Build-A-Bearville

1. Be creative with passwords – easy to remember but hard to guess!
2. Always be kind online!
3. Follow the Golden rule! Don’t do anything online that you wouldn’t do in real life.
4. If you are ever cyberbullied, STOP, BLOCK, and TELL a trusted adult.
5. Spelling counts! Check your spelling in everything you do online.

How to create a Bearrific™ password!

How do I choose my password?

Be creative – your password should be easy for you to remember but hard for other people to guess. Pet’s names, family members’ names, birthdays or even your favorite activity might be too easy for others to guess. Using both letters and numbers is a great way to make your password super safe.

How do I keep my password safe?

• 1. Don’t share your password with anyone except your parents, not even your beary best friend!
• 2. If someone finds your password, change it right away!
• 3. On public computers, like those you use at school or the library, always unclick the “remember me” button so that strangers can’t login to your account after you leave.

Why is this important?

If a cyberbully knows your password, they can lock you out of your account, change your character, spend your Bear Bills^® and pretend they’re you when they talk to other characters online.

Stop Cyberbullies!

A cyberbully is anyone who uses the Internet, phone or other device to send or post hurtful messages or images to others. It also includes anyone who might log onto your account without your permission. If you feel hurt by someone who has done something like this to you, always tell a trusted adult.

STOP, BLOCK and TELL

We have worked beary hard to make sure that Build-A-Bearville™ is a safe place for you and your furry friends to play, but sometimes it can still be misused. Remember to stop talking to them – don’t reply back, block them from talking to you and tell a trusted adult. If another player is bullying you, just double click on their character and click on “report player”. We take all reports beary seriously and will investigate them right away.

Keep your personal information is PERSONAL

Never share your real name, address, phone number, age, name of your school or any other personal information with anyone online.

Tween Angels

Tween Angels are kids just like you! They are experts on online safety and can answer your questions about cyberbullies.

Submit a question to Tween Angels!

Not all questions will be answered. Please contact vwhelp@buildabear.com if you have a question about Build-A-Bearville.

Build-A-Bearville Rules

1. Always be kind and treat others the way you would like to be treated.
Swearing, cheating, bullying or any other mean behavior is never allowed and can lead to your account being suspended and/or banned permanently.
2. Keep chat and behavior safe and appropriate.
Any chat or behavior that is abusive, obscene, threatening, offensive, sexually explicit, ethnically or racially offensive or references drugs or alcohol can lead to a permanent ban of your account without warning.
3. Never give out personal information.
The best way to stay safe online is to NEVER share your real name, phone number, address, email or passwords. Sharing your own or others personal information can lead to a permanent ban of your account.
4. Keep virtual stuff virtual.
Advertising, selling or buying virtual stuff for real world money through Build-A-Bearville or any other site is not allowed and can lead to a permanent ban of your account.

There is no substitute for watching what sites your child is visiting and who your child is interacting with online, but these tips can help you talk to your children about playing safe online.

Cyberbullies are just like bullies at school, but since they do their bullying online, they can sometimes be more dangerous. Cyberbullies can hide their identity and usually there is no one around to see the harm that they are causing. It’s hard for teachers to get involved because this type of bullying usually takes place outside of school. Cyberbullying can affect children as young as 7 through their high school years. For younger children especially, cyberbullying is often password theft. In Build-A-Bearville™ your child works hard to win prizes and earn Bear Bills^® and it can be heartbreaking to lose everything to a cyberbully who knows their password.

As a parent, it is important for you to know who your child is interacting with online and make sure they are not giving out information they should not.

We at Build-A-Bearville are always working to make the Internet a safer place for children. Through our safe chat system, kids can chat safely with others by choosing from pre-approved phrases, preventing them from sharing personal information with strangers.

- Passwords should be easy to remember, hard to guess. If your kids have to write it down, it’s too hard to remember. If it’s a pet’s name, their middle name, their favorite sports team, etc., it’s too easy to guess. Sit down with your kids and talk about ideas for a password, and remember a combination of numbers and letters is always best.
- Don’t allow your kids to give out their password to others. 85% of elementary school students and 70% of teens we polled said they shared their password with at least one friend. That’s one friend too many!
- Friends can be cyberbullies too, signing onto your child’s account, impersonating them and possibly embarrassing them. They can also change your child’s password, locking them out of their account.

