Facebook hosts Internet safety event for students

MENLO PARK, Calif. (KGO) -- Social media giant Facebook hosted a special event Tuesday on Internet safety. Students were invited and learned some important lessons from two very high-profile women.

Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg, who coined the term "lean in," got a little help from a friend to reinforce the topic of Internet security.

State Attorney General Kamala Harris went straight to the point. "Just because you used a computer to do it, in your living room, does not mean you are immune from the law or jail," Harris said.

More than anything, Tuesday's meeting of the minds was a discussion about how young people can use the Internet to make it a better world.

"Cause now we have so much social media that everyone's on. We need to make sure we're all safe and that no one gets harmed and everything stays positive," student Marissa Velez said.

Velez and her classmates at Woodside High are trying to get that point across at school.

"Work together to show that the Internet can be a tool for good, a tool for support, and a tool for bringing communities together," Sandberg said.

Tuesday's event, called Safer Internet Day, was also celebrated in other cities around the world.

On the issue of safety, teacher Kim Karr reminds her students that what is posted on the Internet can stay there forever.

"Eighty-five percent of colleges are now checking their social media sites," Karr said.

"They just have to realize that when you are online, you are in public and to behave online the way you would want to behave in school, or at church or in temple or grandma's house or anywhere else," ConnectSafely.org's Larry Magid said.

The importance of updating privacy settings when using social media was also reinforced.