Inside NetSmartz Workshop
Educate. Engage. Empower: Set the Pace with NetSmartz
Educators, put away your beach bags and grab your grade books—it's time to go back to school! August is a busy time for teachers, and for NetSmartz, too. While you're planning your lessons, prepping your classroom, and welcoming new students, NetSmartz is thinking of exciting ways you can bring Internet safety education to your school. Back-to-school is a great time to introduce Internet safety lessons that address issues such as cyberbullying and sexting.
In the last year, your school may have seen an increase of Internet-related incidents among students. As a result, you may have become familiar with associated legal issues such as—where does the school's authority begin and end? How do we deal with something that happened off school property? While the school board answers these questions, you can help prevent future incidents by educating your students about safer online practices. What better way to set the pace for the rest of the year, than establishing up front the conscientious Internet practices you expect from every student?
So in between hanging up posters and arranging seating charts, take a moment to think of how you can foster a sense of responsible Internet use in your students. A good place to begin is with the NetSmartz Internet safety presentations for kids, tweens, and teens. These presentations provide a starting point for class discussions by offering a comprehensive overview of important safety issues. Download them now at NetSmartz.org/Presentations.
Wishing you a great school year!
Bulletin Board: Social Networking Sites Made Simple
MySpace. Facebook. Twitter. myYearbook. Linkedin. There are a lot of social networking sites, and they have a lot of users. Just last month, Facebook announced that it had more than 500 million active profiles. Chances are that some of those profiles belong to children you know.
Many trusted adults have made it a priority to help children use social networking sites safely. However, the sheer number of sites, all with different rules and policies, can make this task seem impossible. That's why NetSmartz Workshop has introduced "A Parent's Guide to Social Networking." This tip sheet outlines the basic parts of a child's social networking profile and gives parents hints about what they should be monitoring, such as pictures and third-party applications. It also lists some positive things children can do on social networking sites.
With these tips in hand, parents will be able to navigate different types of social networking sites so that they can fulfill a common goal: keeping their children safer. Help the parents in your community get these tips today by visiting NetSmartz.org/TipSheets.
Social Spotlight: Jace Shoemaker-Galloway
Jace Shoemaker-Galloway is an online safety educator, freelance writer and mom. She is the Internet Feature Writer for Suite101 and is the National Holidays Examiner, Working Moms Examiner and Freebies Examiner on Examiner.com.
Q: Who is your favorite NetSmartz character?
A: While I love them all, my favorite character is Clicky. I love his rhyming songs and catchy phrases as well as his positive message.
Q: What is your favorite animated film?
A: There are so many! I would have to say my favorite is Ice Age!
Q: What is the best advice you have for parents who want to keep their kids safer online?
A: The very best advice I can give parents is to have an open discussion about online safety with their children. Although many parents feel completely overwhelmed when it comes to technology, it is important children know they can come talk to their parents if they see or hear anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, scared or worried. As more and more children surf the 'net at earlier ages, it is critical parents talk to their children about online safety in order to keep them safe online.
Q: What social networking sites do you use?
A: As a freelance writer, self-promotion is very important. Currently, I use Twitter and Facebook to promote my writing.
Q: Name one technology or gadget you can't live without.
A: Besides my laptop computer, I can't live without my BlackBerry.
Q: What do you think is the biggest safety risk to youths online?
A: I believe the biggest safety risk to children is cyberbullying.
Q: What advice do you have for young people online?
A: While social networking sites are a great way to communicate with your friends, be careful what you share online. While posting provocative videos and photos may be fun and entertaining, always remember - what you post online today may come back to haunt you tomorrow.
Q: What is your favorite online activity?
A: My favorite online activity is surfing the 'net for new and exciting Internet safety activities for children.
Q: Do you spend more time creating or consuming Web content?
A: I have created and maintained a variety of websites over the years, including the Macomb Junior High School site. Currently, I spend most of my time researching the web to update my online safety curriculum and to find information for future articles.
Q: What do you think the Internet will look like in five years?
A: The Internet and technology is changing so rapidly, it's hard to say! Just look at how far we've come in the last five years. Back in the day, we had expensive computers with very little hard-drive space that ran at a snail's pace. We used a dial-up service to connect us to the Internet. Today, computers are more compact yet have more hard-drive space. Computers are faster and less expensive too.
There are many more websites, blogs and social networking websites today too. And speaking of social networking, social networking is a must-have for many people. Besides staying connected with friends and loved ones, social networking is also a great way to share news as it happens. Social networking is also being used to help in the relief efforts of various emergencies and catastrophes including the earthquake in Haiti and the BP Oil spill.
This resource brought to you by:
Any views or opinions presented in Social Spotlight are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent those of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.