Yoursphere Parent Newsletter - October 2009

Yoursphere Parent Newsletter, October 2009

In this issue:

• Deep Thoughts On Lip Gloss
• Contestant Philanthropy
• Upcoming Media
• New Look
• Inside The Spheres
• School Fund Raising
• Web Safety Tips
• Web Safety News
• Tweeting Yoursphere

Happy Fall y'all from Yoursphere! Here's what's been happening at the safest, most vibrant site for kids and teens.

Hot New Spheres

The diversity of topics members bring to Yoursphere is really impressive. Just a small handful of the latest member-created spheres include Abraham Lincoln, Spongebob, Piano, Baby Mouse, Useless Facts, William Shakespeare (where "Romeo & Juliet" was deemed "Awesome!!!!") The X-Games, Ghost Busters (sample comment: "even though it's old, this movie is awesome!") and Lip Gloss.

It seems no subject is too obscure for at least a few kids to bond over! The most popular spheres encourage dialogue between members, as "owllover" explains in the introduction to a sphere called Cats With Attitude: "I created this whole sphere to tell funny stories about my cats and to hear about other peoples cats, too. Feel free to post any story about your cats or cats you know. I will be posting a lot of stories about my cats on here, and most of them are funny. So be sure to check in every once in a while for some new postings. So if your in the mood for great fun and comedy, your in the right sphere, DEFINITELY!! This is owllover over and owlt :D"

Latest Contest

A winner has yet to be announced from our latest contest, which asks, "How much good could you do with a million bucks?" but some of the answers are really heartwarming. Here's a few, in all their original glory.

"I would go to africa and build a ton of wells and build better homes for them. Also I would take homeless [people] to disneyland for a day."

"i would give some to my mom to pay bills, some to my church ,and some to my fav small shelter because they need more room"

"i would help the family that are losting there job and the hungry then go to teens that live on the steert and help them"

"Well, since it's a million dollars, I want to help hospitals, poor, disabled, and especially children. I would put some toward college"

Yoursphere In The News

Big month of media interviews ahead for Yoursphere, including an appearance by Mary Kay on E! later in the month (air date TBD). In the meantime, viewers in the West can catch Yoursphere's Founder and CEO according to the following October schedule. If you have a chance, tune in!

October

1: Reno, NV

9: KRNV-TV, NBC, "News 4 Today," 6:20am am
Fresno, CA
Speaking to the Catholic Professional & Business
Club, San Jose, CA [MK- TIME?]

14: Fresno, CA
KSEE-TV - "KSEE24 Sunrise," 6:30 a.m.

15: Bakersfield, CA
KBAK TV, CBS - "29 Eyewitness News at 6 a.m."
KBFX TV, FOX - "Eyewitness News on Fox 58"

16: Las Vegas, NV
KLAS-TV, CBS - "Eyewitness News In the Morning"

27: Yuma, AZ
KSWT- TV, CBS - "KSWT First News," 4:45 p.m.

28: Phoenix Arizona
KAZT- TV - "The Pat McMahon Show," 9 a.m.
KTVK- TV, CW Network - "Your Life A to Z," 10:15 a.m.
KPNX- TV NBC - "Arizona Midday," 1:00 p.m.

Site Redesign

From the sound of things, you really like our vibrant new look! The redesign was fun, and we're glad members are delighted.

Inside The Spheres

Yoursphere Contributing writer Heather wrote about one of her first concert experiences.

Live Music Rocks

Concerts are a great way to hang out with friends and hear some good music. I just went to see Nickelback, which also included appearances by Papa Roach, Hinder, and Saving Abel. The show started with Saving Abel, followed by Hinder, Papa Roach, and finally Nickelback. The music was hard rock and metal, and the surprisingly rich acoustics of the venue made us able to hear every bit of it.

The concert was located at Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Wheatland, CA, a really rural location in the middle of miles of fields and open space. The sound could travel really well there! When it got dark we could see the stars and special affects of the concert perfectly. You could really feel the vibrations of the drummers under your feet and the rock beat all around you--it was overpowering!

To find out who's playing near you soon, head to Ticketmaster.com and type in the band you want to see. If they are touring, there will be a list of locations they are visiting and links to purchase tickets. Prices vary with each band, but you can get sometimes score discounts if you buy tickets early or get group packs. Concerts can be expensive, but I recommend if you are a music lover you try to go to see some live music because they are often opportunities you will not regret!

