Technology+Report

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Here is the main part of the report. The link above has the correct format.

Internet Safety for Huntington ISD  Internet safety is a concern to everyone. We all have people in our lives that we care about and any one of those people could become a victim on the internet if they do not observe some basic safety rules. “42 percent of students have been bullied online. One in four have had it happen more than once. 58 percent have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to them online.” (Hitchcock, 2007) In light of this, I propose that we implement an internet safety course for all of our teachers and students. Obviously, this would need to be modified based on age and audience, but this would be a requirement for all teachers and students. Of course we would need to involve parents and even the community in some way, also. First, we would educate our teachers about the dangers on the internet, and then we would follow with curriculum for teachers to use in their classrooms for their students. The teachers could use the curriculum as laid out or make minor adjustments as necessary for their particular students. Each student would have to go through the curriculum, or at least part of the curriculum, before they would be allowed to get on the internet at school. We would involve parents and our community. We could invite them to a meeting to enlighten them on the dangers of the internet and show them what we are doing to protect their children. For those who cannot attend, we could post the curriculum on our school website. For anyone who does not have internet access, we could provide a printed copy of the curriculum. We could use resources from the “National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® and the Internet Alliance.” (Adelman, 2004) This organization makes available free copies of a pamphlet produced for parents and educators to address child internet safety. In particular, I would suggest following the curriculum laid out by Hallee Adelman in her article //Teaching Online Safety.// She suggests six main objectives for students to learn in the internet safety course. Her suggestions seem to be engaging and straight-forward and not at all scary. We certainly do not want our students to be frightened to get on the internet, but as one of my colleagues pointed out, we teach our students to be aware of the danger of strangers and this is very much the same concept just not in person. There are a wealth of resources out there to help us with this curriculum. “The Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use…provides ‘An Educator’s Guide to Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats,’ ‘A Parent’s Guide to Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats,’ and links to real-life stories.” (Joseph, 2007) The FBI also publishes a handbook for parents on internet safety. Another source of information is i-SAFE America which provides multiple free resources about internet safety. These are only a few of the many resources that Linda Joseph has referenced in her article. As you can see, internet safety education is important and can keep our kids safe as we move education into the 21st century. Making internet safety curriculum a priority in our district will help make our students better and safer learners and could help protect them from the dangers of the internet.

=References = Adelman, H. (2004, March). Teaching Online Safety. //Voices from the Middle//, p. 17. Hitchcock, J. A. (2007, May/June). Cyberbullies, Online Predators, and What to Do About Them. //Multimedia & Internet Schools//, p. 13. Joseph, L. C. (2007, January/February). Keping Safe in Cyberspace. //Multimedia & Internet Schools//, p. 18.