You can find lots of helpful info at https://www.wiredsafety.org/
Internet Safety Tips for Parents by Matt Levinson
Another interesting article about parenting in the age of the Internet can be found on edutopia's website. The author, Douglas Rushkoff, recommends an hour or two of "screen time" (any time spent in front of any screens) for tweens. For teens, the author writes that they need to understand online worlds before they can be allowed to roam freely on the Internet. At SHS&CTC, we offer many Career Tech classes that can increase students' computer literacy, including HTML, Dreamweaver, and Computer/Network Tech.
That’s why I’ve come around to the belief that teenagers shouldn't be online until they understand how to create their own online spaces. Just as learning a language means learning to speak, and learning to read means first learning the same alphabet one would need to write, kids should not immerse themselves in digital environments until they are aware of how those environments are constructed. Only then are such places demystified to the point where young people can engage with them on their own terms, rather than making legal and cognitive agreements they may not even know exist. What does this mean? For starters, learning basic HTML -- the language that makes web pages look and act the way they do. Teens should know that databases exist, and they should know what they are. They should understand that every keystroke they make is etched in a memory more permanent than if it had been etched into the side of the Parthenon -- and infinitely more searchable.
The author also recommends keeping computers in a common space and having children turn their phones off at bedtime:
When computer use happens in the midst of the home rather than in isolation, we are available to filter and explain a bit of what might be happening on there. If nothing else, this activity is occurring in the context of other human relationships and values.
That goes for smartphones, too. Lights out means phones out -- even out of the bedroom. If you follow this rule yourself, it will be easier to make everyone in your house follow it, too (and you'll sleep better sleep for not fooling your eyes and brain that it's daylight every time you answer a text message). Exceptions to the rule are that Hurricane Sandy hit, or the kids are at a sleepover. "Johnny may ask me to the dance" is not an exception.
Internet Safety Tips for Parents by Matt Levinson
Another interesting article about parenting in the age of the Internet can be found on edutopia's website. The author, Douglas Rushkoff, recommends an hour or two of "screen time" (any time spent in front of any screens) for tweens. For teens, the author writes that they need to understand online worlds before they can be allowed to roam freely on the Internet. At SHS&CTC, we offer many Career Tech classes that can increase students' computer literacy, including HTML, Dreamweaver, and Computer/Network Tech.
That’s why I’ve come around to the belief that teenagers shouldn't be online until they understand how to create their own online spaces. Just as learning a language means learning to speak, and learning to read means first learning the same alphabet one would need to write, kids should not immerse themselves in digital environments until they are aware of how those environments are constructed. Only then are such places demystified to the point where young people can engage with them on their own terms, rather than making legal and cognitive agreements they may not even know exist. What does this mean? For starters, learning basic HTML -- the language that makes web pages look and act the way they do. Teens should know that databases exist, and they should know what they are. They should understand that every keystroke they make is etched in a memory more permanent than if it had been etched into the side of the Parthenon -- and infinitely more searchable.
The author also recommends keeping computers in a common space and having children turn their phones off at bedtime:
When computer use happens in the midst of the home rather than in isolation, we are available to filter and explain a bit of what might be happening on there. If nothing else, this activity is occurring in the context of other human relationships and values.
That goes for smartphones, too. Lights out means phones out -- even out of the bedroom. If you follow this rule yourself, it will be easier to make everyone in your house follow it, too (and you'll sleep better sleep for not fooling your eyes and brain that it's daylight every time you answer a text message). Exceptions to the rule are that Hurricane Sandy hit, or the kids are at a sleepover. "Johnny may ask me to the dance" is not an exception.
