Kids Online in Schools
Schools Online
According to recent government surveys, almost all U.S. public schools have Internet access. (Some have Internet access in only their libraries or technology or media centers.) Yet most parents I talk to and most who have responded to our surveys tell us they have no idea how their children’s schools are using the Internet or what their children do online at school. The schools need to recognize that parents are an important part of the team. And if parents don’t know what their children’s schools are doing, they should be asking these questions and offering their support and help. It’s the only way we can make sure that our children are getting the most out of the Internet, safely.
You should understand, though, that the schools haven’t found the magic solution either. They are grappling with safety concerns, lack of adequate funding and technology training, and changing technology. They are also grappling with busy parents and some parental indifference. There don’t appear to be any universal standards. Each school district handles the issue of Internet safety in its own way. Some are using filtering products. (New laws have tied federal funding to schools to their use of filtering products.) Others are sending notices to parents and setting policies for safe use.
Many schools have adopted policies and rules that the parents and students have to sign, before the students are permitted to use the Internet at school. There is no “one size fits all” here. Solutions need to be customized to take into consideration the school’s technology uses and staffing, curriculum, students’ needs and behavior, parents’ concerns, and community values.
How Do Schools Use the Internet?
Usually the first place a school wires is the library or media center. Children research school projects and often use the Internet for fun, games, sending e-mail, and chatting. Many schools have eliminated chat altogether, since they have learned that chat poses more risks than educational value.
Librarians and library media specialists typically supervise the children while they are surfing. The monitors are frequently positioned so the screen can be seen from the librarian’s desk, which helps keep the kids honest. In a typical large high school library, though, more than 150 teenagers may be using the library and more than forty of them may be using computers with Internet access. This makes direct supervision impossible. That’s why many schools have implemented filtering in school libraries, as well as relying on acceptable-use policies.
In many schools, classrooms are often wired as well. In the early days of school Internet use, these classroom computers were used as a reward when students finished their class work. But, as educational programs were developed, many schools built Internet resources into the curriculum.
