Internet+Safety

Internet Safety Description This webpage was made in response to a lesson plan I researched and found online. The lesson plan came from CyberSmart! Education and is titled Making Good Decisions. The lesson can be used with any high school student in any content area. The lesson probably should be taught over a few different days. Some teachers on certain scheduling could get the entire lesson done in one day.

The purpose of the lesson is to help students realize the dangers of meeting people on the internet. As many teenagers are unaware of the threats people make online, this lesson aims to educate young students about the risks of such behavior. It warns students of the risks of communicating with others online and taking simple communication to face to face contact. The lesson first evaluates the student’s knowledge of the internet and then connects the answers from this true/false quiz to the activities geared to educate the students.

Selection Process & Analysis When I was first prompted to choose a lesson from two different databases, I decided to visit both and browse their options. I liked CyberSmart! because of the clarity of the website and the instructions for the lessons. I browsed their options and chose a lesson about sexual predation online. This is an increasingly popular issue in our local community that has been heightened by recent events. Most parents are looking for any and all information they can to protect their children. For this reason, I selected this lesson. I see the need for this information directly in my school.

I also liked this lesson because I think that it can be easily implemented into any content area. As I teach Spanish, I needed a lesson that was not content specific and that would be quick and effective. The lesson starts with a quiz that asks students to respond to true/false statistics and scenarios of online sexual predation. To my surprise, some of the alarming claims were true. I think that this would capture the students’ attention from the beginning of the lesson. The lesson goes on to provide students with the actual instruction; behavior that is unacceptable online.

The lesson plan can be found at this link: [] My response to the lesson is here:

Reflection From my experiences working with teenagers, I have found them to be very naïve when it comes to the dangers of our society. As more youngsters fall prey to sexual predators in our society, I’m puzzled with a way to make our society cleaner. Obviously, I can’t control the sexual predators. Yet, I know that educating our youth is an excellent way to protect them. Many teenagers wouldn’t dream of meeting someone online. Meanwhile, there are many that don’t see an imminent danger in sharing personal information over the internet and speaking to perfect strangers about private matters.

At the beginning of the lesson, the quiz that is given states some pretty alarming statistics about sexual predation, how teens begin contact with these predators, and how things can become ugly all with internet origins. And if our teens can only be smart about how they behave online when it comes to these matters, many of these events can be prevented. Simply explaining these risks often are not enough for our teens. They need to see these things in action. As an extension activity, I would like to create a common area online (wiki or blog) where students can discuss experiences they’ve had and how to handle certain situations online that make them uncomfortable. I would also like to simulate the beginning acts of sexual predation and practice ways for teens to respond and behave. I think that all these activities could help our teens be more responsible, safe, digital citizens.

References


 * CyberSmart! Education. (2010 April). //Making good decisions.// Retrieved from []

The Neilson Company. (2008 August 18). //Neilson survey pinpoints young brits' web habits.// Retrieved from [] **