Journal 10

"Internet Safety: A whole School Approach" by Greg Taranto

Canonsburg Middle School is certainly leading the way when it comes to impressive use of technology in the classroom. Their 7th graders are even allowed to take a 6 week course, which covers evaluating websites, protecting personal information, cyberbullying, and proper "netiquette". I beieve these are absolutely vital skills if you are going to give the students all that technological power to run free with. This is especially true, as they will start with such programs as powerpoint, and inevitably most middle/high school students fall into a social networking site in this generation as well. They'll go on to possibly start sharing their information all around the web, as well as using video conferencing, sending e-mail, video, etc. It's important to have a training like that to make sure students can properly use technology without using it for worse possibilities. The cyberbullying is especially important, because as listed in past blogs, words can hurt, and words can very much mean something. Thus, stopping it before there is violence, feelings hurt, hate crimes, and hopefully not shootings, is invaluable. Protection over the internet is also incredibly important with information spreading like wildfire. Hopefully this is something schools with technology will soon adapt.

Q1: Should all schools have Internet Safety Courses?
A: If they have technology to use for purposes that involves the subjects listed above, absoultely. Being safe doing any activity, physical, mental, or virtual, is always a good idea.

Q2: How expensive would it be?
A: That question strongly relys on the teachers and financial resources of the administrators. If you have a teacher that can do it, and the resources to make it happen, then it's a lesson worth learning.