As I noted in this week's newsletter message, the vast number of enriching opportunities which the internet provides us all is matched only by the growing number of avenues for potential harm it presents. For a staggering number of recent statistics related to internet safety for children visit the statistics page of the site called Enough is Enough. For the article from the journal Pediatrics referenced in the newsletter message click here. For an important article recently published in Principal Leadership on cyberbullying, click here.
While nothing is foolproof, I want to encourage parents of children in grades 1-5 to take their children to the NetSmartzKids website and to spend some time exploring it together. You might want to start with this introduction the Webville Outlaws and then let your children play the games and other activities that will reinforce what they have learned.
The more we talk to our children about safe and appropriate internet practice and the earlier we do so, the greater the chances that they will become responsible members of the cyber generation rather than its predators or prey.
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