Web Safety

It is imperative that adults set limits, supervise, and instruct children in the safe use of the internet. Starting last year for my students and about four years ago for my own children, the web is used as much, if not more than the TV. When added to TV time, my students said they were at a screen (monitor of some sort, TV, computer, ipod, phone) for up to 6 hours a day and many times had 2 screens going at once. The 1996 National Center for exploited children article provides a great overview of basic guidelines. It continues to amaze me that so many of all types of parents allow internet access in kids bedrooms and have no idea what they are doing. I am constantly recommending that any type of screen come out of the child's bedroom even if is to simply discourage inappropriate use by being in a more "public" area of the house if the parent has difficulty being direct with their child about guidlines and rules. Unfortunately, many parents seem unable or unwilling to parent their children. They are worn down easily by the barrage of media fueled kid demands.

When I am working with students and the internet, they do not have access until they sign an agreement; I love the student written surftificates. Our district has blocks which I appreciate, the computer monitors face in a direction that I can see from most places in the room and I cruise in regularly when kids are working. I also tell them they ways I can see where they've been and most times limit them to bookmarked sites and subject area hotlists. Computers are for planned instruction or creating documents in a word program. My grade level standards are perfect for teaching web literacy and vice versa. At sixth grade they are learning to be critical readers and must know how to validate and evaluate what they read. It is easier to teach on the web because that is where they want to be. I really appreciate learning about how to teach finding link patterns. I wasn't doing this well; now I have tool ideas and a lesson plan. I think students will find this very engaging and empowering. It will also help me reiforce the crucial knowledge about the internet, that everything you see is not true. It is very hard for kids to understand that everything in print is not fact. With published hard copy text you need to be a critical reader, but you have to be even more so on the net. There are no censors, the context can be changed, text altered by others, and the authors masked. Butz's Holocaust revisionism is scary in it's apparent sense making of a horrific truth by a "professional".