My Digital Experience

The internet has always been first hand accessible to me. I learned how to use the computer right in kindergarten. I remember it taking the whole period to login onto the computer because I didn’t know where the keys were on the computer and the teacher was running around trying to help everyone get logged on – it was very chaotic.

I had always viewed the internet as something that everyone can access, within reason of course. Until one day my sister and I were talking. For reference we are six years apart (I’m the younger one). I was so surprised when she told me that when she was in elementary school it costed money to be on the internet or you could only access it for a few minutes at a time. We aren’t that many years apart!

I think education around the internet started in about grade 6 for me. We were getting to that age where we were exploring the internet like never before and getting cellphones. We had a police officer come and speak to us about internet safety. The scare tactic worked on me, but I was also a very shy and timid person growing up. I was so scared of doing anything wrong – in any aspect of my life. I don’t think the scare tactic worked for many others. My school would also host assemblies and the drama club would act out bullying scenes, including cyberbullying.

I completely agree that we need to educate students on how to use the internet safely, but we also need to make students feel like they are in a safe space and they can come to us if they do make a mistake. It is inevitable, cyberbullying will happen. We may have told students to stay off the internet and they didn’t (big surprise). BUT, we also need to be there for them when and if they make a mistake.

Below is a video from a young person on internet safety. I think it is important for young people to learn how to be safe online from young people. Our parents don’t know everything online and we may not want to listen to them anyway. But, we all need to learn how to be safe online.