It's that time of the year when we techies get many visits and emails from students who have forgotten their passwords. They do have a lot to remember: user id's and passwords for our network, Infinite Campus, Email and Moodle. Like many adults, they are tempted to use something easy, like their name, so they won't forget. After all, they reason, who would want to get into their account?
Well...in technology like so many other areas, high school is a time to form habits that will serve them well in their future. This generation will need to use passwords to fill out college applications and financial aid forms, do their banking and shopping, check their own and their children's grades, and more than we can probably even imagine. It's important that they learn and practice secure computing.
What makes a secure password? It should consist of letters, numbers and if possible another character such as an underscore or period. It should be at least 8 characters. It should NOT be your name, birthdate, telephone number, and certainly not your social security number! Ideally it would be totally random and would not make a word. For many kids this age, that makes it pretty hard to remember, but if you use words, at least split up the letters with numbers or symbols. And (nobody likes this one) you should change your password often; many companies force a password change every month or two.
To make life manageable, many of us use several passwords among our accounts. It goes without saying that the one you use for banking should not be the one you use for random websites! In the end, it's a matter of common sense. There ARE people out there who would like to know your passwords, and they are pretty savvy at doing it, so be vigilant about protecting yourself.
Cyber-safety expert Nancy Willard, author of Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens, has written a compelling article
on the tenor of many online safety discussions these days. This really
resonated with me. As adults, it is our responsibility to be cognizant
of what's going on onine and teach kids how to deal with it responsibly
and safely. If we react to misuses of the Internet with panic, we risk
losing credibility with kids, and they will be less likely to come to
us with their online problems. Unfamiliarity can breed fear; when it
comes to the Internet, better to move past our fears with a balanced
and measured approach. Social networks like Facebook and mySpace are
not inherently bad. Technology is not inherently bad. Their value
depends on how we use them; this is where our kids need us!