Education and the Internet: Is Your School Protecting Your Child?
August 27th, 2010 
Carol 
As your kids return to school, now is the time to take your child’s browsing and interaction safety online into your own hands. What measures can you take to make sure your children are using the Internet in a safe, appropriate way?
By now, you’ve heard tons of advice about how to keep your children safe while they surf the Internet. Some of it is true, but some lead to ineffective strategies that can give parents a false sense of security.
For instance, how many times have you heard that checking the browser history is an effective way to monitor what websites your kids visit? With new browsers comes easier ways to clear your browser history. Mozilla Firefox has the option for ‘private’ browsing sessions, and Google Chrome makes it simple to browse without any track record of your history. Therefore, not only is monitoring the history ineffective, parents will no longer even see that the history has been cleared as an indicator of bad online behavior.
The same goes for Facebook. Just because you are friends with your child on Facebook doesn’t mean that you can see all of his or her activity. Profile privacy settings are becoming easier to manipulate, allowing users to block all updates for individual friends.
And, of course, the issue of cyber-bullying has played a big role in the media lately. This is a legitimate concern for parents as they send their children back to school—so it shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Below are some tips on how to ensure your child is enjoying safe browsing experience at school this year.
Review Your School’s Bullying Policy. Especially with the rise of cyber-bullying, schools usually have policies in place that specifically deal with bullying. You should know what the school’s position is on the use of online communications, both during school and at home. If your child is a victim of cyber-bullying, is there a support system in place? Are school officials ignorant of the issue or are they ready to deal with it? Ask these questions before the school year begins.
Find Out the Role of Computers in the Classroom. Teachers assign internet-based homework and use the Internet as a teaching aid within the classroom. Parents should examine curriculum closely to find out what role the Internet will play in the daily lesson. If there is anything you don’t understand, ask questions. For instance, asking “How is YouTube educational?” is a fair question. You might learn something yourself.
Investigate Filtering Measures. What kind of filtering software does your child’s school use, be it in the classroom, library or elsewhere? This is an important factor to consider. All filtering products on the market aren’t equally effective. Also, what is considered a violation of the school’s code? Make sure to review the rules with your child so they clearly know what kind of online activity can get them in trouble. Again, if you don’t understand something, be sure to ask questions of the teacher or administrator.
What are your Internet rules? The more clearly you define your family policy, the better chance your child will carry those rules with them to school. Internet filtering software in the home sets good boundaries for your child. Encouraging effective filtering software for schools makes sense if you want to carry those boundaries into the education process. A lot of software solutions on the market cater specifically to educational institutions; some even offer educational discounts. Examine your options and participate in your child’s online education, and you’ll gain some serious peace of mind for the school year.
– Stanley Holditch
Posted in 
