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Readers' comments on any of these resources would be most welcome! Do email us via feedback@netfamilynews.org.New tool for teaching kids online safety (March 22, '02 issue)
Since kids need "street smarts" for safe, enriching travel on the Infobahn, we like to point out new resources that come along for them....
"Staying Smart Online," produced by London-based Childnet International with Microsoft UK support, is designed to help 8-to-12-year-olds develop and test their online-safety sense. We like it because it's refreshingly straightforward: Kids can do this animated game/exercise in a matter of minutes.
And the take-away is memorable, an acronym: "SMART," for...
- Secret - Always keep your name, address, mobile phone number, and password private - it's like giving out the keys to your home!
- Meeting - Someone you have contacted in cyberspace could be dangerous. Only do so with your parents'/carers' permission, and then when they can be present!
- Accepting emails or opening files from people you don't really know or trust can get you into trouble - they may contain viruses or nasty messages.
- Remember - Someone online may be lying and not be who they say they are. Stick to the public areas in chat rooms, and if you feel uncomfortable simply get out of there!
- Tell your parent or caregiver is someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable or worried.
The SMART rules are already being used widely in the United Kingdom, said Childnet's Stephen Carrick-Davies. He told us that the piece was designed for the classroom as an introduction to online safety and ethics, but "could also be used by parents at home who need a help in introducing this important subject to children in a fun, interactive way." A 10-year-old we know seemed to agree. He ran through the piece after school one day this week, thinking through each point with a level of concentration that actually surprised us a little - especially the chat room section, since he'd never chatted online. He carefully read through the "quiz" at the end, then moved on to a new online game he wanted to check out.What we learned is that a little play mixed in with information that's short and to the point works just fine for kids, maybe better than "infotainment," or educational games with information embedded in the play experience. Childnet's resource includes a section for parents and teachers on "How To Use 'Staying Smart Online' with Children."
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For kids who prefer to learn by hanging out, clicking around, playing games, etc., there's "Clicky's WebWorld" (ages 5-7) and "NetSmartz Kids" (8-12) at NetSmartz.org, a project of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The same basic messages of "SMART" are embedded in the 3-D, animated activities of the NetSmartz program. Most appealing are characters such as Sheriff Clicky and the Webville bad guys.
More for middle-schoolers, or "tweens," is "Jo Fool or Jo Cool: An Online Game About Savvy Surfing", by Canada's Media Awareness Network. The exercise "takes students through 12 mock Web scenarios to test their savvy surfing skills," e.g., chat, marketing sites, instant-messaging, music file-sharing, etc. It includes a very extensive "Teacher's Guide" that can be downloaded in pdf format.
For other such resources, "Berit's Best Sites for Children" has an Internet Safety page, listing and ranking Berit's picks for kids' online-safety training. Disney's "Surf Swell Island" got her top ranking (this page includes reviews by other grownups, too), if parents don't mind a little advertising mixed in with the learning experience. Here is the Disney resource itself.
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