Talk to me about Google Hangouts

[MSWR0319]

DS needs Google Hangouts to talk to his science teacher. What all do I need to know about it? How do I lock him down so he can't get himself into trouble or predators can't get to him? I need all of the help I can get!

[twowhat?]

Does he have a google/gmail account? We created Google accounts for our kids, but we own those accounts. You can sign him up for one, and use a name that doesn't give away his identify or age. We came up with a bunch of options that were still available and let the girls pick their username...they're along the lines of "FluffyRock" and "SunnyDrizzle". Easy for the kids to remember, but doesn't give away any identifying info. Once you have an account, you have access to the Google suite of tools, that includes Hangouts (it's easy to use).

[lizzywednesday]

DS needs Google Hangouts to talk to his science teacher. What all do I need to know about it? How do I lock him down so he can't get himself into trouble or predators can't get to him? I need all of the help I can get!

He should only be able to access the Hangout or Meet from a direct link/calendar invitation from his teacher, who should be the host.

I held a Google Hangouts meeting for my Girl Scout troop last week. For security purposes, only people who had the Hangouts invitation could attend/access our Hangout and I had all the girls review/sign the GSUSA Internet Safety Pledge.

[lizzywednesday]

Does he have a google/gmail account? We created Google accounts for our kids, but we own those accounts. You can sign him up for one, and use a name that doesn't give away his identify or age. We came up with a bunch of options that were still available and let the girls pick their username...they're along the lines of "FluffyRock" and "SunnyDrizzle". Easy for the kids to remember, but doesn't give away any identifying info. Once you have an account, you have access to the Google suite of tools, that includes Hangouts (it's easy to use).

As a corollary to this, if your children's schools use Chromebooks, they have Google/G-Suite based access and they do not need their own Google Account outside of their school account. If they log into their teachers' Google Classrooms, the suite of tools should be open to them using their school logins ... and those school accounts are LOCKED DOWN pretty seriously.

DD has been accessing assignments, communications, and other schoolwork on a Google Classroom set up by her teacher. I set her up to use it with the Chrome browser because it's most compatible with the tools there (Chrome is a Google product) and I'm always concerned that my OS will cause problems with it. Chrome helps me manage that concern a little better.

[twowhat?]

As a corollary to this, if your children's schools use Chromebooks, they have Google/G-Suite based access and they do not need their own Google Account outside of their school account. If they log into their teachers' Google Classrooms, the suite of tools should be open to them using their school logins ... and those school accounts are LOCKED DOWN pretty seriously.

DD has been accessing assignments, communications, and other schoolwork on a Google Classroom set up by her teacher. I set her up to use it with the Chrome browser because it's most compatible with the tools there (Chrome is a Google product) and I'm always concerned that my OS will cause problems with it. Chrome helps me manage that concern a little better.

YES - thank you for bringing this up! Lots of districts use Google already, definitely check if he already has an account for school!

[Liziz]

I use Hangouts, but for myself, and haven't thought it through from a children's safety perspective. But, one thing that could be helpful -- you can install Hangouts on your phone and sign in to the same account your DS uses on the computer, and you'll easily be able to see all conversations that are happening. You can have your phone set to show notifications whenever a new chat/video request comes in. At least on my phone, the notifications don't go away until I clear them from my phone, even if I've already viewed/responded/deleted the conversation from Hangouts via my computer.

[doberbrat]

Apparently, we've already had a problem - not from predators but from students being inappropriate. We got a memo this am on how to lock them down further. Kids must use their district gmail acct to join hangouts. Do not schedule it on the calendar but schedule it with a nickname etc so its harder to find. Kids who abuse the hangouts will be banned from further sessions and will face additional consequences.

Very sad really.