School Fund Raising

A Yoursphere membership drive is the perfect fundraiser for schools and youth programs looking to raise money. A quick and simple solution, a one-time Yoursphere-directed fundraiser can even reap financial benefits for your school for years. It's easy--we do all the work, your school creates the safest online community for their students, and even earns a large share (40%!) of the proceeds. Go to yoursphere.com/fundraising to find out more.

Web Safety Tips

We're all awash in passwords these days. Here's some helpful hints for parents and kids on managing the password jungle from our friends at ConnectSafely.org

Tips to Create and Manage Strong Passwords

A strong password is your first line of defense against intruders and imposters. Never give out your password to anyone (except your parents). Never give it to friends, even if they're really good friends. A friend can become an ex-friend and abuse it or, perhaps accidentally, pass it on to other people.

Don't just use one password. It's possible that someone working at a site where you use that password could pass it on or use it to break into your accounts at other sites.

Create passwords that are easy for you to remember but hard for others to guess. When possible, use a phrase such as "I started 7th grade at Lincoln Middle School in 2004" and use the initial of each word like this: "Is7gaLMSi2004."

Make the password at least 8 characters long. The longer the better. Longer passwords are harder for thieves to crack. Include numbers, capital letters and symbols. Consider using a $ instead of an S or a 1 instead of an I, or including an & or % - but note that $1ngle is NOT a good password. Password thieves are onto this. But Mf$1avng (short for "My friend Sam is a very nice guy) is an excellent password.

Consider using a password manager. Programs or Web services like RoboForm (Windows only) or Lastpass (Windows and Mac) let you create a different very strong password for each of your sites. But you only have to remember the one password to access the program or secure site that stores your passwords for you.

Don't fall for "phishing" attacks. Be very careful before clicking on a link in an email (even if it appears to be from a legitimate site) asking you to log in, change your password or provide any other personal informaton. It might be legit or it might be a "phishing" scam where the information you enter goes to a hacker. When in doubt, log on manually by typing what you know to be the site's URL into your browser window.

Make sure your computer is secure. The best password in the world might not do you any good if someone is looking over your shoulder while you type or if you forget to log out on a cybercafe computer. Malicious software, including "keyboard loggers" that record all of your keystrokes, has been used to steal passwords and other information. To increase security, make sure you're using up-to-date anti-malware software and that your operating system is up-to-date.

Web Safety News

Anti-bullying laws aren't working.

Forty-four states have laws against bullying, but they're largely ineffective, according to this article in Education Week. The tragic suicide of 11-year-old Jaheem Herrera in the Atlanta area last spring (see this awful story) was a prime illustration, since "Georgia's law has one of the largest gaps between what it requires of [school] districts and the tools it gives them for meeting those requirements," the article reports. "The state doesn't collect data specifically on bullying occurrences, despite legislation that promises to strip state funding from schools failing to take action after three instances involving a bully."

One of the key problems, says Tucson, Ariz., attorney Michael Tully in his blog, is that the laws "have no teeth." They require schools " to adopt bullying prevention policies, but do not include any remedy for students and parents should the school not comply," Tully later wrote in an email to me. And in his blog, he wrote, "Until these statutes include a private cause of action - something schools will fight against vigorously [lobbying to keep it out of laws] - bullying prevention efforts will continue to be a 'paper tiger'." As for state laws concerning cyberbullying, here's the state-by-state picture from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Yoursphere On Twitter

Want to stay up to date on the latest in Internet safety? Follow Yoursphere on Twitter here, or follow Mary Kay's own tweets.

Of course, for those desiring a deeper look at the leading edge of Internet safety techniques, have unaired concerns, or wish to simply engage in a dialogue, check out Yoursphere's parent-only

Internet safety forum.

Completely separate from Yoursphere.com, it's a place ot listen in as Yoursphere team members blog about tech issues, site news, and all the other intriguing questions that make what we are doing here so challenging and unique.

Thank you for continuing to entrust Yoursphere with your child's Internet experience and helping "raise the bar" for teen networking.

Yours,
Mary Kay Hoal And The Yoursphere Team