The internet has increasingly become part of the daily life of schools and the learning environment for students. At Presbyterian Ladies’ College (PLC) we encourage students to explore new ideas and take advantage of this technology whilst also recognising that it’s also an important tool to aid learning for teachers. Students are actively using computers and laptops in the classroom, in the library or at home and we’re recognising that more and more students are using tablets and smartphones to access information on the go.
Accordingly, with more students embracing the online world each year, it’s important for PLC to play its part in supporting and emphasising responsible online behaviour.
Across the College, our technology program aims to prepare students to be competent, discerning users of online technology, confident to adapt to the changes of the future. We have also introduced a subject for Years 7 and 8 which provides students with a strong grounding in computer skills, including the social and ethical use of the internet.
When speaking to parents about technology, one of the most discussed issues is social networking. A high proportion of our students access social media, such as Facebook, and we’re seeing more children participate actively in social media by creating blogs or uploading video diaries onto sites such as YouTube. Social media can be a great way for students to seek information, connect with one another and express an opinion, but it can also be a challenging and concerning environment at times.
We’re aware that talking with children about what they are doing online can help them improve their safety online and offer more positive experiences on the internet. It’s just as important for parents to reinforce these messages at home, and to be involved and aware of their children’s online activities. Should they come across anything suspicious or if anybody says or does something that makes them feel uncomfortable, it’s important for parents to know and help them with these situations.
A helpful tip for the next time your children are on a home computer is to take a moment to sit with them and see how they are using the internet. Having that first conversation and many more afterwards can go a long way in helping them stay safe online.
8 Comments
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While this article holds true and makes some excellent points. I can’t get past the fact that when it comes to technology, it seems that the kids pass the parents in fluency at around the ages of 7 to 10. This means that after or around that age, the parents start coming to the kids for help on how to use the computer rather than the parents teaching the kids how to use it. I can only imaging that while not all kids are able to get around the parental controls, it is safe to assume that a certain percentage, high or low, are more suave than their parents and therefore really makes not difference when such aspects and protocols are put in place. While things like (link removed) gambling sites are probably the most dangerous for the kids to go to an gamble away their parents money, there are far more benign and influential that can really form an impact on the way the child sees the world. Even common sites like CNN which have just news, have pictures of dead bodies and stories of leaders in sex scandals that numbs the children’s brains to such things or even worse, influences them as something to strive for.
While it’s true many penarts are not monitoring as closely as they should, part of the problem lies in tech savviness. The teens have it, penarts don’t. I have seen lots of penarts who I respect as penarts get further and further behind in regard to the internet, cell phones, etc. If a teen wants to rebel, his or her parent may have to go to extreme measures to stop them doing inappropriate or dangerous things, such as installing spy software, refusing to allow hand held devices which can connect to the internet, etc. This can cause a HUGE, exhausting and constant battle with a teenager. (Can you tell I speak from personal experience?;) Personally, I am a proponent of abstinence but the issues are so complex today, we are going to have to go much further in teaching our kids. I recently put my 15yo son through a course I designed in order to teach him about the dangers of online relationships because he just wasn’t getting it. Sometimes, we may have to resort to scare tactics, not unlike showing a teen driver a mangled car resulting from drinking and driving.Such difficult issues. You’re doing good work.
I just wanted to say that you raise some power points.
The thing is, children should not be left unattended when surfing the net. They should be told from a young age the dangers involved in using social media, ie Facebook and online chat rooms.
Pretty much everything runs thru a port or browser these days. You can use a firewall block ports and add filters to the browser.
Pretty much everything runs thru a port or browser these days. You can use a firewall block ports and add filters to the browser.i think too
was that we are not suseoppd to motivate students with fear, so why motivate parents with fear? It makes no sense, and I definitely don’t want to be sitting on the other side of that table when angry parents are forced to be there.I work with a lot of students who have “disinterested parents” and once I took the time to figure the kids out, very few parents didn’t care about their child’s education. Like you said, the reason I didn’t see them at conferences or have trouble reaching them by phone or email is because they are busy working 3 jobs. They fel embarassed coming into a pretigious academic setting either because of their appearance or confidence level because they don’t want to hear a speech on how bad their parenting is and how bad their children are. What I’ve found is that when I do get in touch with my presumed uninterested parents, I actually see a complete reversal. These tend to be my parents who care just as much if not more about their child’s education because they don’t want them to struggle in the ways that they do financially. But, because they’re so busy trying to work 3 jobs to provide for their kids, they often miss important events and it is therefore reflected upon them as not caring.I think jail time is absolutley silly – not even something we should be questioning. The only way we are going to get parents to care about their child’s education is to make our academic environment as safe for our parents as we try to make it for our students.