Kids And Internet Safety     Educator & Parent Resources

With the advent of online devices...other than the pc...monitoring children's access to potentially harmful online content becomes more difficult for parents and educators. Therefore it has become increasingly important for children to understand and learn online responsibility, as well as online safety.

EDUCATORS

Cybersmart Curriculum avails educators of lesson plans and activity sheets for K-8 that are co-published by the CyberSmart School Program and MacMillan McGraw-Hill.

FBI for Kids:

• http://www.fbi.gov/fbikids.htm Kindergarten through 12th grade. Not just safety tips…but stories, information, games and more. • http://www.fbi.gov/kids/k5th/safety2.htm
Internet safety tips in a graphic printable format for kids’ kindergarten through 5th grade.

I-Safe America The Internet Safety Foundation purpose is to educate and empower kids to safely and responsibly take control of their Internet experience. Their site offers a number of ways to get involved to make a difference, which include chat hosts, room monitors, HTML coders and programmers, writers and editors and web surfers. I-Safe provides information to navigate and surf the Internet so that it becomes both an exciting and safe experience.

Net Monkey Convicted copyright pirate Mike Nguyen created a site to educate children about the risks of on-line piracy.Download a copy of "Net Monkey Weekly" from the site which is both an informative and entertaining newsletter directed at children to address the ills of piracy.

Netsmartz.org for Educators Keep kids and teens safer online. Teaching tools for internet safety, safety presentations, videos, access to supplemental materials, and more.

SafeSurfin.com AOL provides resources, safety tips, activities for young children and teens and information for both parents and educators.

Stay Safe Online Microsoft and Boys and Girls of America has created a 15-minute kid-friendly animated program to help children make smart choices about the use of Internet chat rooms, e-mail and online behavior, hosted by Shaquille O’Neal.

PARENTS...you are the first educator of your children.

Establish clear limits:

• How much time they can spend online per day
• Who they are allowed to communicate with over the Internet
• What type of information they can share...and what is prohibited
• Make up a "Favorites List" of sites they are allowed to visit and show them how to access and use it. For younger children restrict this list to a few educational and kid oriented game sites.
• Do not allow kids to download or install anything on the computer without first okaying it with an adult in the household

Once the rules are decided ...put them on paper and post them by the computer as a quick reference.

GetNetWise is a project of the Internet Education Foundation that provides resources for families that includes online guidelines and links to both educational and entertaining kid appropriate Internet sites.

NetCetera The Net Cetera booklet "Chatting with Kids About Being Online" is a parent guide for talking to their children about navigating the Internet safely and responsibly. Published by OnGuardOnline, a public-private coalition consisting of more a number of federal agencies which include the FCC, the FTC, and the Department of Education, the guide covers topics like social networking, cyberbullying, sexting, using mobile phones safely, protecting the family computer, and more.

SafeSurfin.com AOL provides resources, safety tips, activities for young children and teens and information for both parents and educators.

The Librarian’s Guide to Cyberspace for Parents and Kids The American Librarian Association offers online safety guidelines and numerous links to resources for kids and parents.

The Parents' Guide to the Information Superhighway: Rules and Tools for Families Online. This guide is available on "The Children's Partnership" site and is for parents who are learning that computers and online services will be or already are a part of their children’s school, local community centers, home, library—and portable devices that connect to the Internet. The booklet gives guidelines and advice and is written with the computer novice in mind.

There's One More Talk You Need to Have The Department of Justice Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section's Chief, Martha Stansell-Gamm wrote this article published by Newsweek regarding the need for parents to learn what their children's online habits are and to teach them how to be good citizens on the Internet.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Online Safety and Technology Working Group was established pursuant to the "Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act." Participants, including federal agencies, were established to evaluate industry efforts and make recommendations to promote online safety for children through education, labeling, and parental control technology. The Working Group also evaluated and has made recommendations on the industry efforts to prevent and respond to criminal activity involving children and the Internet. You can obtain their full report here.

The following safety issues were identified:
• Physical safety – freedom from physical harm
• Psychological safety – freedom from cruelty, harassment, and exposure to potentially
disturbing material
• Reputational and legal safety – freedom from unwanted social, academic,
professional, and legal consequences that could affect users for a lifetime
• Identity, property, and community safety – freedom from theft of identity & property