Please read the short article on requirements of schools concerning Internet Safety.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/news-by-subject/safety-security/index.cfm?i=55557
What should schools do to help students stay safe online?
In the comments section, add 2 bullet points that you think would be best.
Also, read your colleagues' comments and give your reaction if you wish.
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20 comments:
I feel that it is the job of the school to ensure they do the steps it takes to keep students safe while online. Many filters and blockers are set in place at Millard South that prevents students from accessing Facebook, MySpace, personal email and inappropriate website. The problem then lies when students use Gaggle (student email) at MS, it blocks many papers and items it feel are "inappropriate." This has been the case when a paper by one of my Newspaper students was blocked because the world "breast" appeared in an article talking about "breast cancer" and the walk that many MS students particiapted in.
Two things schools can do:
-Monitor filters that prohibit students accessing social networking websites and those sites containing materials not appropriate for school.
-More supervision when students are on the computers would decrease problems.
In my homeroom at MS, there are students everyday that I find on Facebook or some game site. There will always be those students that can bypas the blockers. I feel the best prevention is teacher supervision and walking around the room monitoring the computers.
I agree with Mark. I think that it is (in part) the job of the school to teach the students about the dangers of the internet. I believe that it is partially the parent or guardians responsibility to decide what the student can and can not view with they are in their own home but at school it is ours. We are trying to teach students to be responsible citizens and adults. Part of this is them learning what sites are appropriate for environments other than home. I think that this is our responsibility.
At Millard West we have a filtering system for the student computers. The only problem is when there is an exception. If the students are doing a project and need to access a site, sometimes appropriate, they can not access it and have to take work home instead.
-I think that the things the school can do is keep these filters up and running. I believe they need to put a button or something on the computers so that (with a password) the teachers can allow the student acceptation for projects ect.
-The other thing that we can do is just keep the teachers active in the classroom. Walking around always prevents wandering to websites unsupervised.
I agree with Mark and Kendra that walking around the room and being aware of what students are doing can help with keeping them on track, in addition to other measures.
I like the focus of teaching children to be safe and responsible on the Internet. I think that this is key -- helping kids develop these needed skills, rather than putting the emphasis only on shielding them (because we won't always be able to shield them).
One question would be, how do you teach kids to be appropriately wary of the great big world that the Internet exposes them to, without at the same time making them somehow jaded or overly fearful.
And probably parents should also be involved in how to help their children be safe from online predators. This seems like a project that schools could take the lead on with parents and families.
In a previous life, we used a type of filter that gave access only to selected websites, but that is pretty limiting of the vastness of the Internet. From my understanding, the other kinds of filters also have issues and are not at all fool-/hack-proof.
OPS does filter somehow, but I think it is the second method. Filtering is probably a fairly sophisticated puzzle to solve for the IS professionals who work on it. I guess I should find out more about how this works at OPS and what a teacher's responsibility is with regard to this. Any suggestions on who to talk to?
Cyberbullying concerns me a lot, and have heard that it is worse than the old-fashioned kind of bullying because the bullying messages don't go away, and the whole experience is somehow more invasive and persistent. I wish I knew more about helping kids to avoid becoming either victimes OR bullies. Any resources/suggestions anyone?
I think that it is important for the school to have an acceptable use policy. And then actually spend some time talking to the students about what is in the policy and why they need to pay attention to it.
All too often I have seen in business that companies have this type of policy and then only focus on CYA by having the employee sign that they have read and understand the policy. I think sometimes in schools that we make the same mistake - we say we have a policy, but then we don't take the time to educate the students on the content and rationale of the policy.
The other thing that we can do is to educate the students on how to use the Internet. If we just tell the kids what they can't do and where they can't go, I think we miss the point. We need to teach the students what good looks like so they can develop good skills in using the Internet.
I agree with the comments made by the others who posted. definitely school computers should and must have some kind of blocker/filter that limits or blocks access to certain websites or certain types of websites. we have this at Ralston. I found out myself by attempting to check my personal email while at school. however, i have also noticed that kids manage to access some sites regardless. i have seen it done. and the teacher too often is too busy chatting or reading a magazine while the kids are in the library and doesn't even notice. the teachers and media specialists need to be held accountable for keeping an eye on what their students are doing. they seem to have the attitude that when the kids are "researching" in the media center, that they get to take a break. they should instead by actively involved in what the kids are working on, for the obvious reason of being there to answer questions and give guidance, but also to make sure that the students are checking out some inappropriate website. so i agree entirely with mark's recommendation of more and better teacher supervision when kids are online. however, i have also witnessed the problem that kendra mentioned where a student legitimately needs access to a certain site for the project he or she is working on and can't get to it because of the school filters. they do end up having to complete that work at home, so it seems that there should be some way to approve or allow access in certain situations.
