Internet+Safety+in+the+Classroom



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//**﻿﻿ Internet Safety **//

The internet can be a wonderful resource for children, they can use it to conduct research for school reports, and communicate with their teachers and fellow students. The internet allows students to take virtual tours, and communicate with children from other countries by exchanging emails with their pen pals. Children who are old enough to type can literally access the world. However, despite its many benefits there are many potential hazards to children who are on the internet unsupervised.

** What can teachers do to make sure their students are safe online? **

1. Talk to your students about internet safety, take advantage of the resources that are available to protect them, and keep a close eye on their activities.

2. Make sure that you closely supervise the students and use structured activities, these are the best defense against the dangers that arise when students use the internet in the classroom.

3. Purchase and install internet filtering software that will block harmful websites from being accessed on your computer.

4. Investigate sites that you plan to use beforehand so you will be acquainted with them. Use bookmarks to help guide the students in their internet research

5. Monitor them when they are on the computer. 6. Prepare web-quests for research activities so that they will be able to safely search the internet, and quickly access the resources that they need for the assignment.

** Internet Safety Laws ** **﻿** A federal law, called the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), was created to help protect kids online. It's designed to keep anyone from obtaining a child's personal information without a parent knowing about it and agreeing to it first. COPPA has certain requirements that websites must abide by. They are as follows:

• Websites must explain their privacy policies on the site and get parental consent before collecting or using a child's personal information, such as a name, address, phone number, or Social Security number.

• Sites are prohibited from requiring a child to provide more personal information than necessary to play a game or participate in a contest. Students should have a parent's permission before entering any personal information.

<span style="color: #8f1aa2; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">[|Kids Health.org Safety on the Internet for Kids]
==<span style="color: #8f1aa2; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">FBI's Parent's Guide to Internet Safety ==