Image from WikipediaAn interesting story on Mashable! regarding internet safety being taught – by law – in Virginia schools. A couple of other States are set to follow in their footsteps and I think this is a great idea and hopefully not a case of too little too late. It’s certainly more useful than the ridiculous proposals put forward by our government to monitor all the perv’s email addresses.
I do agree with the original author about this being one of those things that children should be taught at home, though it seems that they aren’t. If it ends up treading on a small number of parents’ toes to make up for a handful who aren’t monitoring what their 12 year-old is up to when they’re not fragging soldiers then it’s a small price to pay.
I don’t see how they can complain, though. I assume the US is the same as the UK – and I also assume that things haven’t changed since I was in primary school – where we had a visit from the police for a special assembly or class once a year. A uniformed officer would stand there and warn us about taking sweets from strangers and the like. I certainly doubt that anyone would kick up a fuss about the police and schools interfering in parental rights and so forth as regards that. These internet safety classes are very much along the same lines and I hope the UK considers doing something similar.
Sad state of affairs, but you just can’t trust some parents to teach things like this to children. It’s hardly as if it’s not in the news often enough to warrant teaching kids about the dangers, so there’s no excuse. But, hey, I’m not a parent (yet)!
My brother and his ex are quite adamant about watching my niece and neph and their online activities, thank goodness. They occasionally check emails and *they* have to approve the kids myspace friends, too. What’s more they keep them set to private so it’s just them and their school friends. But I reckon it’s a good thing to re-inforce the idea in schools down there–in this day and age it should be taught in every school.
Cuz some parents are either A) fucktards or B) completely clueless when it comes to the net.
Kudos to your relatives for recognising potential danger and doing the right thing. There is a fine line between allowing your children some privacy, trusting them… and not caring or doing enough. It must be a damn fine line to travel, but sadly it’s necessary.