Child Safety on the Information Highway By, Lawrence J. Magid
It is impressive how connected we are today, and kids are the biggest users of communication and information. There are ways for kids, and adults, to be online and in-touch 24-7. What do we do about this, and what can we do about this? Is it wrong to give kids access to the Internet, and how much can we shelter them from harm? There are countless dangers out in the real-world and no one thing has more easy assess than the Internet to harm kids. Kids are victims of horrible crimes and corrupted by viewing adult material. What can we do? Is the Internet evil? Are filters enough? Should schools allow students to get online and make them more tech savvy than they already are?
The above paragraph reflects the concerns, and the paranoia, of many parents and administrators. There are legitimate concerns. If you talk to enough people you will hear stories of people getting into all kinds of trouble and harm. The above article is, I think, the balance of our concerns and offers helpful advice. It is not realistic to think that you can totally shelter a child in life, so why should you expect anything different on the Internet? You can, however, take some practical steps to protect them as you would in life. Just as you would guide a child in safety with driving a car or crossing a street you can guide and educate them on Internet safety. If you stick to some basic guidelines you can avoid the great majority of harm. But, there is always a risk. If you want your child to be able to drive then you have to accepts the risks. The Internet has risks but there are safety resources use them and you child will get more out of the richest information resource in history.
2 comments:
When it comes to internet safety, it is probably the hardest question to answer. The internet has so many sites and information, it's almost impossible to be completely safe. We as educators need to recognize the safety issues and teach our students the proper way to use the internet and make them aware of the issues that may occur during their time on the internet. Yes, filters will help, but they are not full-proof. All we can do as educators is educate students about the harms of the internet.
Safety on the internet will not always be 100% foolproof. We first as parents and then as educators have to realize this. As parents and teachers we need to teach our children how to make good choices and then give them the opportunity to make those choices.
Post a Comment