Online Safety has to be in Collaboration with the home

Remember way back in the day, when getting online could only be done on a computer and you had to use a dial-up modem? And Wifi? What's that? Cellular data? huh? Seems like ancient history now. You also remember the big thing in the internet world back then was chat rooms? If none of those things seem familiar, that means I'm getting too old. (That's another Gen X movie reference, I'd say where it was from but I think we're in polite company, lol...)

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 that could 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. Now the meeting places are social places, social media, online games, video chats, the "DM's", the posts, the profiles, it's all very public. We've coined a new term, "Cyberbullying".

Online safety is a very serious issue. It was back then and it has become an even greater issue now. As our children, schools, and homes become increasingly online, the threat to children also becomes greater. It 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 cyberbullying many of the perpetrators are children as well.

Cyberbullying is a serious issue. Every school and school district has to address
What to do? Our students are young. They're innocent. And, we have to keep them that way as much as we can. They will get older. They will seek independence. They will seek "freedom". Until then schools must work with parents to teach children to be safe where possible. They will be online at home and at school and most will be online on their way to and from school. Since they will be on devices connected to the online world, we must teach them to avoid dangers.

Schools have internet filters and have set times for when they will be online and most importantly, students are supervised while online. Unfortunately, when they are at home or when they are on their devices, their online activities are not filtered nor is it supervised. This is a real danger. This is where schools, in my opinion, have to work with parents to teach parents how to supervise children, or even how to set filters in place at home and on their devices. Parents are busy, we all are. Even though this is not the purview of schools, I believe school administration needs to take the lead in teaching parents how to protect their children from the dangers of the online world. 

I know this sounds like more work but I think this is something that needs to be done. Parent-teacher conferences can be held to show parents how to keep children safe. Showing parents the tools to filter the internet, set times for their children's internet use, or even simply take their devices at certain times. Directing parents to sites like Common Sense Media and the plethora of resources that are there. I'm sure that many parents aren't even aware of such things. In all honesty, I wasn't even aware of all the site has to offer. I wish I would have known about this when my kids were younger.

Imagine how invested the parents would be knowing how invested the school is in their children.

Students are online all the time. This is an even greater reason to do what we can to monitor our students. We may not be able to monitor what they post, what they share, what they say.  I can't monitor what my own kids might do, say, or act when they're visiting a friend's house, but I can instill in them the values of being good, decent, and respectful. We must teach our students those same values of conduct when "visiting" online. We teach children things like "stranger danger", and we need to do the same thing when online. We teach children to "stop, drop, and roll", we need to teach them to recognize danger and what to do when in danger.

But how do I do that? Thankfully, there are resources for educators to use. One resource that I have used is 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 and 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. Online safety is important. If we want our students, our children to be safe then we must teach them and teach them well. It can't be left to educators only, the home as to be involved, and the administration (conference and/or district) has to take the lead and provide the resources needed.