Cyberwellness

Cyber Wellness refers to the positive well-being of an Internet user. It involves an understanding of the norms of appropriate, responsible behaviour with regard to technology use as well as knowledge, skills, values and attitudes on how to protect oneself and other Internet users in the cyber world. Any reported cases of inappropriate online behaviour will be investigated, as the school takes a serious view of such cases.

Issues	Tips
Netiquette	- Remember the rules of courtesy. Show people the same respect that one would expect from others both real life and online. Avoid hurting someone’s feelings with what is written. - Be responsible for what is posted. Do not share provocative photographs or intimate personal details online. - Avoid flaming. Flaming is the sending of repeated, aggressive messages through the Internet. Do not scold, insult, or ridicule others. Stay calm when ‘flaming’ occurs and ignore or give time for the other person to explain. It may be a misunderstanding. - Respect other people's privacy. Do not read other people’s files and emails or spread unfounded rumours. - Respect other people’s time. Avoid sending or forwarding information that is not important or relevant to others.
Cyber bullying	- Be Courteous. Do not post threats or slurs or insulting comments against others on a website. - Do not spread lies and rumors about others via text message or online. - Do not post embarrassing videos about others on a site such as YouTube or Facebook. - Do not impersonate others in order to trick, tease, harass or spread rumors about another person. - Inform an adult or talk to a trusted friend. This applies whether the pupil is a victim or witness of cyberbullying. - Don’t respond to rude or mean emails or text messages. Online bullies get satisfaction when they succeed in getting the victim angry or upset. - Report the bullying to their teacher(s) directly or contact cyberwellness@touch.org.sg. - Stay away from the phone, chat or email for a few days.
Tips Dangers of Cyber Contact	- Protect your privacy. Do not share personal details like your name, age, home address, email address, phone number, photographs or passwords when using chatrooms or visiting websites. - Set your profile on any social networking site to private setting. Do not accept any stranger as your online friend. Only chat with people or friends whom you know - Only visit chatrooms or social networking sites that are approved by your parents. Use monitored chatrooms on trustworthy websites. - Avoid meeting a cyber-pal face-to-face without first discussing with your parents or guardian and obtaining permission. - Say ‘NO’ firmly if someone is trying to persuade you into meeting up or giving personal information about yourself. - Leave the chat room if the conversation makes you feel uncomfortable, weird, afraid or confused.
Internet and Gaming Addiction	- Keep a balance between playing computer games and involvement in other activities. Draw up a time-table for the different activities of the day and ensure that gaming does not take up most of your time. - Act responsibly and complete your school homework or any assigned chores before playing computer games. Remember that school lessons and other school activities must have priority over gaming. - Set limits on playing time. Ensure that your gaming sessions do not become more important than your school work, meal times and sleeping hours. - Take regular breaks After an hour of playing, you should take a 10 minute rest to break away from the fantasy world of the game. It is also good to rest your eyes every 30 minutes. - Play educational games instead. There are computer games that provide exciting and education opportunities such as cross-word puzzle, word search, etc. - Take interest in other hobbies. Get yourself out from the computer or handheld game. Play a ball game or exercise with your friends to keep yourself physically fit. - Spend time with your family members and friends. Talk (face-to-face) to them about what is happening in school. It is important that you interact more with people in the real world than with the virtual ones.
Avoiding Copyright infringement	- Check the website’s terms and conditions Always check the terms and conditions of use before copying, downloading, hyper linking any materials on the website. You should follow the instructions or guidelines stated by the author of a work before using it. -Seek permission As all materials on the Internet, CD-Rom and computer software are copyrighted, you should always ask for permission to use them by writing to the copyright owners. Similarly, you must also obtain consent from the owner before forwarding an e-mail embedded with copyright materials or uploading copyright materials onto their personal blogs. - Limit the amount of work to be copied Under the conditions of ‘fair use’, students are not allowed to make copies of more than 10% of the total number of bytes in an electronic edition. - Best way to avoid infringing copyrights is to create your own artwork or take digital photographs to use in your work. - Need Help with Cyber-related issues. You can contact cyberwellness@touch.org.sg or visit http://www.planetcrush.org/ for details.
Inappropriate Content	- Close the web browser immediately when you feel uncomfortable or scared by what you see or read. - Check with an adult e.g. parent or teacher if you are unsure of a website. - Install a filtering software.