Virginia makes learning about Internet safety mandatory


Via Slashdot, I found out Virginia’s requiring Internet Safety classes in public schools.

The AP’s got a better write, pointing out that other states are following suit in offering classes, but Virginia’s the first to make them a must:

Nationally, Texas and Illinois are among states that have since passed their own Internet safety education laws, but unlike Virginia they don’t make the courses mandatory.

I think this is an excellent idea, but I’d like to see schools take it one step further and have parents sit in on Internet safety classes with their kids. Clearly you can’t make those mandatory, but in my opinion, too many parents either don’t know or don’t care what their kids are doing online. And on both counts, they should.

3 thoughts on “Virginia makes learning about Internet safety mandatory”

  1. today’s teens are the first generation of americans who have been exposed to the internet from an early age. while older generations are the ones who established the internet, today’s teens are the ones who will fully grasp its social impact in a way that the older generation cannot. that is, the internet was not a factor in the social development of older folks, as it has been very much so for teens. due to this key difference, today’s teens will be best-suited to refine the internet in order to reduce its potential for social harm. getting kids thinking about its social implications early on can be helpful toward that end. hopefully the education won’t be too heavily built around scare tactics, but rather around critical/creative thinking on how to maximize internet potential for good and minimize potential for harm. while information about internet dangers will be important, too much fear will shut kids down to the best solutions to internet problems.
    i’m a boomer who is new to blogging, and i’m getting my first taste of how internet experiences can either uplift and expand me or make me feel anxious and foggy.

    hey, and one more thing (sorry, for being so chatty), but as i life coach, i want to commend you on the fact that you are hanging in with this blog. the blog is fun and informative. plus you’re doing the whole follow your bliss thing with it, and that’s surely gonna yield something good in one form or another. congrats & keep going! i’m gonna add you to my blogroll.

  2. Patty –

    Thank you for this. Really made my day.

    – J

    p.s. Here’s an older post about my first experiences online that sounds a little like what you’re working through now.

  3. Glad to have given you a boost, Jacki. I checked out your older post. As a blogging newbie, the question of ‘am I doing this right’ definitely comes up. Indeed, your older post and your blog in general inspired my latest post on following one’s “blogging bliss.”

    So right back at you with a thank you for the encouragement!

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