Internet Safety

Wow, things have changed since I have been in school. In those days we did not have computers in our classroom instead we had locked computer rooms that could only be used with adult supervision. Now most classrooms have computers that the students can use when in at recess, when done homework or for class research projects. Due to the increased access to the internet as teachers we must enforce strict rules for our students’ internet use. These rules should be outlined at the beginning of the school year and reviewed whenever there will be major use of the internet in the classroom. You can also save kid friendly search engines under favourites on the browser such as Kidsclick and Canadian Kids pages. This way as a teacher you can instruct the students to use only these search engines and be less wary when students browse the internet.

Although we set rules as teachers for our students on appropriate use of the internet there will be a couple of curious students that will test these rules. To avoid them finding inappropriate websites you can use filters and blocking software. Your school can have server-based services that do not allow R-rated or unrated pages to be seen. Furthermore, you can change the browser’s internet option settings to not give access to these unsuitable sites. Even with all those precautions in place, students might still stumble across the odd inappropriate site and you will have to talk with that student or your class about the implication associated with this.