The Family Online Safety Institute’s third annual conference turned out to be a breakthrough in the history of online safety education. According to Mercury News, the event encouraged participants to veer away from the usual perspective where kids are always seen as potential victims of online crimes. It wanted adults to see kids more as active participants in the global online community.
Participants of the event tried to stop focusing on the dangers that the youth might encounter when going online. Instead they wanted to find ways on how adults, especially parents, can start working with the youth to help them practice ethical and self-protective behavior when using the internet. The main focus of the event was media literacy, digital citizenship, and critical thinking.
It is true that there’s really no sense in banning kids from using the internet because with the way things are going, this technology is definitely going to be a part of our lives for the years to come. So instead of constantly worrying about the real and imagined dangers of the internet, why don’t schools and parents just educate kids on how to use the internet technology for their benefit.
