PREVENT CYBER-STALKING OR BULLYING (Adapted from Kent State University and Seton Hall University)

Every member of the residential community at Cheyney University must play an active role in establishing and maintaining a safe and welcoming place for everyone who comes to our University. We can not tolerate behavior that undermines and destroys the principles on which the University was founded in 1837. Every member of our residential community must be ready to oppose harassment and marginality that is directed toward another human being, regardless of whether such harassment and marginality is based on race, ethnicity, disability, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

Cheyney University encourages the student population to use the different forms of social media for educational and academic success opportunities. In addition, these forms of technologies are great to use, fun to have, but also easy to abuse. The University does not condone the use of these forms of social media for inappropriate and uncivil acts.

Cyber-bullies send hateful e-mails, postings, and text messages to taunt their targeted victims. Some individuals go so far as to create groups or profiles with messages like “We hate John Doe.” Cyber-stalkers, a new twist on the individual in the car with binoculars, use personal info found on the Internet to track down and harass their victims.

To decrease the chance of attracting the attention of cyber-criminals, follow these safety tips:

What can you do if you are being cyber-bullied?

• If you receive a message that crosses the line (offensive, threatening in nature, harassing, uncivil, etc.) , report it to Campus & Public Safety and a staff member.
• Consider blocking the user who is sending and posting the inappropriate content.
• Print the message and submit a copy to Campus & Public Safety and a staff member. Keep a copy for your files.
• Increase your privacy settings and remove personal information to make it harder for people to search for you.
• Students should be aware that they can be held accountable for posting and sending inappropriate, uncivil, harassing, and threatening content on the Internet (Face book, Twitter, e-mail, IM, texting, You Tube, etc.). Any act that is unbecoming of a CU student to include cyber bullying and cyber stalking is considered a violation of the Student Code of Conduct and the CU Student Handbook. Depending he severity of the incident, students can also be suspended, expelled, and/or arrested for such acts.

What can you do to protect your privacy?

• Never put personal information on Face book and other forms of social media that you do not want other people to have (your address, cell phone number, class schedule, residence hall room number, etc.).
• Be careful as to who you accept as a ” friend” on Face book. Not everyone can truly be a friend if you do not know them.
• Be wise in the decisions that you make and the activities that you engage in while you are out having fun. What may seem like fun one day could be posted on the Internet the next day.
• Opt out of special offers. Many on line companies give you the option to leave mailing lists that share your personal information. When signing up for a service or offer on line, take a few seconds to “uncheck” the option to share your information with other companies.
• Always read the fine print. Check the privacy policy of a website before you type information into a form or share it with the company. If the company doesn’t have a privacy policy listed, don’t share your information!
• Check for the lock. Make sure you see a lock in the bottom right corner of your browser before typing information into a form. This means that the transaction is encrypted—and can’t be intercepted.
• Guard your e-mail address. Don’t use your personal e-mail address to sign up for newsletters or special offers. Get a free e-mail account just for junk mail.
• Leave personals out of it. When using IM providers and sites like Facebook, remember to set the privacy settings higher to keep cyberstalkers from finding you. Be sure that only close friends and family members have access to personal information.