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Teacher's Net

Lesson 5: Instructional Design2, Part One

Student Safety Agreement - Emphasis on Responsible Surfing

Internet Safety

"The web is an excellent learning tool, but there are dangers to be aware of. Following are some facts and figures to help you understand what we, as parents [and teachers], are up against.

Approximately 45 million children and teens have access to the Internet. By the year 2005 the growth of children and teens will exceed 77 million. Out of all these millions of children and teens only 1/3 of the households that have Internet access are proactively protecting their children and teens by using filtering or blocking software.
An alarming 75% of children share personal information about themselves willingly over the Internet in exchange for goods and services.
Only 25% of our children will tell a parent about an encounter with a predator who approached or solicited sex while on the Internet.
In the United States, one out of five teens who regularly log on to the Internet have received unwanted sexual material through the web. This material includes requests to have sex or to have sexual talk; and to give personal sexual information.
One out of 33 youths will receive insistent sexual material.
Online predators will contact 77% of youths by the age of 14, and 22% of children ages 10 to 13 will be approached." (see source 1)

By arming not only ourselves, but our students, with Knowledge and the Power of Communication (hey, you didn't think the lesson progression was for a reason, did ya?), we can prevent problems with online students. Despite the alarming statistics, there is little to fear one we're knowledgable.

The Internet is a marvelous tool and a wonderful resource - and just as we wouldn't let our students into the cafeteria kitchen without supervision and knowledge of how to cook, we shouldn't allow them on the Internet without teaching the risks and safety precautions... and arming ourselves with the answers to any question they might ask in the process.

How important do I think it is? Well, the following links are Required Reading for this week, and just *happen* to tie in right here:

CyberAngel Website: The following links, in order, are Required Reading from this website-

http://www.cyberangels.org/homefront/index.html

http://www.cyberangels.org/homefront/parenttips.html

http://www.cyberangels.org/homefront/predator.html

http://www.cyberangels.org/homefront/15years.html

http://www.cyberangels.org/homefront/parentagreement.html

Agreements that Are "Out There"

There are, of course, many agreements created and posted online for use and/or research. We're going to study them for content, ideas, and layout (I highly reccomend saving a copy of these .pdf's for your later perusal):

Merseyside Police Children's Agreement

WISE KIDS Internet Safety Agreement

Teen Internet Safety Agreement

School District Agreement

Our Own Agreement

I've actually required much more reading in this lesson than any other. Armed with all this reading, writing your own agreement should be a piece of cake.

Here are some guidelines to keep in mind:

Make sure that the agreement addresses both acceptable and unacceptable uses of the Internet.
Clearly state the policies regarding consequences for abuse of Internet Priveleges.
Include facts, stories, and/or excerpts of articles that will impact your particular group of students.
Add a ___ area after each section you address, asking that the student initial the section to indicate that they have read and understood that section.