Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Children and Identity Theft
This resource from the Federal Trade Commission offers steps to help parents avoid, recognize, and repair the damage caused by child identity theft.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule
Understanding the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule has been simplified by the Federal Trade Commission through this set of frequently asked questions.
Heads Up! A Guide to Online Safety
This blog entry from the Federal Trade Commission illustrates the risks that young people encounter when communicating and socializing online and provides a few key questions for teens to ask themselves before posting to social networks.
Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures Are Disapointing
This report by the Federal Trade Commission, “Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures Are Disappointing,” reveals that mobile app developers and distributors are not providing information around what data is being collected when children use apps, and how this data is shared.
Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online
The FTC developed “Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online,” a booklet for parents, teachers, and other adults to use when having conversations with young people about online safety. Recent updates to the booklet include tips on using mobile apps and Wi-Fi, ways to recognize text message spam, and changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
OnGuard Online
The Federal Trade Commission manages OnGuardOnline.gov, in partnership with other federal agencies. OnGuardOnline.gov is a partner in the Stop Think Connect campaign, led by the Department of Homeland Security, and part of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education, led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This is an educational website, providing educators, parents, kids, and others with information on online safety.
Resources on Children's Online Privacy
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) requires commercial website operators to get parental consent before collecting any personal information of kids under 13.
Share with Youth: A Friend of a Friend Might Be a Scammer
This article describes a scam known as “farcing,” in which users receive a friend request from someone with whom they supposedly share mutual friends, only to have the scammer collect their personal data. It also provides tips for identity protection when using social media.
Share with Youth: Don’t Fall for These Scams: Phishing and Vishing
This article explains two kinds of scams: phishing, occurring through fraudulent e-mails that ask the recipient to verify personal information, and vishing, in which a scammer may make contact over the phone to request this information. It also provides tips for what those who think they may be a victim of one of these scams can do.
Report: Student Victimization in U.S. Schools: Results from the 2015 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey
This report examines student criminal victimization and the characteristics of crime victims and nonvictims. It also provides findings on student reports of the presence of gangs and weapons, and the availability of drugs and alcohol at school, student reports of bullying, and fear and avoidance behaviors of crime victims and nonvictims at school.
Safe Place: Trauma-Sensitive Practice for Health Centers Serving Students
As one of the tools commissioned by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, Safe Place is a resource kit that introduces and endorses trauma-sensitive practice with an emphasis on sexual assault trauma. The kit is designed to help health center staff who work with students in higher education to better understand trauma, infuse trauma-sensitive approaches into their work, and create a care environment that supports students affected by trauma.
Campus Safety and Security Data Analysis Cutting Tool
Developed by the Department of Education, college applicants and their families can use this tool to access campus crime statistics for colleges and universities.
Action Guide for Emergency Management at Institutions of Higher Education
This guide has been developed to give higher education institutions a useful resource in the field of emergency management.
A Guide to School Vulnerability Assessment Key: Principles for Safe Schools
This guide is a companion piece to the Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities (above). It emphasizes a valuable part of emergency management planning—ongoing vulnerability assessment—and is intended to assist schools with the selection and implementation of an effective vulnerability assessment tool.
ED Office of Safe and Healthy Students Emergency Planning Website
The U.S. Department of Education (ED)'s Office of Safe and Healthy Students' (OSHS) Center for School Preparedness provides support, resources, grants, and training to support emergency management efforts for local educational agencies and institutions of higher education.
Emergency Planning for Schools
This website, Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS), provides information that can help school leaders plan for any emergency, including natural disasters, violent incidents and terrorist acts.
Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities
Taking action now can save lives, prevent injury, and minimize property damage in the moments of a crisis. Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities is designed to help navigate the process of reviewing and revising school and district plans. The guide is intended to give schools, districts, and communities the critical concepts and components of good crisis planning, stimulate thinking about the crisis preparedness process, and provide examples of promising practices.
Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) administers, coordinates, and recommends policy for improving quality and excellence of programs and activities related to youth safety and drug prevention.
REMS TA Center Introduces New Tools for School Emergency Planning
The REMS TA Center has created new, interactive tools that can assist schools, school districts, and institutions of higher education (IHEs) in assessing their knowledge of emergency management, and in creating and evaluating emergency operations plans (EOPs):
- EOP ASSESS: This tool guides users through a series of questions to assess understanding of elements critical to creating and maintaining a high-quality EOP
- EOP ASSIST: This tool, offered as a web-accessible software application, directs users through a six-step planning process that will result in the output of an EOP, developed according to the federal guidelines.
- EOP EVALUATE: This tool can help schools and IHEs evaluate an established EOP to determine whether there are areas where it can be adjusted and improved.
The Challenge
A principal vehicle by which OSDFS communicates with the field, and provides information on research-based activities, best practices, and other information related to effective drug abuse and violence prevention strategies.
Resource: SITE ASSESS: A Mobile Application for K-12 Schools and School Districts
This free mobile application, developed by the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center, allows school and school district personnel to walk around school grounds and examine their safety, security, accessibility, and emergency preparedness.
Archived Webinar: Resettlement in Urban Communities for Refugee Youth
This on-demand webinar features presenters discussing the “double edge sword” that refugee youth may experience after they flee their home country only to be resettled in urban neighborhoods in the United States that have high rates of community violence. Viewers are required to establish a free account with NCTSN to access the presentation.
Archived Webinar: Preventing Bullying Through Science, Policy, and Practice
This archived webinar presents a briefing on the release of a consensus report on the state of the science on the: 1) biological and psychosocial consequences of peer victimization, and 2) risk and protective factors that either increase or decrease peer victimization behavior and consequences. The report will discuss the next steps needed in the intervention and prevention of bullying to help inform policy, practice, and future research on promising approaches to reduce peer victimization, particularly for the most at-risk populations.
Resource: What Parents Need to Know about Sexual Abuse
This resource (PDF, 58 pages) defines sexual abuse, describes steps parent can take if their child discloses sexual abuse, dispels myths about sexual abuse, and details the impact of sexual abuse on children. This compilation of handouts, fact sheets, and questions & answers developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network can help parents and caregivers understand how to protect their children from — and how to help children who have experienced — sexual abuse.
Resource: When a Child Alleges Sexual Abuse by an Educator or other School Staff: An Educator’s Guide to Appropriate Response and Support
This guide (PDF, 3 pages) describes the role of an educator in responding to disclosures from students about sexual abuse in the school setting. Developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, this guide can help educators understand the responsibility to report abuse and support students, the consequences of inappropriate responses, how to support other students, and how to respond to the media.