Talk through these rules with your child before they play online.

• - The Build-A-Bearville Golden Rule: Don’t do anything online that you wouldn’t do in real life.
• - Don’t do anything parents, principals, predators or the police shouldn’t see. As they get older, add a 5th P – prospective employers or college recruiters! Remember that anyone you meet online that you don’t know in real life is not a “friend” it’s just someone you know online.
• - Never meet in person with anyone you only know from the Internet. You never know who they really are!
• - What you post online stays online – forever! Remember that and thinkb4uClick!
• - You are what you post – you can be the most incredible person in real life, but no one knows that if you aren’t incredible online too.
• - If you get a mean message or see something posted about you online – Stop, Block and Tell! Stop, don’t answer back, block the person or message and tell a trusted adult!
• - Make sure you have protective security software downloaded to avoid viruses that kids may click on by accident.

Talk through these rules with your child before they play online.

• 1. No Personal Information Required
  When signing up for Build-A-Bearville with your child, you may have noticed we don’t require any personal information about your child.


• 2. Ignore Feature
  If your child ever feel like someone is harassing or cyberbullying, you can always Ignore the other player. Once the player is ignored, you will no longer see their character or anything they say or do. Just double click on their character and choose “Ignore.” To un-ignore, select “Un-ignore” by clicking on their name under “Ignored” in your Furbulous Friends List.


• 3. Report this Player
  If you ever feel that someone in Build-A-Bearville is not being a good citizen please report them using our Report this Player feature. This will send a report to our CyBearPatrol which we will investigate thoroughly. If the report is valid, that player will be warned, suspended or even banned based on the severity of the offense.
  To report a player:
  
  
  • 1. Double click on the character you would like to report and select “Report this player”
  • 2. Choose a reason for reporting: Traded unfairly, Used bad language, etc
  • 3. Describe as clearly as possible what the player did.
  • 4. Enter the date it happened if the date is not already correct in the “When did this happen?” field.
  • 5. Click Send.

Our Jr. CyBearGuide program allows qualified citizens of Build-A-Bearville to act as guides by answering questions, providing information and even giving tours. Each Jr. CyBearGuide member receives a unique Jr. CyBearGuide blue star hat to help distinguish them from other characters and let others know that they are there to help and answer questions. Sometimes, we ask our guides to give their opinions and suggestions on Build-A-Bearville improvements too!

If you or your child is interested in becoming a Jr. CyBearGuide member, visit Bear University™ in Build-A-Bearville. Click the paw under the big Jr. CyBearGuide blue star to learn more about the program. Then, if you meet the qualifications, visit the Classroom to take the test!

Build-A-Bear Workshop was founded in St. Louis in 1997 and grew as a business based on integrity, value, fun, and giving back to our community. We have been successful because we have listened to our Guests -- children and parents, every step of the way.

We believe that parents play a significant role in helping to ensure the online safety of their children. We have always had a Parent Advisory Panel – a group of parents that from time to time we ask to review and give input on products, services and online features. They have been a valuable source of important input since we launched our online community. It is interested and engaged Guests, like our Parent Advisory Panel, who help us do a better job!

If you would like to join our Parent Advisory Panel, please send an email to parentadvisors@buildabear.com

Parry Aftab is the leader in internet safety for children. Previously, she was a lawyer specializing in cyber security for businesses. Since 1997, Parry has been working to educate parents and kids how to use the Internet safely. She has created Teen Angels and Tween Angels, groups of teens and tweens who give Parry advice on what children are doing on the Internet and keep her up to date with new trends. There are many chapters of Teen and Tween Angels all over the country who help other kids stay safe online by giving advice and answering questions. Parry has written two books about Internet safety for children, has advised other books, and has been featured in the media multiple times as an analyst. Currently, Parry has teamed up with Build-A-Bear Workshop® and buildabearville.com® to help us become an even safer site for your children!

Watch a clip of Parry on The Today Show, talking about tips for parents on how to be involved in their children’s Internet usage

Submit a question to Parry!

Not all questions will be answered. Please contact vwhelp@buildabear.com if you have a question about Build-A-Bearville.