Internet safety takes on many different meanings depending on your age and what you use a computer for. For younger children and students, we worry about them giving up personal information to dangerous predators. We worry about them being bullied and tormented with hurtful instant messages and facebook postings. For adults, we are terrified of contracting viruses or worms (like the one scheduled to bloom on April 1st) or having criminals gain access to sensitive financial information.
As teachers, our primary concern is always student safety and in the last few years that has meant that internet safety lessons are mandatory. Students need to realize that while the internet is full of information and does make it easy to communicate with friends, it can be a dangerous place as well. Part of learning about computers these days deals with not giving out private information and not speaking to strangers in a chat room. It also has to deal with reading information critically. Not everyone on the internet is an expert and blogs and web pages are full of opinion but may be woefully short on facts.
While the internet will be increasingly used in the classroom the academic focus must always have a "safety first" spin. That means teachers need to be prepared to explain and educate about how to be safe online. Passwords, sharing files, using your full name, address, and dozens of other topics must be addressed. In the 21st Century these rules will be as relevant as looking both ways before crossing the street. No teacher will want to feel responsible for a student that has found themselves in a dangerous or hurtful situation because of a school assignment.
A new problem that we have been dealing with is what to do with students who knowingly and repeatedly put themselves in dangerous situations online. Pictures and messages that are completely inappropriate are becoming more and more frequent as the line between whats acceptable online and in the real world become blurred.
