeTeensOnline Ambassador from Mount Litera Zee School in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, Jayanth.M, interviewed Mr. Kort Evans, Co-Founder, and Principal Cybersecurity Consultant at Colossus Technologies Group, about his personal experiences and some safety measures.
Social media can be a dangerous place for sharing personal details, as cyberspace is vast and permanent. Our privacy and security are threatened by social media and third-party applications, but a few simple changes, such as using a VPN and anti-virus software on mobile devices, can help a great deal. It is necessary to know about cyber security to avoid encroachment of privacy by cyber attackers and hackers.
As cybersecurity has become more popular, it’s no surprise that there are many career opportunities in this fascinating field.
War is no longer waged, with weapons and arms. As countries become more competitive, cyber warfare becomes more prominent.
The more you know about cybersecurity, the more secure you can make your network and browse safely with a greater sense of security and peace of mind.
Join SafeTeensOnline for more awareness and a safe future.
