Last year, when I was speaking to a group of parents at a local tech high school, I realized that even bright & well-intentioned teachers don't realize the risks involved in sharing their students' personal contact information online.

As I was going through my standard speech on why children shouldn't be posting personal-contact information in online profiles or on their web sites, a parent of a teenager timidly raised her hand. "Does that mean that our children shouldn't be completing their assignment of building an autobiographical web site, with their e-mail addresses, photos, & hobbies?" Apparently the teacher had assigned the students the task of building a personal web site The teacher had no idea of the risks involved, & immediately changed the assignment, having the teenagers build an autobiographical web site without the personal-contact information, & with only first names. It was just as informative, but safer.

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