Each February, there is a day set aside to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology. Younger people are the main target.
This year’s theme is:
Connecting generations
and educating each other...
The slogan is:
Discover the digital world together... safely!
Safer Internet Day is celebrated
in more than 70 countries.
I’ve been amazed several times with the students I teach. They love being able to go online – to play games, to search for images and rarely... do research. Most of the students regularly use social web pages. Almost none of the students have thought about what they are actually posting online and are stunned when they realise how many people can see what they have posted.
They’re innocent and naive...
So “Safer Internet Day”
is perfect for them.
While the kids of today will teach us how to use technology, it is up to the older generations to teach the kids to be safe.
When I was growing up, there were bullies... but I could go home and try to forget about them until the next day. Now, kids can be bullied at school, go home... get online and continue being bullied – unless we show them how to avoid cyber-bullying. (Statistics show that children are less likely to tell their families about cyber-bullying than regular bullying.)
Kids post pictures of themselves and their friends online, using social networking pages to “make friends” with others. They don’t realise that there are some awful people who actively seek out kids online. We have to teach the kids to be safer, wiser when interacting online.
I teach my students how to be safer online... I bore them with this... They roll their eyes at me... they wish I would stop... But, I hope that some of my “Safe Internet Use” stories have sunk into their young minds... I can handle their rolling eyes, if they are just a little bit safer.
Go bug a child
about safe Internet use!
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