iSafe America Training
Hear it from an expert a the school system just like yours...
Safe Netting magnate and frequent UGN contributor, Joe Showker, shares reflections from the iSafe America Training for Internet Safety last week in Richmond, VA. iSafe is the largest curricular organization teaching internet safety in the US.
1. Myspace.com is now getting more hits than Google! They are releasing their own record label! This is not going away.
2. ALL pictures posted on myspace.com are no longer property of the user.
News Corporation - a Rupert Murdock company purchased myspace for 588 million... THEY own those pictures (and ALL content) and can do anything including market them!
3. Virginia legislature: Bill passed
The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall issue guidelines to school divisions regarding instructional programs related to Internet Safety.
TRANSLATE: Internet safety instruction is mandated in Virginia Public Schools.
4. CyberBullying and Harassment is becoming the number one issue with net use at home that conveys to school Safety issues.
5. Gaming continues to be a huge impact on adolescent behavior. Mods (changing the actual program in a game) are increasingly popular with violent acts like killing a policeman gaining the user top points in the game.
6. Privacy and personal information farming is the single biggest threat to all of us.
ANYTHING posted on the net leaves a "digital footprint" much like a fingerprint that can show up years later in archives. Kids simply do not understand how serious it is, but criminals and predators do... and are having a field day!
7. Young students' guiltless justification for behavior and online risk-taking: “If it’s so bad, then how come I can do it". We need to understand the mindset of the youthful net user.
The REAL digital divide is the difference between how kids use the net (entertainment/social) and adults (information gathering/financial).
Read the UGN Safe Netting article Parent's Nightmare... predator's dream
Follow up on this article at: www.isafe.org
Thanks to Joe Showker for sending this in. (Yes, he's my baby brother!)
Joe is ITRT-Instructional Technology Resource Teacher for Rockingham County Schools in Virginia.
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