There are lots of things online that can be harmful to our students if they are not informed. There are many ways that people can get personal information from our students that can be used to harm them and the growing use of cyber bulling is something that we have to deal with. One question that gets asked a lot is who should teach our students about internet safety? Some people think it is the parents and others the teachers. Even teachers can't decided on what teacher should teach the kids about internet safety Some think just the computer teacher. In an ideal world how should we be teaching internet safety? If this is a topic that you do not have much back ground knowledge on I would suggest doing a bit of reading on the topic. If we are asking or students to use technology then we should make sure we know what then need to do to be safe. (I can tell you from personal experience many kids are TOTALLY clueless when it comes to their safety on the web).
31 Comments
Carl Richburg
3/23/2014 05:19:49 am
I would think that computer teachers and parents should teach kids about computer safety. Parent's because they are responsible for their child's well-being, and computer teachers because they are knowledgeable about the material. Last 5 minutes of class every couple weeks in computer class should do the trick. Nothing too difficult, but just enough so at least they understand. After that it's up to them and the parents to help monitor what they're doing.
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Kennedy Seifert
3/23/2014 09:07:42 am
I like the idea of 5 minutes at the end of class. A few tips and then out the door. If you do this every class then eventually they will have a good understanding of internet safety. Also this needs to carry into the home and the parents need to continue to talk to kids about being safe.
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Jacqui Cappuccilli
3/25/2014 02:06:15 am
I like the idea of 5 minutes at the end of class. This allows them to get knowledge every class period on what could happen. I also agree with the parents monitoring it, I think that this is a huge aspect in computer safety for kids. Kids don't always know what could happen by tweeting one thing, or posting one picture. The parents do however and should be watching this in order to help their child.
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ginobullock
3/29/2014 01:47:50 pm
Carl I agree with you. I think the responsibility lies between both the teacher and parent. I think there is benefit in teachers teaching internet security and I also think there is equally the same level of importance for parents to teach internet security.
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Dustin Ray
4/22/2014 03:58:22 am
Carl,
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Shari Harrington
3/23/2014 08:57:07 am
I think it should be everyone--teachers and parents--that teaches children about computer safety. Everyone has some (even if limited) knowledge on this topic and I think everyone's knowledge is important. Children can learn at school, apply the concepts at home, parents can teach at home, and children can share at school. The lessons, like Carl said, don't have to be long to be effective, but I think parents and teachers alike are responsible.
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Tyler Reece
3/26/2014 01:35:04 pm
I agree everyone has some knowledge and depending on your own personal use of technology would determine your knowledge in this area of safety. Teachers may be more knowledgeable in using computers for research and parents may be more knowledgeable in using the internet to shop or something.
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Brad Howell
3/29/2014 01:59:11 pm
Shari, I think you are correct in the fact that it is not just the teachers duty to teach the students how to handle these cyber situations. These situations can be very tricky and some people can be very good at getting the information they need. I agree that lessons should be repeated often. I don't think it would be very effective if teachers just went over a lesson for avoiding these. I think it should be something that is covered on a regular basis.
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April
3/31/2014 10:56:24 pm
I completely agree with you, I believe that it is both parents and teacher's responsibility. Sometimes they may not get what they need at home and the school can help teach these students what they don't get at home.
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Kennedy Seifert
3/23/2014 09:05:59 am
I think both teachers and parents. Honestly a lot of this falls on the parents I think. If you are purchasing your kids I-pads,phones, tablets, etc. then you should inform them on internet safety. Teachers only have students for a certain amount of time in a day to be with the students, and they already have a lot to cover as it is. Computer classes for sure need to have a lesson or two on internet safety, if the kids are using the computers at school then that is their responsibility. But when it comes to home use such as phones, tablets, etc then I think parents overall need to teach these students.
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Lyndsey Talbot
3/24/2014 05:37:35 am
I totally agree with you! You make a great point when you say that if they parents are going to buy their children the technology to access the internet, then they need to be the ones to insure that they use it properly.
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Gary Jones
3/30/2014 06:58:31 am
I agree with you that some of the safety stuff should be spent at home but I think the potential for getting in trouble is higher at school where there is no parental supervision and peer pressure. At home the parents can have more control over what is being viewed, but at school it’s not.
