The Expanding Boundaries of Internet Safety
by Diane S. Kendall
About a year ago I was asked by the folks at Power to Learn to
help them put together a new section on this site called Internet
Smarts. If you haven't had a chance to look at it yet you should. (Go
to the homepage and click on the Internet Smarts section or if you
are emailing this page to someone they can connect at http://www.powertolearn.com/internet_smarts/index.shtml.)
Dr Merle Marsh, my co-author on this project, and I are old hands
at talking to parents, teachers and kids about Internet safety. We
put together our first a booklet on the subject over seven years ago.
We've both also been out to talk to thousands of people on the
subject. But what amazed both us, though, is how much more there is
to talk about now then there was even a couple of years ago.
For example, even three years ago, we, as well as all the current
publications on the topic at the time, told people that it was
important for adults and children to keep personal information
private. What we meant by personal information was name, address,
phone number, age, and if applicable, credit card numbers. Now with
every school and organization having a web site, among other things,
we advise parents and children not to give out the name of their
school, scout troop, sports team, or even their religious affiliation
whose web site may give hints of who children are, where they live,
and go to school. Within the new boundaries of Internet safety, when
it comes to keeping personal information private, the best idea is to
keep strangers absolutely clueless.
That's not always easy for kids who tend to be more trusting and
who would like to believe everyone they meet online is who and what
they say they are. To help with that issue we put together the
lessons for home and school use on Keeping Personal Information
Private. If you have a child in elementary or middle school, take
a few minutes and work through the interactive lesson on this issue
with them. It's available right here in the Internet Smarts section
of this site. A parent guide is also available online to help you get
started.
The lesson on the importance of keeping your information to
yourself opens with a case study about young girl and how she
develops a friend online who then suddenly wants to meet her in
person. The material serves as a cautionary tale for what to do if
your child or a friend finds themselves in this situation and how to
handle it. It also discusses why it is important to keep personal
information out of the notice of strangers.
The other two lessons on the Internet Smarts section of the site
show just how far the boundaries of Internet safety are reaching. One
lesson is called Music Downloading: Paying the Piper and the
other is Fair Use: Beg, Borrow or Steal. Obviously music
downloading has become a new issue of parenting since the onslaught
of legal cases against even young teens by the Recording Industry of
America Association. As parents we have to recognize it's not just
what you and your children see and do online, but Internet safety is
also about being cognizant of your rights and obligations when you
download something— music, movies, and other media. Both these
lessons introduce these concerns with the Fair Use lesson discussing
in a straight forward manner how making fair use of copyrighted materials
can become complicated even when kids are doing it for school
projects.
Fair Use and understanding digital property rights are going to
become very important issues for the generation that is in school
right now. It's not too early to start talking about what these
concepts mean and how they are applied to individuals in a digital
world.
Have questions? I also want to point out that you can either send
for or download your own copy of a most useful booklet on Internet
Safety from this site. The booklet is called Internet Smarts:
Safeguarding Your Children in Cyberspace.
Look for more information about Internet safety concerns in this
column and in the Internet Smarts section of the Power to Learn
site.
|
