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497 FA 08 Donna V

Document 1 - Safety Issues

I remember when I was in the fifth grade, there was a "scare" in town because some guy in a van tried to pick up a classmate of mine, and actually grabbed at him to try to force him into the van. Of course we all got a safety "talk" from our teacher, and many of us also got a similar talk at home. Today's parents and kids have so much more to deal with along these lines, only now the danger often times has no face that we can see. Kids today are such digital natives, and as educators we really need to try to at least catch up, and we need to inform the kids we have contact with of the dangers that are out there. Being kids, many of them are so naive that they put themselves in danger without even realizing it. They talk to each other via email, chat rooms and instant messenging, not to mention the profiles of themselves that they may have published on MySpace or Facebook. Perhaps, in their discourse, they give out some personal information. Oftentimes, kids do not even realize what they have informed others of, or recognize the fact that their information is out there for anyone and everyone worldwide to see, including dangerous predators. There are some sick adults out there who pretend to be someone or something that they are not, just to get to know our kids better and often to harm them. The kids may not realize that the with the information that they have given to their new "friend" over the past few chats is enough for that person to find out exactly where the child lives, maybe through a site such as Live Map. We hear stories all of the time of young teens who are lured into "visiting" some "friend" that they met over the internet. Some of these stories have happy endings, others do not. And predators such as these are not the only dangers out there. Internet bullying is a growing concern. There have been many items in the news about teens committing suicide over cyberbullying. These are real physical dangers to our youth.

There are also other types of dangers lurking out in cyber space that our youth need to be made aware of. Just clicking on some sites introduces Spyware onto their computers. With this, various types of personal information can be collected without the computer user even being aware of it. Phishing is another way of criminals being able to gather our personal information. Through a scam email or IM, users are directed to a fake website that looks and feels like the real thing. Then the user is tricked into giving up sensitive information, including things like passwords and credit card information. Again, having personal information out there on the world wide web, whether freely given or not, can put one in harm's way - both physically and financially. Identity theft is a burgeoning business for criminals. And let's not forget the viruses, worms, and all sorts of spam (not the edible kind - and even that is questionable as to whether or not it is edible) that we open ourselves, and our computers, up to by clicking on the wrong site or wrong pop-up.

So, what can we do? Certainly parental controls such as filters help to some extent. But what our kids really need is informed parents who will supervise their children when they are on the computer, and education. Computer supervision does not mean that the parent knows when the child is on the computer in their bedroom. It means placing the computer in a room where the monitor is visible by the parent or anyone who happens to walk by. Children are not going to deliberately go to a site that might end up causing them to have some consequences given by their parents if the parents are able to see the screen at any given time, so putting the computer in a public place in the house is one way for parents to help protect their kids. We also need to educate our children as to the dangers out there attached to the internet, and to teach them to be as safe as they can be.

Internet safety is such a complex issue. Kids today are so good at multi-tasking that parents really have to be alert as to what is going on when their child is on the computer. And kids are really so clueless when it comes to their own vulnerability. How many times have you heard a child say "It won't happen to me"? We, as educators, need to have continued open communication about internet safety with the students we come in contact with. We also need to educate the parents and other teachers when we have the opportunity to do so. We have to inform our students how to be safe.

Assignment #2 - Online Communication

Texting - communicating via cell phone, PDA, etc. Kids are extremely quick at this, much more so than I am.

Facebook - a social networking site set up originally for college students. This is expanding.

MySpace - a popular social networking site that "allows" more people than Facebook. One can add photos, videos, blogs, etc.

IM (AOL Instant Messaging) - allows for real time communication between two or more people. The slang on here will really through someone not used to it (such as a parent). With the right computer, one can have video interfacing.

Skype - allows for free phone service (video phone), even to other countries, if one has internet access.

Youtube - the leader in video sharing, allows for the storage of short videos for public or private sharing (check out Christian the lion)

Twitter - a social networking and micro-blogging service designed to keep people connected as they answer one question: "What are you doing?" It implies that messages will be short. Messages are known as "tweets."

Safety Issues Associated with Online Communication

Risks to Children of Online Communication.doc