Friday, December 16, 2011

Internet Safety

I read a few articles from FRONTLINE and watched the "Growing Up Online" documentary that they offered.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view/

I think one of the most important things from the documentary was that kids are living lives online, and doing a lot of things that parents have no idea about. Many parents were completely oblivious to the activities that their children were participating in online. It is very important for parents to be involved and to keep tabs on the children's internet usage. By doing this, they can have control over how much time is spent on the internet and what they are doing on the internet. 

When I am a parent i will definitely take action to be aware of what my children are doing when they use the computer. I will probably have the family computer in the kitchen or living room, where I can watch them, and I don't think I will let my kids have internet on their phones. As a teacher, I will try to be aware of what is going on in the lives of my students and be watchful for cyber-bullying or other bad things they may be involved it.

I will definitely let family and friends be aware of the internet safety issues. I am going to talk to my mom and dad about what I have learned. My mom is a seminary teacher in our stake, and my dad is the Stake Young Men's President. Because they are involved with youth, I think they will appreciate knowing the hazards that the youth encounter every day.

One of the sections in the documentary told the story of a young teenage boy who had problems with cyber-bullying and then committed suicide. It was a very sad and tragic story of what can happen when children are bullied on the internet. Because it is online, no one knows about it and it can be very damaging. To prevent it, I think steps can be taking to limit internet usage and to block those predators that are bullying.

To look for resources about internet safety, I know I can go to FRONTLINE. They have great articles and the wonderful documentary. I will also use the Diigo group to find other sources.

As a teacher I am likely to face cyberbullying issues. I think that will be a big problem. There was also a girl in the documentary who had problems with anorexia and she would find support groups online that encouraged each other in their efforts to starve themselves. I think these are also issues that a lot of teenagers deal with. It is important that kids are getting help and support from the right places and I want to be able to do that for them.

If I used the internet for teaching, I would possibly create a website for my students to visit and use to stay up-to-date on the tests and assignments. When writing papers and doing other assignments, I'm sure they may also use the internet to find sources. I want them to be able to learn using the internet, but I will teach them how to use it safely. Perhaps I will make my website available to only our class members, so privacy will be ensured.


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