So why care about your digital footprint? Digital footprints can have a long-term impact that many students do not consider. Besides providing information to potential predators or identity thieves, students may unknowingly provide a negative image to potential college recruiters or employers, who will definitely “Google” their future applicants.

Q: What can you do as a parent to help your child understand the importance of their digital footprint?

A: Create an open dialog with your child about the danger of providing too much online information. Set aside the time necessary to do regular Google searches of yourself and your child.

Q: What can I do if my Google search turns up negative or slanderous information about my child?

A: Take a screen shot* of the web page that houses the negative or slanderous information. Save the file and then search for contact information from the website. Work with the company (e.g., MySpace, Facebook, YouTube) to remove the material.

*A screen shot can be taken on a PC by pressing the “PrtScn” (Print Screen) key on your keyboard. This places an image of the computer’s screen on your computer’s clipboard. You can also use Alt+PrtScn together to capture the active window. The next step is to launch your favorite image editor or use the Microsoft Paint program that comes with Windows by pressing Start > Programs > Accessories and then Paint. Once you are in Paint (or your equivalent), go to the Edit menu and choose Paste. You should now have an image of your computer screen within your image editing program. Next, go to the File menu and choose Save As. Navigate to the folder where you want to save the image and then type a file name for the image.

On a Mac, you would use Apple (Command) Key +Shift+3 – This keyboard combination captures the whole screen to a file that is saved to the desktop as ‘picture #’. This option lets you capture the whole screen. Instead of using the keyboard shortcuts above, screenshots can also be taken by using the Grab application included with Mac OS X. It is located in your Applications folder > Utilities > Grab.

Want more background information on digital footprints? Check out the research from Pew Internet and American Life Project – Digital Footprints.

We welcome comments, questions and resources for promoting the safe and ethical use of the Internet.