WBAIS Tech Talk: Digital Citizenship Part 2

As mentioned in our last newsletter article, the growing use of digital tools brings with it concerns of inappropriate access. WBAIS believes that educating students is the best way to address these concerns so that the same understanding, respect and responsibility that applies to our social, professional, hardcopy world applies to our digital world. The fifth WBAIS Technology Standard, adopted from the International Society of Technology Education (ISTE), includes a statement that students at our school will “advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.”

The Internet can be a wonderful resource for kids. They can use it to research school reports, communicate with teachers and other kids, and play interactive games. Any child who is old enough to punch in a few letters on the keyboard can literally access the world. However, that access can also pose hazards to your children. For example, your 8-year-old might log on to a search engine and type in the word "Lego." But with just one missed keystroke, he or she might enter the word "Legs" instead, and be directed to thousands of websites with a focus on legs - some of which may contain pornographic material.

It’s important to be aware of what your children see and hear on the Internet, who they meet, and what they share about themselves online. No matter how much content filtering you may try to set up, eventually it becomes a cat-and-mouse situation as new ways of getting around filters are invented. For this reason, the Number 1 rule for content filtering is to:

Teach your child appropriate computer use

Help your child understand what to do if inappropriate sites pop up, who it’s o.k. to chat and email with and how much information can be shared online. Keep your door open to conversations about what is viewed both at home and at their friend’s houses. Help your child understand your own family’s rules about what you believe is appropriate content for his/her age level. There are a number of sites which can help you teach your child about appropriate use, including NetSmartz, iKeepSafe and SafeKids.

In addition to talking with their children, some families prefer to set up content filtering. You can do this by taking the following steps:

I. Talk to your service provider

Many Internet service providers (ISPs) provide parent-control options to block certain material from coming in to your child's computer. If you are interested in having these options set up, talk to your provider (i.e. Netvision, Zahav, Hot, etc.) to see if they provide such a service.

II. Set up Internet Browser Filters

Set the Internet browsers on your computer to filter content. This can be done both in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox:

Internet Explorer

1. Open Internet Explorer

2. Click on “Tools” then “Internet Options” then “Content” (tab)

3. Click on “Settings” under “Content Advisor” and set up your filters and password by using the tabs at the top.

4. Click “Enable” under “Content Advisor” Close all Explorer Windows

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox does not include a built-in content filtering system, but you can download free extensions to the program such as Glubble or ProCon to add filtering for this browser.

III. Set Google Filters

You can set up your Google search filters as well. If you decide to do this, it must be done in both Explorer and Firefox (and Safari or other browsers you may use). To do this:

1. Go to Google

2. Click on “Preferences” (right of search bar under “Advanced Search”)

3. Under “Safe Search Filtering” choose the amount of filtering you would like to have.

4. Click on “Save Preferences” and “OK”

IV. Purchase commercial filtering software

If you feel that the above steps aren’t enough for your family, you may wish to look into installing commercial software that deals with content filtering, such as Net Nanny, Cybersitter or Naomi Family Safe Internet . A review of some of these software packages can be found on the Top Ten Reviews Site.