All University of Florida-affiliated online programs or events engaging minors under the age of 18 must register with the Office of Youth Compliance Services prior to commencing program operations. Online Programs or events that fail to register with Youth Compliance Services may be denied permission to continue operations at UF.
Annual training is required if you will engage with youth in online environments.
Supervision of Minors
Online/Virtual Interactions:
With UF-Affiliated youth activities in online or virtual environments, all aspects of the activity should be taken into account, such as the number and age of participants, the location of the activity, the risks associated with the activity, whether audio or video is involved, the use of breakout rooms for smaller groups, and the age and experience of the responsible adults.
Additionally, UF-Affiliated youth activities are responsible for providing at least two authorized adults to help ensure appropriate levels of supervision during all online or virtual interactions and communications with minors.
Programs should also establish procedures for registration, waiting rooms, sign-on, chats/communications, recording, monitoring, or removal of participants in online or virtual activities. More information related to the supervision of minors, including standards for programs with online interactions can be found in UF’s annual Youth Protection Training (YCS800). Program employees, volunteers, and other individuals working with minors must successfully complete this training prior to the start of program activities.
Best Practices
- Only utilize UF-approved platforms. The following website may be helpful in making that determination: https://irm.ufl.edu/fast-path-solutions/
- Recording on any platform is prohibited unless a waiver is completed by a parent/guardian.
- Verbal and typed disclaimers are required to be utilized. This includes social media.
- To obtain Waivers or disclaimers contact uf-compliance@ufl.edu
- Two-Adult Rule: Generally, at least two staff must be present in online meetings and all other virtual communications.
- If you are responding to email, direct messaging, or any communications, two adults must be on the communications.
- 1:1 Interactions in online platforms puts you and the minor at risk. These are discouraged.
- If you must interact 1:1 in online environments, please contact uf-compliance@ufl.edu before proceeding.
- Use robust security:
- Utilize unique links; require passwords.
- Utilize waiting rooms for attendees to wait before a session begins.
- Consider the use of virtual backgrounds and/or limiting camera access (have guidelines regarding the virtual environment).
- Set limits on screen capture and screen sharing.
- Disable chat features or set limits on chats; consider open Q&A only.
- Default to all attendees on mute.
- Recording: Recordings should only be saved to the UF cloud - https://cloud.it.ufl.edu/.
- Recording on any platform is prohibited unless a waiver is completed by a parent/guardian.
- Verbal and typed disclaimers are required to be utilized. This includes social media.
- To obtain waivers or disclaimers, contact uf-compliance@ufl.edu
- Examples of approved UF Online Platforms:
- Zoom https://video.ufl.edu/conferencing/zoom/ Or https://elearning.ufl.edu/zoom/ or https://ufl.zoom.us/
- Google Suite https://cloud.it.ufl.edu/collaboration-tools/g-suite/
- Microsoft Teams https://it.ufl.edu/teams/
- Mediasite http://citt.ufl.edu/tools/mediasite/
- Accessibility information: https://accessibility.ufl.edu/
Online Interaction Resources
https://youth.compliance.ufl.edu/resources/online-interaction-resources/
Children’s Online Activities and Programs
University Web sites are operated by the University of Florida and affiliated entities. In general, the websites are intended for use by adults, unless they are specifically labeled for children. UF does not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information of a child under the age of 13 that was not supplied to us voluntarily, we will delete that data from our systems.
Children – Some internet sites may ask you to share information about yourself. Before sending any information about yourself over the Internet to us or anyone else, be sure to ask your parents for permission.
Parents/Guardians – The University recommends that parents/guardians take an active role in their children’s use of the Internet. We encourage you to talk to your children about safe and responsible use of their personal information while using the Internet. Here are some tips:
- Teach children never to give personal information (such as name, address, phone number, school name, etc.) unless supervised by a parent, guardian, or responsible adult.
- Know the sites your children are visiting and which sites are appropriate.
- Look for website privacy policies and know how your child’s information is treated.
Some UF Web sites present UF-sponsored information or activities that are specifically designed for children. However, the Web sites are intended to be used only by adults to voluntarily share information online, so that a child who is under the age of 13 can participate in these activities (e.g., summer camps, classes, programs) or so that the child can receive information mailed or emailed from UF (newsletters, class schedules, recruitment information). When a parent or legal guardian voluntarily signs their child up for one of these programs, the parent may be asked to provide:
- The child’s full name
- Full home mailing address
- Phone number
- Birthdate
- School, current grade level
- Email address
- Parent's or legal guardian’s name and email address
The parent or legal guardian supplying the child’s information will be asked to acknowledge that they are, in fact, the parent or guardian who is legally authorized to disclose this information about the child. UF, through its websites, does not condition participation in any of our online activities on the disclosure of more information than is reasonably necessary to participate in the activity. This information will not be transferred, disclosed, or shared with a third party and will not be used for other purposes.
Parents or guardians have the right:
- To review personal information that has been recorded by a UF Web site about their child,
- To refuse to allow the further collection of the information,
- To be given the choice of consenting to the collection and internal use of information, but prohibiting the disclosure of that information to third parties (unless disclosure is integral to the site or service, in which case, this will be clearly stated), and
- To require the deletion of any information that has been recorded.
For more information, see the UF Online/Internet Privacy Statement.
Zoom
Best Practices for Securing Your Virtual Classroom
YouTube
YouTube Policies regarding Minors
YouTube and ADA Compliance (Closed Captioning)
Federal Trade Commission-COPPA and YouTube
Digital Citizenship Curriculums
Several organizations have developed support materials and full curricula that can be used when planning instruction.
- Common Sense Media’s K-12 Scope and Sequence provides lesson plans, activities, and assessments.
- InCtrl ties their curriculum to standards-based lessons.
- The South West Grid for Learning Digital Literacy and Citizenship is a comprehensive curriculum that gives guidance on how to integrate these topics into existing areas of the school.