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Shari Harrington
3/30/2014 07:52:36 am
I agree with Kennedy's point that if parents are going to purchase the technology for their children, then they should teach responsible use. I also think you, Gary, make an incredibly valid point that the potential of getting into trouble is higher at school, which is why it has to be parents and teachers teaching responsibility. Parents are responsible for teaching and reiterating appropriate use for school while they have their children at home--it can't be put off on one group of people.
Lyndsey Talbot
3/24/2014 05:35:59 am
I know a lot of teachers that I have had gave little 'life lessons' at the end of each class, and many had to do with social medias and internet usage. Because, as we all know, the internet can and will ruin careers and even lives when it is not used properly. A student that I worked with at Oklahoma State got kicked out of a program because of things she put out on twitter. Kids do not realize that even one little tweet that you believe to be harmless can ruin your career. I do feel parents HAVE to play a role in this teaching, as well, but we know that not all kids have parents in their lives that will teach these 'little' lessons. Since every child has a teacher, I think it somewhat their duty to take a small amount of time and go over internet safety.
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Travis Tompson
3/25/2014 11:21:46 am
Lyndsey,
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Jacqui Cappuccilli
3/25/2014 02:04:15 am
I believe that teachers and parents need to teach kids about computer safety. The teacher should be teaching in order for the kids to understand what it is, as well as how it can affect them. They can do it for 5 or 10 minutes of the class, or dedicate the first class they have to computer safety. Whatever needs to be done they should do because some people are just clueless as to what could actually happen over the internet. Parents also need to play a role in monitoring it. Especially at home, in school its easier to monitor it than at home. So parents definitely need to be paying attention to their child on the computer.
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Kim Holifield
3/27/2014 03:52:22 am
I love that you said "parents need to be paying attention to their child on the computer." I couldn't agree more. No, we, as parents, don't have time to sit over our kids' shoulders while they surf the web. But we should take monitoring them more seriously than just letting them have as much free time to go to whatever site they choose. I am unaware of how to block sites from my personal computer so I don't see that being an option, but I think limiting the amount of usage our children have is a great help in itself. As well as explaining the seriousness of things that can happen online.
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Gary Jones
3/25/2014 08:54:48 am
Yes I think internet safety should be a big concern for parents whose kids have smart phones and tablets. Kids may not know any better when signing up for something free on the internet. There are so many faulty and miss leading pop ups that undisciplined and non-internet savvy kids may not know any better sign up for something they will regret. Many web sites are unsecure and could be hacked for information and telephone numbers which could then be sold, and then you have people calling your house all the time trying to sell you insurance or cook ware. I think they need to have a serious crash course on what is an acceptable web site and what isn’t. I think kids under 18 should have strong parental supervision on what they’re doing on their mobile devices. Even though this may not seem fair you don’t want any legal issuer for what might show up on the internet. Don’t forget the fact that anyone can go out there and grab a picture and put a fake name on it. You don’t want to end up in a Catfish situation whether you’re 18+ or not it’s a dangerous situation that you don’t want to put yourself in and kids need to know that before they learn through experience.
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Travis Tompson
3/25/2014 11:26:51 am
Gary,
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Chris Doak
4/1/2014 12:54:19 pm
Gary,
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Travis Tompson
3/25/2014 11:17:17 am
Obviously as educators, it is our responsibility to keep our students safe and secure when in the school setting. As parents, the only job they really have is taking care of their child, no matter what. In saying this, it is the responsibility of every adult to monitor what the children are doing, and that includes internet safety. As a parent, you should know what websites are harmful and what kind of information you don't want your child seeing. This is where knowing how to set parental controls on your tv and internet is important for every adult. It is also just as important fo adults to communicate with their children on the content that you are blocking from them, informing them why you might have blocked certain sites from their viewing pleasure. As an educator, it is your job to show students how to carefully search through the content on the internet to find valid and reliable sources. A teacher needs to be aware that some students might not have a computer or internet at home, so it is their job to provide the students with some kind of awareness as to what certain sites can do. Also, as an educator you are always looking out for bullying and other signs of children being abused. Informing students that cyber bullying is the exact same thing as bullying in person should be discussed in class.
