Help for parents who want to keep their children safe online

More than ninety percent of parents think they should have a lot of responsibility for ensuring their children are safe on the internet, but only one-third think they are prepared to do so. About three quarters of parents think a major portion of the responsibility for ensuring children’s safety on the Internet falls to schools (source: Research on parent attitudes toward internet use PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1z93n). Unfortunately, schools can not and should not be required to be solely responsible for ensuring students safety. In fact, in cities like New York, their internet use and safety policy says that when it comes to online use, “Parents are primarily responsible for transmitting their particular set of family values to their children, and discussing with their children what material is and is not acceptable for their children to access through the Department’s Internet Systems.”  Despite parents knowing this should be their responsibility, the fact is most parents don’t feel prepared and many school systems are telling parents this is indeed their responsibility.  As passionate educators and involved parents know, the answer is in developing trusting relationships and having honest conversations.  However, this knowledge alone does not help an unsure parent know where to begin nor does it help educators in helping parents.  

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