Should safer internet practices be taught in schools?
At the beginning of January, I attended an internet safety presentation by Officer Harris from Washington County. He shared a compelling presentation on Keeping Kids Safer on the Internet. I was surprised and shocked to see just what kids were posting on social networking sites. It made me realize that teens don’t truly realize that what they post is really there forever and can be seen by many more people than they may intend. I also don’t think they realize that there are predators that are using social networking sites to find and stalk people. Some are even befriending teens with fake personas and convincing them to leave their families. Officer Harris shared that he has posed as teens online and arrested predators in Washington County who had tried to meet with and take teens they “met” online. The presentation was scary and made me think about what we are doing to keep our kids safer. The fact is they are going to use social networking sites, so someone needs to educate them and make them think before they post.
The people who attended the session had a wonderful discussion throughout the presentation. As I learned more (I didn’t realize how easy it is to identify a person, their school, the activities they are in, their address and phone number in just seconds) I were surprised and frightened at the same time. One of the questions posed had to do with social networking education for middle and high school students. I believe that as we prepare students to be citizens in a 21st century world, social networking safety is a critical issue. We talk to kids about washing their hands, saying please and than you, not talking to strangers and the dangers of drugs, so shouldn’t we teach them to be thoughtful about what we post, where we post and how they portray themselves online? I would argue that this issue can cause as serious of dangers as any of the other social issues we address in schools. Our school district has started the conversation and will be working on a way to share with students how important it is to remember that there is always a digital footprint left behind when you post things on the internet. Students need to be reminded that if you wouldn’t want the same article, picture or poll to be posted on the bulletin boards in your school, you should think twice about posting it on the web. There were several powerful public service addresses that Officer Harris shared with us that would make kids think and be great points to start discussions on this topic. He pointed us to NetSmart411.org for more information and PSAs. I went home and talked to my 6 year old again about never sharing personal information while on Club Penguin or Webkinz World.
