2 Bergen Catholic High Schools Help Parents Keep Kids Safe Online

RAMSEY, NJ — Four North Jersey schools, including Don Bosco Prep, have partnered with a company to help parents keep their kids safe online.

SafeStudents Online administers social media protection programs for middle and high schools. The platform gives parents the ability to monitor their children's online activity and allow them to take action, if necessary.

Parents can receive alerts about unsuitable or potentially dangerous posts without asking for their children's passwords. School administrators have no access to the content.

“There is a fine line between respecting children’s online privacy and independence and protecting them from online dangers they may not yet recognize,” said Patricia Molloy, president of Immaculate Heart Academy, who noted that SafeStudents Online allows parents to address any online issues "before they become problems."

The three other area schools who partnered with SafeSearch are: Immaculate Heart Academy in the Township of Washington, DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne and Visitation Academy, an elementary and middle school, in Paramus. Immaculate Heart was the first area school to partner with SafeStudents Online.

"Students need to know what their online profile looks like so they can protect their reputations among colleges, employers, and in their personal relationships," said DePaul's President Joseph Tweed. "We wanted to help our parents open the conversation about the social footprint their child was leaving, and this platform allows that to happen."

SafeSearch cited independent research showing that one in six middle and high school students who use social media have been contacted by a stranger in a way that made them uncomfortable.

One in four young users reported having an online problem spill over into a face-to-face confrontation and one in three reported receiving unwanted sexual attention.

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