Online safety

I remember a long time ago, when getting online could only be done on a computer and you had to use a dial-up modem, the big thing in the internet world back then was chat rooms. Slowly, as getting online became easier and more popular and more kids started hanging out in virtual chat rooms, an interesting but serious threat arose to children's safety. Children were being lured from their homes and families to meet with strangers that they had met in these chat rooms. I remember hearing and listening to news reports about those situations and wondering how on earth could that be possible. Back then, it was thought that the danger loomed only in chat rooms, for it did because back then, that was the only "meeting place" for people to gather and talk. Shortly thereafter, the term "internet predator" was coined.

Online safety is a very serious issue. It was back then and it has become an even more of an issue now. We still use the term "internet predator" but we have recently added a new term, "cyber-bullying". As our children, schools, and homes become increasingly online, the threat to children also becomes greater. It's seems that daily we hear about crimes being committed that are the result of children's online activities. Crimes where the children are lured, kidnapped, abused, assaulted, beaten, or killed. The children are the victims and as a result of cyber-bullying many of the perpetrators are children as well.

What to do? I have children. They're young. They're beautiful. They're innocent. And, I want to keep them that way but I cannot. They will get older. They will seek independence. They will seek freedom. As their parent, I will have to eventually give that to them. But, I will not just let them loose on the world and say have fun, be safe. I have to teach them how to be safe. I have to teach them what dangers are around them. I have to teach them how to avoid those dangers. I have to teach them what to do when the danger is front of them. This learning is a regular part of life. Every parent must do this with their children. If this is what I have to do teach my children to go to a friend's house down the street or to be someplace where I am not around, then this is exactly what I have to do, what I must do if I allow my children to be online.

This is what our schools must do as well. Teaching online safety must be a priority in our schools. If our students are going to be online then we must teach them how to be safe online, we must teach them appropriate conduct to be online. In our schools, I think we do a great job about teaching students how to interact with people. But, as our students interaction with people is becoming increasingly online the need then exists to teach them the proper conduct to be online. In this area I'm not sure how we're doing.

In the last several years we have changed what "being online" looks like. At one point you needed a computer to do so, now you can do it with a "phone". We see students online all the time. But, how do we monitor what they're doing online. We can't. We can't monitor what they post, what they share, what they say.  I can't monitor what my kids might do, say, or act when they're visiting at a friend's house, but I can instill in them the values to be good, decent, and respectful. We must teach our students those same values of conduct when "visiting"online.

But how do I do that? Teaching online conduct isn't as easy as it may sound. Thankfully, there are resources for educators to use. One resource that I used this past school year was Kids in the Know program. This program is a must for schools to use. It's an entire curriculum for schools from Kindergarten to Grade 9. The focus of this program is to teach online safety and to reduce the victimization of children. I also like the fact that this is a Canadian resource. I strongly suggest, urge that teachers use this resource. It teaches kids what to do when presented with different dangerous online scenarios.

Kids in the Know is one resource but there are others. The educator has got to find something and use it. Online safety is important. If we want our students, our children to be safe then we must teach them and teach them well.