Safety and the Internet

Safety and the Internet

 

            When looking at the positive aspects of the internet it is not hard to forget about the safety concerns that may come with its use.  The internet provides a widow for students into the real world.  It hold an immeasurable mass of information and opportunities.  However the internet can also be dangerous if not respected.

             Information can be found in an instant and can also be passed in an instant.  Students need to be educated on what is safe and what is not safe. From discussion I have had in my own class I find that students think that only their friends are looking at the posts the create in the various forums that they belong too.  When I asked students in my class how many of them had facebook account there was only one student that didn’t put up there hand.  I proceeded to ask students what kind of information they had about themselves on the website.  Most of the students had everything imaginable on their facebook page from phone numbers, addresses, pictures, and full names.  Most of the students also didn’t mind that there information was in open forums which meant that anyone had access to that information.

            I feel that students in my class are extremely naive.  They do not realizes the dangers of having their information public for all to see. I think that it is important to share the dangers of posting too much information on the internet. 

Over the last couple of years I’ve found that there are more and more internet related problems in my classroom.  Cyber bullying has become a problem at my school and we’ve had to get the help of the police to help show students the implications of it.  Last year there were some students in my class who created a hate page for another student.  This hate page provided an opportunity for students to communicate some hurtful things about another individual.  The students who created the web page although understood the impacts that the page may have had on the individual student the page was directed towards did not have a clue of the consequences that could have came to the individuals that created the page.  Students did not know that they could have been charged for harassment.  Somehow students felt that because they were not directly talking to the individuals they could not get into trouble for what they were saying.

Our school now has the police come into our school at the beginning of each year to talk about cyber bullying the consequences that may result from it. We also have a link on our school web page that will direct students to a online help and report page for cyber bullying.

I think that as a educator it is really important to talk about the specific things that are not acceptable with students regarding the internet.  Students need clear guidelines indicating what is and is not appropriate.  We can’t assume that they understand nor can we assume that they understand the consequences of posting too much information or of acting in inappropriate ways with the internet.