This article talks a lot about safety on
the internet. I can’t stress enough how important this is. Everyday kids are
gets cyber bullied or falling out internet chat site which can be extremely
dangerous. As, teachers it is important that we teach students how to avoid and
protect themselves from these hazards. A lot of times kids don’t learn how to
be safe on the internet at home or their parents just use the parental controls
for the internet, but that doesn't mean that children are completely protected
because sometimes things slip through the cracks.
To help our students understand the
importance of safety AND the important of being kind to one another we should
spend more time in the classroom doing just that. I know as do the rest of us
that school days have become jam packed with subjects and skills to teach our
students. However, I believe that being safe tops a lot of content because if
someone is being bullied then they aren't going to comprehend anything as well
as they could be since they are now anxious or upset or scared. Also, if they
were to come into contact with a predator then their life is at risk and students’
lives are a lot more important to me than their reading skills. I know that
there are kid’s chat rooms online and we need to teach them how to behave and
what to say or not say in these rooms. I rather them know about it and understand
how to use it then to run into one someday and just openly give out information
about themselves not knowing who is really on the other end. To me this is
considered social health, learning how to communicate, get along, and be safe with
others something that is rarely taught in the classroom, yet is becoming more
and more important as the internet continues to grow.
I really like the point you made about how important it is to explain to our students about internet safety. School days are already full of things that need to be taught and done but being safe is much more important. It is one of the basic hierarchy of needs. If a student doesn't feel safe in a classroom because they are feeling bullied then they wont do their best work. Teachers need to spend time teaching their students about cyber bullying to try and eliminate the problem as well as make students feel comfortable about standing up for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI like that you pointed out that we should educate our students fully about the internet instead of keeping them in the dark to try to protect them. It is better that they understand it completely and are fluent with using technology than to have to discover and explore its uses on their own. Who knows what they could discover! It is better that we teach them how to be responsible in every area of technology so they can use it to its full potential and use it wisely.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you point about taking school hours to make students aware of the dangers of the web. Students can easily get manipulated and "chat" with some creeper that is claiming to be 14 when really they are 45. If students are aware they can be proactive and prepare themselves for the trouble they might stumble upon.
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