Question 1

After reading through the article on internet safety (I couldn't get to the second article), I feel that it is very important to teach children to be cautious and to set boundaries when they are blogging. I have not run into it as an issue before, but you see it a lot in the news. You hear of cyber-bullying and such, which is really scarey to me. As an adult, I think it is easier to distance myself from a situation like that that my arise, but a child may not be able to. I'll be teaching sixth, seventh, and eighth graders and they are at a very impressionable age. I think that children at that age take a lot of what is said to them to heart and things can really upset them. Also, they seem to be a prime target for sexual preditors on the web. You hear a lot in the news about the things that have happened because a child has given too much information, maybe to fit in or to get someone to like them. They don't realize that someone could be "stalking" them or trying to hurt them.

I like the idea in the article that you should ask your child (or student) if they would feel comfortable sharing the information or picture with a stranger. If they don't feel comfortable sharing with a stranger, then they shouldn't post it online. Even though this is not an issue that I have run into before, I feel that internet safety should be addressed with all children as soon as they are beginning to use the internet.