Friday, December 28, 2007

Connect Safely

When teenagers and adults are taught to drive, they are educated in the safest way to drive. Fire safety, safety with fire arms, staying safe in a public place, are all very excepted as something which should be taught. Because knowledge is power. I have read the safety tips and surfed through the forums at www.connectsafely.org, and was impressed with the subject matter. I really believe along with the parents and faculty team of the school being educated in matters of safety, the students need to know ways in which to interact in the read/write web safely. This site can really be a valuable educational tool. There are other measures which can be taken such as using more secure sites such as 21classes.com or whyville.com for safer onlinee interaction. This is good, but even if you have training wheels on your bike; you best learn to ride without them. The students will meet other friends with pages on myspace who will invite them to read and comment on their blog, which they won't be able to do without an account at myspace. Though these secure sites are wonderful ideas. It is still best to teach and learn to interact safely on today's Read/Write web.

1 comment:

The Lorax said...

I love how your blog cuts to the chase... No matter how many alternatives we offer to our children/students, nothing can substitute for the real thing. Otherwise, families would be saving thousands of dollars by buying clothes at Kmart instead of American Eagle :P Likewise, children/students want or will want myspace and facebook instead of imbee or whyville.

Hopefully, sites like 21classes, whyville, and imbee can help to train young or new (to the internet) children/students to use the internet safely. In addition, parents and teachers need to be explicit when explaining internet dangers and safety procedures to our children/students. This informed generation can then use social networks and other internet sites safely.

When all parties are informed, knowledge will equal power. But like the government, we need checks and balances to keep this online world safe and thriving. We need the older generation to offer precautions and the younger to offer inovative ideas. Hopefully we won't have to resort to saying "no" in order to protect the youth. Together we can make our children's and students' online lives safe and enriching.