Internet+Safety

Internet Safety...Who is Responsible? How should the districts handle Internet Safety Education? Internet Safety Education is as important as drivers and sex education. With the large number of children of all ages using social network sites, instant messagers and chat rooms, we have to teach students how to be safe and smart online. Most parents are involved and teach their children right from wrong, but this is such a dangerous area, even if only a few parents arent involved the results can be tragic. School districts must get involved and push for Internet Safety Education. 

**There are many dangers out there when it comes to the Internet. Hopefully, with the teaming up of parents and teachers, we can educate the children about how to be safe online. **

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**Should Internet Safety be a stand-alone curriculum or part of a current curriculum?** Internet Safety Education should be a stand-alone curriculum offered to all students. If it is offered as part of a current curriculum, it will be watered down and possibly over looked by the teacher and/or students. As a stand-alone class, the teacher can focus on important areas of safety and go further in depth with the issues. Internet predators, financial safety, storing important data and virus protection can be some of the topics discussed. This will allow students to learn and possibly even teach their parents about internet safety. Consider this a form of self defense.  **Internet Safety Education should be part of the current curriculum. With Internet crimes on the rise, it is imperative that we teach our students how to be safe when surfing the web. These safety techniques could be incorporated into the computer courses that are offered to students. In these courses, students spend most of their time on the computer, so this material is very relevant to the class.**  Should Internet Safety be taught by content area teachers or specialists? ** BCIT (business computer and information technology) teachers should be the individuals teaching this content. These are the teachers with the knowledge and experience necessary to effectively teach this class. I enjoy reading, but this doesn’t qualify me to be an English teacher. The BCIT teachers will be able to easily make the transition of teaching a new class with this content.
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 *  Every student is required to take the core content classes each year. By incorporating the Internet Safety into one of these courses, we will be assuring that each student receives this important information. **

Click here for my Internet Safety Media Page