Internet Safety Information for Community Stakeholders
From the Virginia Department of Education Guidelines and Resources for Internet Safety in Schools and iSafe.org
Law Enforcement
Law enforcement plays a vital role in communities moving toward education and responsibility, and away from victimization. Law enforcement community members can act as a valuable resource for all stakeholders through presentations, educational training and keeping open lines of communication with school. Law enforcement community members may include:
- Federal Bureau of Investigations
- State Police
- County Sheriffs
- City Police Departments
- District Attorneys
- State and local Homeland Security Officials
- Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Members
Public Librarians
Internet use can be exciting, rewarding, and challenging. Students’ Internet use should be tailored to their ages.
- Librarians should support age appropriate activities for students.
- The RCPS school district will collaborate with public librarians to support the safety of students when using public computers.
Monitoring is crucial
- Filters are not perfect. Librarians should monitor where students go on the Internet.
- Librarians need to keep up-to-date on Internet safety issues and provide accurate, timely information to students.
Student technological interactions in the virtual world can be negative and spill over into the real world.
- Librarians should be aware of cyberbullying, recognize the potential, and report instances when observed.
- Online and wireless communications—even with known friends or peers—can compromise students’ privacy as technology-savvy predators may eavesdrop.
Exchanging information with others is a great way to use the Internet but also possesses inherent dangers.
- Librarians should know and enforce policies on exchanging or downloading files.
- Online journals and blogs, even when password-protected, may reveal more personal information than a student intends. Technology-savvy predators can circumvent many safeguards offered by journal and blogging sites.
Students need to hear the rules often.
- Librarians should establish and post rules for safe Internet use near computers in libraries, and labs. Students should be reminded regularly that the rules are intended to ensure their safety.
Works Cited - Original Design by Andreas Viklund