Middle Link

Internet Safety

Personal Safety & Predator Awareness Unit

Introduction and Essential Information

It’s no secret that middle school students are social creatures. They cherish every second of passing time, savor lunch with their friends, and often sign up for extracurricular activities in pairs. Therefore, it is not surprising that adolescents have flocked to social networking sites and activities on the Internet in recent years. Chatting, instant messaging, blogging, and email are popular activities for today’s adolescents.

The purpose of this unit is not to persuade students to avoid the online activities that they love and enjoy, but rather to teach them how to participate in these venues in a safe and responsible manner. It is not intended to incite fear, but rather to teach students about possible dangers and probable consequences of using technology in an unwise and unsafe manner.

There are two main topics in this unit: Personal Safety and Predator Awareness. In the Personal Safety section, students will learn to create safe user names, passwords, and online profiles. They will be warned about the dangers of posting pictures and videos of themselves on the Internet, and why pictures or videos uploaded by someone else may not be trustworthy. In the Predator section, they will see how online predators methodically groom their victims, and be empowered with tips to make sure their Internet experience is a safe one that does not end in tragedy.

Vocabulary

Blog: short for “web log.” A web log is an online journal that is frequently updated and available to the public.

Chatting: talking in real-time to other network users around the world. See “IMing.”

Instant Messaging/IMing: exchanging messages in real time between two or more people logged on to an instant messaging service (e.g., MSN, Yahoo, or AIM). See “chatting.”

Social networking sites: web sites designed to enhance social relations. Popular examples include MySpace and Facebook. Social networking sites often include blogging and chat capabilities.

Have questions? Need more information? Wendy Leseman Hanshew Middle School Librarian leseman_wendy@asdk12.org 907-267-0207