One class I will be student teaching next semester is a computer programming course (Visual Basic). The students will each have a computer with internet access.
I have been observing this class this semester. I have not seen any particular attempts to abuse the internet access by students.
Typically in any "down time", the students are checking their mail or their grades. I have seen one student reading comics online, and that has been observed by the instructor who put a stop to it.
As an instructor in this environment, I will need to be checking what students are doing with their computers on a regular basis.
I believe that the school district has an obligation to have the best filter available to block inappropriate content. I also agree that a mechanism for a teacher to unlock a site for a particular student should be available (requiring the teacher to post the reason for the unblocking).
I believe the school has an obligation to teach the teachers how to check for inappropriate use of the school computers. There should be a school building/district-wide policy that can be followed for most cases. A teacher of course would use best judgement in any non-covered case.
At Benson they have the blocker software, but as others have said, there are always ways around. I recently spent time in a freshman seminar class doing a project that required internet so the class was held in a room that has around 30 computers set up in three long rows. The teacher’s desk is at the front of the room and to use it you have to face away from the students. They have the Vision software that helps the teacher monitor the usage, but students seem to think that they can still get away with inappropriate usage. She has to lock all of their computers when she talks up front otherwise they all think they can hide behind the computers and do whatever they want (only problem is you can hear the click of all their mouses and keyboards).
The teacher in that room is constantly telling kids to get off websites. They are looking up things like shoes on Nike, their favorite band, movie star, gross pictures, or general websites. Oddly enough she has a problem with the kids getting on the Benson website and reading the announcements and the school newspaper.
Blocker and monitoring software is the only thing that really saves the teachers at Benson from having the kids all over the net in inappropriate places. The user agreement with the school is in place only for extreme cases, and for the most part the teacher is left to decide on any punishments.
I think that kids should be shown the dangers of the internet, but I don’t think it will work as well as some people think (not that we shouldn’t try anyway). Parents don't seem to have an effect (or aren't even talking about it) so when kids are in schools it is the schools responsibility to set the tone. We have all disregarded the rules ourselves and to students this is an expectable risk because the consequences are not as apparent until they experience it themselves (kind of like speeding).
It would be fun though to do an activity where everyone logs on under generic usernames and talks as though they are someone they are not, and then reveals themselves at the very end. I wonder how comfortable the kids would get and what they would reveal about themselves.
I agree that our schools need to take steps to keep the kids safe online. What I don't particularly is having Washington, DC tell us what we should be doing. With a variety of smart filters and unfortunately limiting access to some of the social websites we can avoid a lot of the issues.
I will say that Bellevue Schools have locked down the net to the point that at times it has lost value but aside from a 24X7 presence of an adult at every single machine what can you do?
We have been discussing what Digital Citizenry is all about and what makes one a good Digital Citizen. All said, humans will want to push any boundary.
I'm with everyone on internet safety. I think that schools not only need to have filters and security, but they need to make sure students are taught the correct use of the internet. When you have computer assignments at school you need to lay out very specific guidelines and expectations for the students. You should even have some example sites already picked out that could aid them in their assignment. You also need to walk the room constantly to make sure students are doing what was assigned of them. I've seen many classrooms where the teacher just sits at the desk and her students are playing games or browsing sites that are not appropriate for school.
Well by now everything has pretty much been said. The internet is full of information both good and bad. Aside from the filtering and security software and monitoring, the educational system needs to be progressively teaching the kids the right ways to use the internet and what to look for. Kind of like we just did in this class.
-One - setup a system so that they aren't just getting one course when they get to high school. A lot of kids have access at home. My 4 year old niece uses it to some extent. Though she is only four there still needs to be rules and guidelines just as there is for everything else.
-Two - Involve the parents. They may need to be taught just as much as the kids. Reinforcement and help from them will go a long ways for us.
The internet is a wonderful resource for our students. Even at the elementary stage students are able to access the internet during computer lab times. At the school level we need to monitor students while on the internet and teach proper ways to handle the technology. One of the biggest issue with the area that I teach in is that most students don't have access to a computer at home. Giving them time to explore is important to help them learn about the internet.
Two things schools can do:
- Have internet safety programs set in place to help students understand what is appropriate and what is not safe.
- Help parents get involved in activities the students do on the internet.
I like Ryan's idea of already having sites picked out that students could use if their homework requires using the internet. This way, they know what a quality website looks like and the students will have no excuses for going to sites that they are not supposed to be on.
-Like others have said, teachers need to be more aware of what their students are doing while on teh interenet. They need to walk the room or arrange computers so the monitors are in constant site of the teacher.
-Schools could also invest in a monitoring system. This lets teachers watch what the students are doing on their computer from their own computer. A teacher can overtake the students computer or write messages to the students to tell them to get back on taks, etc.
