Teaching Internet Safety

In the article, How to Teach Internet Safety to Younger Elementary Students, Mary Beth Hertz explains the importance of teaching our students of all ages how to stay safe on the Internet. We all know the dangers of cyber bullying and other threats online and how important it is for both teachers and parents to ensure the safety of our children. Hertz names three things we need to be aware of when teaching Internet safety to our students: "First, the transfer of handling strangers in 'real life' to those in virtual environments is not automatic. It needs to be taught. Second, while most 'Stranger Danger' programs teach that strangers are scary, mean and want to hurt or abduct children, this contradicts the way collaboration occurs between strangers online. Not all strangers are dangerous. Lastly, in 'real life,' students can walk or run away from a potential threat. In an online environment, the danger is inside a student's home and hard to escape without the necessary skills for handling tough situations" (Hertz, 2012). Hertz then provides an example lesson plan she used with her kindergarten and first grade students to explain that strangers exist in an online setting. While this lesson plan is geared towards younger students, it is a great way to inform all students of the threats that exist on the Internet. Hertz also states in her article that this month is Internet Safety Month!