I think Internet Safety "lessons" or programs should be something that all schools implement K-12. The internet is and will be a presence in all of lives and we have to teach students about it in a developmentally appropriate way. This is something that can and should be integrated across the curriculum and is worthy of our time.
I think resources and Powerpoints should be prominately shown and available to students on school library websites or wiki's.
1. Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center
Located at Bridgewater State College, this organization and site is a wonderful resource for educators and parents. They do "Train the Trainer" workshops and will also do parent workshops. In recent years, their focus has been on cyberbullying and they offer many workshops and conferences to assist school systems in implementing anti-bullying policies.The site has wonderful brochures to download and a more recent one was added called Avoiding and Responding to Problems on Facebook.
2. Ad Council PSA: Online Sexual Exploitation-Bulletin Board
Access on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja8xtQNQYDQ
This a wonderful one minute PSA by the Ad Council that shows how what one posts online is never truly gone from the Internet, even if you delete it.
On the YouTube comments message board, a naive teen wrote that she didn't understand what was wrong with the picture. If I showed this to grades 6-12, I would emphasize that the picture represents any type of picture you'd be embarrassed by (nudity, under the influence etc.) but obviously, the Ad Council cannot use frontal nudity to get the message across.
3. CyberSmart Curriculum (http://www.cybersmartcurriculm.org/)
WOW! This is a great resource! packed with online lessons from K-12. Great content with more in the works. I highly recommend this site.
4. Wired Safety (http://www.wiredsafety.org/)
This site proclaims to be the "world's largest internet safety, help and resource." Its executive director. Parry Aftab, is an attorney and has been quoted and interviwed in numerous media outlets. This website is chockful with helpful links for teens, parents and educators.
5. Wired Safety YouTube Video: Cyberbullying Part 1 and 2
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T38-9OCDrP4
This is an eight minute video that describes four types of cyberbullies: the vengeful angel, the power hungery cyber bully(includes the revenge of the nerds), the mean girls and inadvertant cyberbully. It gives great advice such as Stop, Block and Tell. What makes it powerful is that the kids speak about their experiences. It seems geared towards middle schoolers but could also be used for 9th and 10th graders.
6. Stop Cyberbullying (http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/)
This is a powerful PowerPoint presentation created by Parry Aftab, the woman who started http://www.wiredsafety.org/. When you log onto the site, the Powerpoint immediately begins and moves and tansitions with type on the screen. It could be shown to both students and parents.
I think I am going to use it in my 10th grade guidance seminars.
7. Massachusetts Anti-Bullying law (http://www.boston.com/)
News article from the Globe but I would like to see the specific wording and consequences if found guilty.
8. Connect Safely
http://www.connectsafely.org/
This is another great site with helpful tips and suggestions for parents and kids. Even though there are many of these types of sites out there, each one I have gone to seems to add a bit more or has a different or additional viewpoint that was not on another site. For example, this site has a tip sheets on Virtual Reality.
9. NetFamilyNews http://www.netfamilynews.org/
This is a blog started by one of the co-directors of connectsafely.org, Anne Collier. This is dubbed the Kid Tech News for parents and is a wonderful resource so parents can be "current" with what is going on with kids and technology. I just signed up for her weekly email list!
10. NetNanny (www.netnanny.com/)
Since I am in the market for some type of filter for my PC and our home computer, this commercial site interested me. For $39.99, it can and will block pornography and will track profanity other potential online dangers.
My ten year daughter is starting to use the computer a lot now and she goes to Google Images to print out photos for school projects. My fear is that she will enter a search word with a double meaning and porn will come popping up! I have to get on this now.
This program caught my attention because it was the first on my Google return list and because it was named the *Best* filter by PC Magazine. I will ask around though before I purchase anything and consult my Tech Dept. and our School Resource Officer.
Excellent work! These links are great. Well done.
ReplyDelete