At Chest of Hope, we believe that education and empowerment go hand-in-hand. The Internet can be an incredibly useful tool for learning and sharing information. At the same time, accessing websites and engaging in social media activities may pose unintended risks. Everyone is at risk for the exposure of their personal information and if you are not very familiar with Privacy Settings on various sites, you might be sharing more than you intend to. Additionally, in the case of crimes like dating abuse, stalking and domestic violence, online activities could sometimes be tracked and used by perpetrators to control or intimidate their victims. Sexual abusers have also been known to gain access to their victims via websites and online forums.

While we encourage you to use the Internet to access information and connect with others online, we hope you do so safely. Here is a list of several resources with great content about staying safe online.

• StaySafeOnline.org is a project of the National Cyber Security Alliance NCSA). NCSA’s mission is to educate and therefore empower a digital society to use the Internet safely and securely at home, work and school, protecting the technology individuals’ use, the networks they connect to and shared digital assets. StatStaySafeOnline.org has great information about general online safety and a number of other topics such as Online Safety for Survivors of Domestic Violence, Dating Abuse or Stalking.
• Loveisrespect.org provides detailed information about digital dating abuse as well as recommendations for staying safe on social networks.
• Reputation.com has information and resource links concerning cyberstalking and Internet Safety Resources for Parent.
• Child net International is a leading resource for parents who want to understand how best to keep their children safe online.
• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also offers information for parents through their NetSmartz website.