Hosting a Town Hall

There are several ways to host a Town Hall for your constituents:

  • a Telephone Town Hall
  • a Town Hall at your local library
  • a Town Hall at a school in your district
  • a Town Hall at your local community center

If you are holding a Telephone Town Hall, first choose a service provider. We offer a few suggestions below.

If you are having your Town Hall at a local library, contact the American Library Association for resources and speakers.

After you have chosen a venue for your Town Hall:

  1. Choose one or more topics to cover: Youth Safety, Cyber Security, or Financial Security & Identity Theft.
  2. See below for our suggested talking points for those topics.
  3. Use our toolkit of handouts and press releases.
  4. Invite someone from the Speaker Directory to speak at the Town Hall or send educational materials.
 

Telephone Town Hall Providers

The National Partnership for Safe Computing neither endorses nor has a relationship with these vendors.

Broadnet Connects
1745 Shea Center Dr, Suite 320
Highlands Ranch, CO 80219 
(877) 579-4929

The Franking Group
611 Pennslyvania Avenue, SE, #1025
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 517-1601

Tele-Town Hall, LLC
5101 MacArthur Blvd. NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20016
(202) 237-8313

Video Communications Corporation
Ian Ingersoll, Project Manager, iingersoll@vcsuperstore.com
222 Severn Avenue, Suite 3
Annapolis, MD 21403
(410) 295-9940

 

Talking Points: Cyber Security

sample talking points to use at your Town Hall on cyber security

The information that we send and receive over the Internet is vulnerable to the eyes of hackers and cyber-thieves. Luckily, there are tools and precautions available in order to minimize the chances of having your computer and personal information compromised.

Develop strong passwords and protect them

  • Avoid common words. Hackers use programs that automatically try every word in the dictionary.
  • Use passwords that contain numbers and symbols.
  • Longer passwords are harder to crack, at least 8 characters.
  • Don’t use the same password for all accounts.
  • Change passwords regularly.
  • Keep them in a secure place and do not share them.

Use security software and keep it up to date

  • Anti-virus software scans your computer and email for viruses, which can destroy your data or slow down your computer.
  • Anti-spyware software protects against programs that make your monitor or control your computer. Spyware might monitor your internet activities, record keystrokes, redirect your computer to websites, and send information to hackers.
  • Firewalls keep hackers from using your computer.
  • GetNetwise keeps a list of credible security software.
  • Keep your operating system and web browser up-to-date, as they have their own security features.

Downloading files from file-sharing networks increases your risk of downloading viruses and spyware

  • Things are not what they seem. What you think is a music clip could be a harmful program or sexually explicit material.
  • If the file-sharing program is not configured correctly, you might be exposing everything in your computer to other downloaders.
  • Violating copyright laws has legal consequences.

Wireless connections need extra protection

  • If you are connecting to the Internet through a wireless connection (wi-fi), your private information could be intercepted.
  • Find out how to secure your home wireless network by reading the instruction manual for your basestation or following a tutorial online, such as from getnetwise.org.
  • When using public wi-fi connections, make sure that you only put personal information into sites with secure and encrypted connections; they usually begin with https:// (note the ‘s’) and have a lock symbol in the browser window.

Back up important files

Copy important files from your computer onto an external hard drive, jump drive, or CD and keep it in a safe place.

Take action if you suspect your computer has a virus or spyware

  • Immediately disconnect from the Internet by unplugging the phone or cable line.
  • Then run your anti-virus software to clean and delete the harmful files.
  • If the problem persists, consider getting professional help.
  • After you have cleaned your computer, you can report serious intrusions to your Internet Service Provider, or the FBI (www.ic3.gov).

(These talking points were compiled from resources by Federal Trade Commission, GetNetWise, OnGuard Online, Verizon, and other National Partnership for Safe Computing partners.)

 

Talking Points: Youth Online Safety

sample talking points for a Town Hall on Youth Online Safety

Children face a variety of threats on the Internet

  • Cyberbullying, when a child is harassed by peers online
  • Online predators
  • Phishing, when cyber-thieves try to steal personal or financial information, which could lead to identity theft
  • Harmful websites, not limited to pornography. Pro-suicide and anorexia sites can be dangerous.

The threats are dynamic and changing

  • Social networking sites weren’t a threat 10 years ago
  • Today’s newest threat is sexting, when young people send or forward sexually explicit images or messages from their mobile phones.

Companies, government, law enforcement are working on initiatives to keep kids safe, but children, parents, and schools also need to be actively involved.

Parental control tools and filters allow parents to limit children’s access to certain sites, words or images.

  • For example, filtering tools can block access to sexually explicit material, violent content, sites about alcohol or drugs, and many other categories.
  • Some products predetermine what is filtered, while others let parents decide. Some filters apply to websites; others to email, chat, and messaging.
  • www.getnetwise.org has a database of parental control technologies you can use
  • Parental control software works well for young children, but net-savvy teens won’t have much trouble working around them or finding other computers to access sites they want to see.

There is no one magic tool that will keep kids safe: education and awareness are our best defense. Youth are active participants online. Parents, schools, and coalitions need to engage them so that they can behave responsibly and make the right decisions on their own.

What parents can do

  • Know what your children are doing. With younger children, use the Internet together and demonstrate safe web surfing.
  • Help them understand what information should stay private – full names, address, family members, accounts and passwords.
  • Teach them how to avoid viruses and spyware by not downloading e-mail attachments or chainletters.
  • Restrict privacy settings - For tweens and younger children, customize privacy settings on children’s e-mail, instant messenger, or social networking profiles to restrict who can contact them or see their information. For older teens, remind them not to give away private information.
  • Keep communication open so that if your children encounter an unsafe or inappropriate situation online, they can confide in you.

Lessons for youth: Equip young people with the knowledge they can use to make good decisions on their own

  • Online actions have consequences offline. Once you put something there, you can’t take it back
  • There are consequences to illegal downloading. Your computer will get viruses, your Internet can get shut off, and you can incur huge fines from the music and movie industry, who do go after downloaders.
  • Avoid sex online. Teens who don’t talk about sex with strangers are less likely to come in contact with predators, and photos can come back to haunt you.
  • Sexting has legal consequences. Teens have already been arrested for sending or forwarding explicit photos or messages from their mobile phones, even photos of themselves.
  • Credibility matters. Not everything they see on the Internet is true. People on the Internet may not be who they appear to be and websites can be fraudulent even if they look familiar.

(These talking points were compiled from resources by Federal Trade Commission, GetNetWise,OnGuard Online, Verizon, and other National Partnership for Safe Computing partners.)