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INTERNET SAFETY IN OUR SCHOOLS

Internet Safety in Our Schools Shari L. Wickline Wright State University

INTERNET SAFETY IN OUR SCHOOLS Abstract In the following paper various forms of research have been used to gather information to answer two important questions facing us as educators. How safe is the web? And how can we keep our students safe while using the internet? Research shows that there are many ways to filter and monitor how our students use the internet and what they are exposed to. While many sources were used to complete the research; only three of them were cited throughout the paper.

INTERNET SAFETY IN OUR SCHOOLS Internet Safety in Our Schools How safe is the web? How can we keep our students safe while using the internet? These questions and many others come up regularly in schools and homes around the country. The following paper briefly addresses these concerns using online and off-line research articles, professional journals, books and nationally recognized websites. There is much research and suggestions on the topics of web safety and internet use in schools over the recent years with the latest trend focusing on cyber bullying. In the following pages I will address these various topics and shine light on some of the resources available to educators, parents and our students. Just how safe is the web? The answer to this question seems to be ever changing and dependent on the resources available to educators and parents. Students have access to a vast amount of information and technologies that rapidly change. Once the schools have a safety plan in place something new immerges that makes the guidelines put in place obsolete. According to an article published in the Times Magazinethe fears of web safety are real and should be addressed (Cruz, 2009). The focus of the fear though is being flipped from the traditional thought of adult to minor solicitation to peer to peer harassment. The threat of students being lured by predators is still serious but the more recent trend of cyber bullying is growing at a rapid rate. This is an issue that schools, parents and students are being exposed to more readily than encountering an adult predator. One could say that the reason for this switch is that education on the safe use of the internet and the use of more reliable filter systems has grown over the past years. The question that then arises is how do we keep our students safe while using technology? Educate, educate, educate! This is what the research shows. Schools and parents

INTERNET SAFETY IN OUR SCHOOLS can apply filter programs to their systems to block and monitor students from searching and using various sites. This is effective but does not eliminate or completely resolve the problems. Students have a much better understanding of how the internet works and how to find the loop holes than the adults teaching them. The best ways to ensure students are safely using the technology available to them is to train them not only in processes of usage but in cyber ethics. A great resource for this is the web site funded by the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense. The site is called iSafe and is recommended in the research article An Analysis of Electronic Media to Prepare Children for Safe and Ethical Practices in Digital Media(Berson, Berson, Desai, Falls & Fenaughty, 2008). This site is also one of the first to appear when I completed a search for internet safety for students. It is also recommended, by many researchers and authorities on the subject of web safety, that the following practices are put into place by educators and parents. Monitor what your students and children are doing. Keep all media in a centralized location so everyone can be involved. Research the sites that your students and children are visiting on the web. It is not an invasion of privacy. The more you are involved and show an interest in where and what they are looking into the more likely they are to be open with you when a problem occurs. If they Face book then Face book with them, if they text then text back. This is their ways of communicating and the only way to stay up on how safe they are being is to reach them at their level. The forms of technology available to our students provide them with many information gathering resources. As educators we need to develop and model the best practices for the usage of this technology to our students. We also need to reach the parents on a new level so that we can collaborate and teach them the best approaches to teaching and monitoring their childrens media time. I was always skeptical about the safety of the technology my children are using.

INTERNET SAFETY IN OUR SCHOOLS After completing the research for this assignment I am more comfortable with the approaches necessary to keep my children safe. I also have a better understanding of what is available to help teach my children cyber ethics and proper usage of the technology they encounter in their everyday lives. Reflection of Research The research process I did to complete the assignment was to gather books from the Dunbar Library on the campus of Wright State University. I also used the online journal retrieval system available at the library to narrow my searches to scholarly articles related to library/media and technology education. I then printed hard copies to have a resource when completed the paper. The final process was to spend time doing a Web search, using the Google domain, for various sites that are relevant to internet safety. I wanted the sites to be resourceful for educators, parents and students and educate them in the various ways to keep our students safe. The final stage was using the site www.glogster.com to create a presentation that depicts the information in my paper. I am sure that I will use some of these same techniques in my future papers as well as new approaches to gathering reliable information and sources.

INTERNET SAFETY IN OUR SCHOOLS References Bayli, B. (2008, Fall). Im warning you![Electronic Version]. Kentucky English Bulletin,58, 5859. Berson. I. R, Berson, M. J., Desai, S., Falls, D., & Fenaughty, J. (2008, July). An analysis of electronic media to prepare children for safe and ethical practices in digital environments [Electronic Version]. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 8, 222243. Bissonetter, A. M. (2009). Cyber law maximizing safety and minimizing risk in classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Cruz, G. (2009, January). The internet: safe for kids? [ Electronic Version]. Time Magazine. Retrieved November 1, 2010, from http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1871664,00.html. Endicott-Popovsky, B. (2009, December). Seeking a balance: online safety for our children [Electronic Version]. Teacher Librarian, 37, 29-34. Hanes, M., & Roll, M. (2008, June). Internet safety[Electronic Version]. Phi Delta Kappan, 89, 784. Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J.W. (2009). Bullying beyond the schoolyard preventing and responding to cyber bullying. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Montgomery, K. C. (2007). Generation digital politics, commerce, and childhood in the age of the internet. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

INTERNET SAFETY IN OUR SCHOOLS Willard, N. E. (2006). Cyber bullying and cyber threats responding to the challenge of online social cruelty, threats and distress. Eugene, OR: Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use.