Keeping Kids Safer on the Internet

As counselors and educators we continue to promote cyber-citizenship and safety online. Luckily there are good resources available. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children has great tips to share with parents/guardians. The iSAFE www.isafe.org web site has many valuable components to use in this important work. Canada has a site www.media-awareness.ca/english/games/privacy playground/ that offers lessons on safe use of the internet that our librarian and I are using right now with third graders. The Canada lesson is in a game format that we did as a class shown through our Smartboard. The goal is to earn stars for responding correctly to 5 key questions. At the end, we had each student do a quick 3-2-1 Exit Slip to determine 3 things they already knew about internet safety, 2 important things covered in the lesson, and 1 connection to cyber bullying. The game did not really cover bullying but I talked for a few minutes after the game about how bullying looks online vs. in person. The assessments so far indicate the lesson is effective because the students can write the key things they need to know about to be good cyber citizens. We are also sending the tips to parents and informing them that we are teaching this lesson. We plan to follow-up in June with 2 more lessons during Internet Safety Month.