Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm Beach and Martin Counties (BBBSPBMC) recognizes online social networking sites (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) are well-known uses of communication and that many of the volunteers and children in our program are using these sites. Although we encourage our Bigs and Littles to be friends in addition to being mentors/mentees, not all social networking sites are appropriate for enhancing those relationships.
- The School Based and School to Work Programs does not permit their mentors to engage in social networking with their mentee. (This excludes approved BBBSPBMC virtual mentoring platforms such as iCouldBe and Cricket Together.)
- The Community Based program mentors must adhere to the following policies if they choose to engage in social networking with their mentee.
SOCIAL NETWORKING POLICY:
•Never post the last name of your child's mentor. In addition, do not “tag” your child's mentor in any picture you post.
•Never post any contact information about your child's mentor or their family (this includes the mentor's home address, place of employment, etc)
•Never post anything (status, pictures, etc) that could be perceived as judgmental or offensive to your child's mentor. In addition, be mindful of what others post on your personal site.
•Make sure that your page settings are set to private, so you can select who can view your information.
•Tell the mentor about anything you post pertaining to your child's mentor and ensure they approve of it.
•Do not post pictures that include any other child, Little or their Big on your personal page.
•Refer to social networking site restrictions on communicating/connecting with youth.
- For example, users under the age of 13 years old are not allowed to sign up for a Facebook account; therefore do not “Friend” your Little on Facebook if he/she is under the age of 13.
Additional Considerations:
•Remember to be observant of your child's page, contact your Match Support Specialist if you see anything that is inappropriate or you are concerned about.
•BBBSPBMC has the right to view the content and assess all public material on the social networking sites utilized by prospective or current Bigs and other volunteers. Inappropriate information or visual material can be cause for non-acceptance as a child or subject for review and potential match closure by BBBSPBMC.
•Consider making only specific aspects of your site viewable to your mentor. Please reference the privacy settings on your site for more information.
•If you have any questions please contact your Match Support Specialist and refrain from accepting any invitation until you discuss your concerns with them.