Schools have always been an influential role in teaching students what it means to be a good citizen and now schools must do the same in the digital world. Students must be able to protect themselves with safe and strong passwords, how to recognize online hoaxes, and understand the importance of privacy settings.
Teach Students about Internet Safety and Privacy
Students must be able to see the risks involved with online access. Students need to know how to behave online and how to maintain appropriate levels of personal privacy. Staying safe in the online world means, “maintaining a healthy skepticism about things you read.” A few tips are offered on how to stay smart and stay safe:
- Create a strong, but memorable password.
- Feel good that you’re being safe online.
- Don’t leave any information behind.
- Keep your information safe, even after you leave school.
A feature of Chrome for privacy is called Incognito. This is when browsing is completely private and secure and all of the history is cleared once Chrome is closed. Password management is a skill that must be mastered. Some more tips are offered on this subject as well:
- Start Young
- A good idea for younger students is to memorize a password based on the pattern of keys on the keyboard.
- When students become older, students should choose a word and a number combination that is meaningful to them.
- Characters in the words and numbers can also be swapped out for symbols such as $ and @.
- Make it easy for them
- Students may often times forget their password. As a teacher, it might be worth it to create a Google Form for the students to fill out of their passwords so the teacher has the passwords readily accessible.
- Stay Private
- Students should not give their passwords to friends or strangers. Parents and teachers are exceptions to this rule.
Promote a Safe and Responsible Online Presence
A digital footprint is our online tracks. Our tracks stay around even after we leave the website we are viewing or log off of the computer we are using. What students do online is permanent.
To manage student’s digital footprints, a few tips are offered:
- Think about what makes good behavior both online and offline.
- Help students understand the various privacy settings.
- Doubt means don’t.
- Having these discussions creates a sense of trust and openness.
Cyberbullying is a widespread topic and we can’t always protect our students. However, we can teach them the concept of resilience and students become capable of confronting cyberbullying. A student panel can be created to build a student agency and a safe environment. Here are some main topics teachers can educate students on when dealing with bullies:
- Don’t respond
- Don’t retaliate
- Document it
- Block them online
- Report to an adult
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