Cyber Safety in the 2010’s

In my time in elementary and high school I think that cyber safety was talked about minimally but effective when it was talked about. The first time I remember talking about cyber safety was around the time of the Amanda Todd case. I think it shocked many parents and teachers and opened a lot of peoples eyes about the dangers. I had the experience of a police officer coming in and talking about safety. This definitely utilized the scare tactic and honestly I believe it worked for many students. The officer talked about the dangers of nude pictures and explained how that is child pornography at the time since we were in high school. I think this definitely deterred kids from sending photos and also the kids recieveing them from saving them. It was scary to not only think that these pictures could be spread but that you could also have jail time if you are caught.

I cannot remember many other times we talked about cyber safety. However, one of my high school teachers had a poster in her room with the acronym S.M.A.R.T on in it.

S – Safe

M – Meet

A – Accepting

R- Reliable

T -Tell

My teacher was pushing that for every online interaction we have that we think about each one of these and evaluate if it is smart to continue. At the time I was kind of resistant and thought it was a waste of time. However, many years later and I remembered this poster. It has a really great message and I would love to hang this in my future classroom.

Cyber Safety should have been talked about way more while I was growing up because I was barely taught about it in schools. The tactics my school did use such as the scare tactic was effective for me but maybe not for everyone. The little poster my teacher had was effective as well. I think schools could start talking to kids as young as grade two. Obviously the approaches should be different but getting kids comfortable to talk about it and introducing parents to it is important. For younger grades it would be effective to give worksheets about what is safe and unsafe to get them involved. For middle years telling kids the dangers and to teach them how to deal with problems. This may be scare tactics or tools online they can use for help. Lastly, for older grades I think it is important to provide support for students who are struggling online. It is hard to admit that you are in danger because of a revealing photo you sent of yourself. Giving kids a hotline to get help, or making them comfortable in the classroom to ask for help.

Some resources I found:

Common Sense Education: This website provides free lesson plans for all grades; it provides messages for parents, educators, and advocates.

The CyberSmile Foundation: Provides hotlines and resources for many issues kids face such as cyber bullying, eating disorders, mental health problems, etc.