Now you know (aprox.) how old I am. I pre-date the Internet! Digital citizenship and cyber safety were not a thing when I was in school. I remember taking my first computer course in grade 8, and I wasn’t really sure I even liked it… (which is funny because later I actually did quite a bit of coding when I built my own blogs). Back then though, I seriously hated coding. It was a tough go, and did not seem very interesting to me. The closest thing to media literacy was the adds we would see on TV. Someone mentioned the House Hippo on their blog… I LOVED that commercial. This one was also one of the ‘media literacy” pieces.. not as fun though…
This one is NOT a media literacy add.. but I also loved this one. So I am sharing it. LOL
The internet came into being in 1989, but I was probably in my twenties when I started spending any time on it. I loved researching things, and that was what I did, although back then it was harder to find information then it is now. I also loved Napster… and I found out the hard way about viruses.
The closes we had to scare tactics were about drugs.. not the internet…
Personally, I have never found scare tactics worked for teaching about drugs… or cyber safety. Today, almost every teen has a cell phone, and it is getting harder and harder for parents to monitor what their teens are doing on the internet. I think that education is the best hope we have to teach children about cyber safety, but I am pretty sure I am not an expert. Most of the training I have given my children has been based on staying on safe websites, not giving out private information of any kind, and having good passwords.. (so.. not password, or the name of your pets, siblings, children, your birthdate ect. ) We have talked to them about talking to strangers, especially on gaming platforms like Roblox. We have parental controls set on the tablets of our younger children, and none of my kids have social media. (at least that I am aware of) I am sure that since my one daughter is 14 that will probably change soon. We also have a rule that says no devices including phones go downstairs and at night they are charged up in the living room. I know.. we are mean.. LOL. So.. if you have kids … what safety precautions have you devised to keep your little (or big kids) safe?
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