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Carl RIchburg
3/25/2014 11:05:48 pm
Travis..I like your last sentence alot. With the growing social media I think that students forget that cyber bulling is just as (if not worse than) in person bullying. If a kid doesn't have a computer at home, then I think it would be highly unlikely for a parent to teach their kids about computer safety, if they're not even aware.
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James French
3/25/2014 12:23:29 pm
I believe it is primarily the responsibility of the parents. However, in our society there are many parents that don't get this job done for many reasons. There is also a growing population of grandparents raising grandchildren that may not know about the newest internet threats. I believe schools should be able to fill the gap and provide a program to help with this. I feel there should be some form of ongoing education with regard to the newest threats as new apps are developed the school could assist with educating the children and parents. I think something similar to the DARE program could be beneficial. An outside agency or a school resource officer could provide a training at least once a semester to keep the topic fresh in a child's mind. I would call this program SOS or Society of Safety? Maybe, What do you think?
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Kim Holifield
3/26/2014 12:14:32 pm
I would agree that this responsibility should fall upon the parents, but let's face it, how many parents are or do teach their child about internet safety? As an employee of the elementary age group, students don't even use the internet in the classroom, so i don't feel that it's necessary for the grade teachers to be teaching this. And when they go to the computer lab for special class, they are instructed to only go to the sites listed in front of the room and this list is minimal. They are taught what advertisements and spam are and are also instructed to never click on these. As for the older agree levels, as as they are allowed to venture off into the wide world of the web, they should be taught and on internet safety. This should be taught by whoever is the teacher where they are able to surf the web. With so many blocks on sites by the school district, I don't feel it's necessary to hit too hard on specifics of where to as much as it's important to teach on cyber bullying. I feel this is a matter that isn't taken as seriously as it should be.
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James French
3/29/2014 11:55:51 am
I feel even elementary school children can be at risk of being harmed through information they shared. I feel teachers should help children even at this age by encouraging them to use user names on the games they play. There are a great deal of educational games out there for kids to use and often they are targeted towards kids. Unfortunately we do not know who all has access to the information your child puts into the game. They may use their first and last name, a person will that information plus the ip address from the computer can track that child to an address. The internet allows us to feel save because it is in our homes and schools. However, it is everywhere else too which enables all types of people to mingle together, invited or not.
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Tyler Reece
3/26/2014 01:30:05 pm
In the past I think it should have been the responsibility of the teacher in particular computer use teachers. I say teachers because when I was in school my parents were clueless about internet usage and i image that their are still parents that are, but I am guessing their would be a lot more who are knowledgeable now. I would say that now parents should take more of the responsibility just because internet usage is much higher at home. I do think that the school should cover basic safety skills.
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Kim Holifield
3/27/2014 03:49:17 am
I agree that if the child is going to use the internet at home, they are in the care of their parent's and it should be the parents' responsibility to handle internet safety.
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Gino Bullock
3/29/2014 01:41:19 pm
I think Internet security should be taught by teachers and parents. There are many different levels to internet security, that teachers and parents have to share this responsibility. In the public sector there are some things that the teacher should address as it relates to internet security. In the Private sector there are some things that only parents should address with their children because of delicate nature of the material discussed.
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April
3/31/2014 10:58:32 pm
I believe that internet safety is both the school and the parent's responsibility. A lot of parents may not know a lot about technology so the school may be able to inform them on internet safety or what the student learns at school may be taught at home. I believe that internet safety can just be ignorance sometimes. Many students do not realize about some things that can be dangerous on the internet.
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Chris Doak
4/1/2014 12:52:16 pm
I think that parents and teachers should inform kids about internet safety. I think its their responsibility to do that. I know when I have my child I will set and talk to her about the dangers of the internet.
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Dustin Ray
4/22/2014 03:56:51 am
I think it would be a good idea to have an outside source to come and speak to the students. Assemblies showing real world experiences is a good way to show how dangerous the internet can be. There are people out there that schools can find to come and speak to the students. We had people come and speak to us about prom, alcohol, etc, so I can see someone coming in to speak about web safety.
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Class BlogThis blog is for class conversations for Ed 514 at Central Methodist University. We invite input form other teachers about how they use technology in their classrooms. Archives
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