Internet Safety

The Importance of Internet Safety

The debate over how involved schools should be in matters that take place online outside of school has become more prevalent in today's changing society.  However, even more importantly is the idea of internet safety out of school.  Too often we find families with computers and the only people that know how to use them are the kids (especially is poorer districts).  Author, Heather Wolper-Gawron, makes a great point, that in schools there are filters that block even some useful content so when students get home and there are no blockers they don't know how to use the internet safely.

As educators, I think it is part of our responsibility to teach students the proper uses of technology to protect themselves and others.  There are not too many filters put on by parents on the home computers because many of them simply don't know how.  We need to prepare our students for their futures of even more change regarding technology. Now should schools be responsible for actions on the internet outside of school 100%? That is a continuing debate that I am sure we will be having for years to come.  Schools and districts can however invite parents to information meetings and spread the word on the severity of using the web inappropriately. We need to educate the parents so they can educate and monitor their child's internet use as they see fit.  We can't control home life but we can give parents and caregivers the necessary tools to make it safer for their children using the internet.

Wolper-Gawron gives a great system to follow to have a program ran by your school in this article. Check it out!