Today we were visited by Jesse Miller, the true Internet Safety man himself who both delighted and terrified us with his experience and wisdom.

The discussion today brought me back to a vivid memory I have of attending an assembly in grade seven. An unremarkable looking man sauntered into our middle school gymnasium, called out a random students name, and then absolutely doxed them in front of the entire school. He had this student’s full name, the full name of their immediate family members, he had all his social media accounts, his home address, he knew were his parents worked and he had a near perfect outline of this student’s weekly schedule. The gymnasium fell quiet – until the uncomfortable laughter set in. I know I’m not alone in this experience; many schools have been, and may even continue to be, visited to this day by somewhat unremarkable looking people teaching and preaching internet safety in the scariest way possible. I don’t remember the student who’s personal information was leaked for everyone to see but I do remember that being the day my class was encouraged to create secondary email accounts – that didn’t include our full names.

I’ve done my best in the last few years to keep a curated social media account. I am careful about what I post and who can see it, and I do my best to let my friends know that I keep a professional profile. My Instagram is private, my Facebook is almost nonexistent, and while Jesse was excellent at getting to all of our questions today I am left with a few more.

What can I do if someone is posting photos without my knowledge and they are found by future employers? What rules currently surround teachers who might also have part time jobs working at bars? What happens if I am featured in promotional footage from my other places of work?

The following websites were provided to us by Jesse and provide quality information on safe online practices Standards for BC Educators and the consequences that could be faced by those who do not uphold those standards Professional Standards for BC Teachers .

I found this photo curtesy of a 2007 flickr post– and yes – I feel better knowing he’s out there being a safety NUT for us. Thanks so much Jesse!