It is ashame that one has to even consider the possibility of someone that would even consider to take advantage of children whether it be by bullying them or sexually harrassing them. After working at two OPS schools, I have seen many good strides with this district's approach to ensuring online safety for the students.
As Millard South, commented by Mark, OPS has many filters and blockers to prevent the student from various websites. Although many students are able to find a way around,like Kendra said, there still must be a limit to what students have access to during school hours, especially.
- I think that all schools should take advantage of the organization Campfires USA, and have them come in and do their presentations of skits and plays concerning sexual harrassment and cyber bullying. I have seen them at one of the schools that I have worked at. Their presentations are very good for all ages.
-I also think that schools also need to continue to educate on how to avoid encounters and the dangers of these encounters.
- I also feel like Kerry, that a policy must be made regarding this issue in the schools. All administrators and educators need to treat online safety as they do threats, weapons, and harrassment in the various schools. Students must know that this is a serious matter. Extreme consequences must be incorporated.
I think this bill is a good idea. Internet should not just be "restricted" if content is questionable. For instance, chat rooms can be a great resource for students collaborating with students across the globe. These students wouldn't have that opportunity if all chat room were just restricted. I agree with the bill that it is better to educate students about online safetly.
Two things schools could do to help promote online safety might be:
- Active teachers. Just because we're doing assignment using the internet doesn't mean our job is obsolete. We need to be going around the classroom helping students stay on task and teaching them good online habits.
- I think it's good to maintain filters. It would be nice for teachers to have a bit more control on certain webpages though. It seems very tough to get a specific webpage unblocked.
Many things have already been said, and I agree with quiet a few of them. The filter is of course the most obvious and probably the easiest way to keep students safe. I know at OPS we have a filter, but many times it does go down. Then if students get the knowledge of this, then can get anywhere.
I also like Bryan's idea of involving the parents and teaching them internet safety to teach the students. With there help, the filter won't be as necessary as it is currently.
Today’s society in America uses schools as a catch all for technology literacy. I do think teachers need to foster the ability to correctly use electronic sources of information such as the internet. And with that understand the pitfalls of the technology such as online predators, bullying from classmates and why you don’t look at inappropriate material in the school setting. Schools will buy blocking software and programs that allow teachers to monitor student’s activities on the computer. But for our government to once again mandate schools to provide this service is placing the possibility of litigation on schools that will holdback technologies for schools. Where does it become the parent’s responsibility to show their child correct and incorrect usage of the internet? Parents must be the example for their children in how to be polite in the electronic world as well as how to protect themselves from bullying and predators. Then the only entity they can sue is themselves.
Everyone seems to have very valid points. I especially agree with Kerry about how important it is to not only block sites and tell the students the dos and don’ts but inform them why. You will get so much more respect for the rule when they are justified. Just because most of our students are going to be in the 14-18 age range doesn’t mean they have grown out of the “WHY” stage of their lives.
The other aspect of importance for this is the involvement of both teachers and parents. So if we give the students the what and the why it is important for us to maintain a level of example. Parents need to understand that the kids are learning about inappropriate internet actions from somewhere. Teachers need to constantly reinforce the policies but parents need to be aware of their students actions for home use as well.
This past weekend there was an article in the Omaha World Herald about a teenage boy who met a 40-year-old man online and engaged in unprotected sex with him. The teenage boy was of legal age of consent (17). It is sick that a 40-year-old man is preying on teenage boys, but what made this article break my heart was the fact that this man had AIDS and did not disclose that fact with the teenage boy.
I will be teaching at a high school level. The kids are at that age where they want to be adults, and yet they still do not understand all that being "an adult" entails. We need to teach students how to make choices, not tell them what do to or what not to do.
So what should the schools do...
-Filters need to be in place and they need to be monitored.
-There needs to be an ongoing conversation with students about why those filters are in place and why bullying of any sort is unacceptable. Of course, serious conversations often go in one ear and out the other, but it is still important help them understand why.
-Finally, parents need to be involved. Kids have access to e-mail outside of school, so parents need to be an enforcer there. It would also be wise to educate parents on the internet. There was a case a while ago where it was a mother who was cyber-bullying her daughter's classmate. I believe the parents need to be accountable for their actions or lack there of when it comes to the internet.
I agree with everyone regarding student access to the internet; however, often times, teachers cannot access necessary information pertinent to lessons because of the filters.
Two thing the school can do-
-Keep their ears open for passcodes, and back door ways that students have for accessing inappropriate sites. Students should not be in a position to get suspended for viewing porn because porn shouldn't be accessible. (I know of a student that was suspended for viewing porn at school. My question is how was he able to do it?)
-Teachers can take notice of inappropriate sites with vulgar games that students can access. One student in my class showed me a game she was able to play online where Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden naked. The object of the game was for Adam to get to a place in the garden without being RAPED by a gorilla. I reported the site to our IT person and hopefully it has been blocked.
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