Internet Safety
Middle school students today were born in a post-Internet world. Often they seem to be completely at home online in a way that many adults envy, or at least don’t understand. But they’re still children, forming habits and instincts, and learning how to make their own decisions. They look to parents, teachers and other adults as role models and for explicit advice. If you were a blind parent to a sighted children, you would be understandably concerned about a world in which they would grow up, to which you had no access. Nevertheless, your lack of comfort would in no way diminish your responsibility or authority as a parent. Parents can and should provide guidance and set limits, so you would rely heavily on communication with your sighted children about the world they occupy and explore every day. Likewise, parents who feel that their children are the technology experts, and they the untutored, should communicate frequently with their children about technology and the online world. They can guide them morally and intellectually, and learn about the world their children inhabit.
Here are some key things to keep in mind as a parent with a technology-connected child.
- Talk with your kids regularly. Ask lots of questions. Children generally love to show you what they know.
- Set limits for computer use. This can include cumulative time, times of day, and applications and websites allowed. See for example this blog post from Will Richardson (who promotes technology use in education) about his own children.
- Locate computers in a central area so that kids are not online unsupervised. This does not imply looking over their shoulders constantly, but simply being a presence in the room.
- Many websites that require registration have a lower age limit (see Facebook below). Be aware of the terms and conditions of the sites your child visits.
Discussions can be as short as a minute, or they might occupy an entire car ride or family dinner. Here are some questions that could spark some interesting back-and-forth.
- If nobody likes spam and chain letters, how come they end up so often in our inboxes? Why does so much spam seem to contain objectionable material?
- Why did Facebook decide to require users to be in high school and at least 13? How can social networking sites positively affect your life? How can they negatively affect your life? How can you reduce the negative effects?
- How is being online different than interacting face-to-face? How is it similar?
- Are there any advantages to being anonymous? Are there any disadvantages?
- Digital text, music and images are different than books, records and drawings because they can be copied and changed easily. What effect can this have on plagiarism? Copyright? Personal information posted online?
- Does being online make bullying easier, harder or just different? Does it make being bullied easier, harder or just different?
