Internet Safety And The Internet

The Internet Age has become a time in which computer technology has not been envisioned as a luxury, but rather a necessity in many parts of daily living. And as the positive impacts of technology use in the workplace, and education setting, becomes a reality then so does the negative consequences. However, the ability to deal with the negative consequences may be more difficult to deal with for adolescents and young adults who heavily use technology for social media, text messaging, and web surfing. As these impressionable sectors of society learn to navigate their place in the world with the aid of technology, they are experiencing an inordinate amount of

“If you have to spy on your kids, something’s wrong,” says Michael Brody, a child psychiatrist. Is Juvenoia, the fear that the Internet is causing negative effect on children, really necessary? Many adults these days are concerned of teen safety on the Internet, thus proclaiming that monitoring usage of the Internet would benefit both the child and the parent. In the article, “The Undercover Parent”, Harlan Coben explains how all parents should use spyware on their teen’s devices to monitor Internet usage. After an extensive amount of research, I disagree with Coben’s claim. Spyware is not only unnecessary, but also expresses the message: “I don’t trust you.”

Internet and digital safety is a field in which I have focused and developed exponentially over the last six years. As a high school media specialist, use of digital apps and tools has increased with every year, making instruction for ethical use and safety a must for the protection and welfare of teens.

Today’s teens mental and physical health has declined in recent years due to internet use. A study conducted by Pew Research Center in 2015 found that 92% of teens go online daily and 24% of them almost constantly. This amount of internet usage results

Roughly ninety-two percent of teenagers are online daily, but has the internet hurt or improved their lives? The internet has made certain tasks easier like looking up information to prove somebody wrong. Although, it has many negative effects on teens. The internet is accompanied by cyber-bullying, online predators, and other types of violences. In this case, the cons very much outweigh the pros.

A study done by BMC Public Health showed that children start to show interest toward the Internet during their late years in elementary and middle school. This, therefore, helps spur the idea of teaching children and young adult on how to use the Internet safely and to start teaching at a younger age now. BMC and the British Journal both agree that medical professionals and teachers are not informed enough about the dangers that the Internet holds to be able to help and “treat” the children who struggle with cyberbullying. They believe that every individual should be aware of the issues that are often caused by social media and the Internet so that others can protect themselves and help others before they are blackmailed. Teaching Internet safety is essential with the constantly growing social networks and advancing technology in today’s society where almost everything is computer based and anyone can see

Aided by the convenience of smartphones, tablets, and computers, the Pew Research Center has found that 92% of teens are online daily, with open access to harmful material that can affect developing minds permanently, and set up habits that can damage their potential for success in the future. An even more shocking 24% of teens say that they are online “almost constantly.” As a tenth grader in Carolina Day’s upper school, I’ve witnessed the daily activities of students who confirm these statistics. To them, navigating the internet is second nature, and that is where the real danger lies. While at school, they are still granted connection to every game, social media site, and free essay resource, without limits. Unrestricted and unlimited access to the internet is negatively impacting Carolina Day School’s environment by affecting interpersonal relationships, stunting the positive development of the brain, and decreasing the chance of students gaining critical life skills.

When it comes to teens using the Internet and social media applications, there are many opinions people have in regards to security, privacy, and addiction for these luxuries. It seems that every day, I see news articles, blogs, and other posts about teens and the way they use the Internet. Mainly, the concern that parents need to have in order to protect their children from being personally identified or having an addiction to apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. When reading this book, I found that this whole concept of teens using this type of network goes deeper than people may think.

It is unfortunate to say that everything teenagers search for online is not educational or socially acceptable for that matter. For students who do use the internet to their educational advantage, grade higher than those who abuse their privilege online. As McFarlane states, “computer use alone, without clear objectives and well-designed tasks, is of little intrinsic value” (qtd. In Lavin, Korte, Davies). McFarlane states that structure and guidance is the only way to properly utilize the technology in classrooms.

A small portion of the teenage population actually use the internet for educational or informational purposes. A larger part uses internet for entertainment and gossip. Entertainment is not necessarily a bad thing, but when someone is constantly on it and not paying attention to the outside world things can get chaotic. If a teenager has a test in school and instead of studying they watch TV or play on their phone there is a chance that person is going to fail instead of pass. Teenagers the main group of society that is always on some type of device that uses wifi or the internet. Since teenagers will often have summer jobs, they are probably going to get on

Technological advancements have flourished greatly over the last few years and have continued to become a large part of the societal norm, today. With increasing reliance on devices such as smartphones, laptops and televisions, access to information is not just easy but also prompt. However, there exists a downside to the excessive screen time exposure that children are allowed, especially internet exposure. Evidence of the pervasive nature of internet access can be inferred when statistics show that “60% of children between the age of 8 and 17 years” (Subrahmanyam et al., 2001) have some form of access to the Internet. Approximately, 14% of these children also meet the criteria for excessive Internet Users. With the rising degree of internet

As technology grows and changes children are growing and changing with it. Unfortunately so is Cyberdeviance. This book explains the major areas of concern with Cyberdeviance and then goes a step further to help educate children and parents on how to stay safe while online. Some times the best defense is a good offense. Makes sense right? People can only go after what they can find, the less personal information that is posted online about a person the less Cyberdeviants have available to them to use against them.

An increasing number of children are now using the Internet. They are starting at a younger age, using a variety of devices and spending more time online. The Internet can be a major channel for their education, creativity and self-expression. However, it also carries a spectrum of risks to which children are more vulnerable than adults. Addressing risks faced by children online is becoming a policy priority for an increasing number of governments (‘’The protection of children online’’, 2011, pg.13).

I created an Internet Safety Presentation that was used to educate every student on the expectations for Internet safety at my school. I shared Internet safety guidelines and appropriate Internet behavior along with examples of technological aids such as filters, firewalls, and management software that teachers and parents can use to keep kids safe when they are online. This presentation was embedded on the website.

Cyber safety needs to be promoted not only at schools but at home as well. There are many programs and information sites that parents can use to promote cybersafety. Life educational studies show that 41% of teenagers spend more than two hours a day on a mobile device. They have created bCyberwise with the support of Intel Security. It is an interactive cyber safety program targeted to 8 to 13 year old’s. This provides opportunity for students to learn about cyber safety through games and activities through applications on smart technologies. The app teachers young people a number of cyber safety skills which include; How to be responsible and respectful when using online technology, the importance of keeping personal information safe and not telling other people private passwords or arranging to meet with