The term 'Identity Theft' was first used in 1964, and is defined as, "The deliberate use of someone elses identity to gain some sort of advantage, financial or otherwise."
Identity theft is quite a large problem in the United States, with approximately 17 million people getting their identity stolen annually. 85% of all identity theft occurs from the misuse of 'sensitive information' such as credit card numbers, ID cards, personal information, etc., showing that irresponsible use of sensitive information is the leading reason for identity theft. Even worse, almost half (45%) of the people with stolen identities don't notice until they are contacted by an outside institution of some kind, such as a bank. After finding out that their identity was stolen, it took 52% of victims to 24 hours or less to fix the situation, while it took 9% of victims over one month to completely resolve the issue.
I would try to implement a small lesson about this in the classroom through our "TrueSuccess" program. Every Tuesday and Thursday we spend about 10 minutes of class discussing charactor traits to develop good thinking and eventually, good habits. I would bring up tips for being careful with sensitive information, especially if it is a parent or guardian's information, and the importance of watching what you post/publish online.
I personally have not experienced identity theft. WEll actually kind of because my phone was stolen by a student, so that is similar, a piece of my belongings was claimed and not returned. Thankfully I placed a lock on my phone but am most likely never seeing that one again. I think making awareness to identity theft is a great lesson for students to have. They need to realize that personal information should be kept to themselves.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to Danielle, I've not had personal experience with identity but I have seen a friend loose her credit card security and see a huge balance on one of their cards when they did not purchase those items. For my friend, this involved heartbreak because there was a huge debt under her name but also a lot of frustration having to sort the entire event out and clear here name. To this day, we are not sure how her information was leaked but thankfully her bank worked with her to remove the charges.
ReplyDeleteI never would have considered protecting your identity to be a topic in the public school systems but I think this unit has made it clear to everyone that there are many aspects in today's digital age that are now needing to be taught to students. Protecting your identity and personal information is important for everyone to know, I love the idea of teaching this in congruence with what you post and publish online.
I too have never dealt with identity theft. I have watched my brother have his credit card information be stolen and used for large purchases three time before he closed the card. It is scary to think anyone could steal such personal information. This is not covered in schools very well. I think even password protection should be more emphasized. We often have our students use the internet and sites where they have to log in, so this would be relevant for us.
ReplyDeleteYour idea to integrate this learning into the classroom sounds like a great fit for the TrueSuccess program. Good idea and post! I didn't see one, so can you reference the quote in the first paragraph?
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