Internet Safety 

 The Internet can be an enjoyable as well as valuable tool at home, work, and school. I developed this website with the intention of providing students with those tools. Sadly to say, the Internet can also pose a threat to you and/or your children. In technology class we spend a class period discussing some of those threats and how to avoid them. The topics covered in 4th and 5th grades are e-mails, chat rooms, Instant Messaging, inappropriate sites and how to get out of them, clicking on pop-ups, cyber bullying, and downloading files. We played the on-line game "Playing It Safe" together.  You may want to play this again with your child.

Topics covered with the younger students include appropriate sites, giving out information, clicking on pop-ups, and anything that makes them feel threatened or uncomfortable. We looked at "Net-safety" cartoons from Disney. You may want to review these with your child.

Surf Swell Island
The Three Little Pigs - Who's Afraid of Little Sweet Sheep?
 

What can you do to keep your child safe?

Online Safety Guidelines for Parents

For more information, please check out these sites.

Wired Kids.Org ~ Lots of info for kids, teen, parents, etc.

NetSmarts

CyberAngels

Don't forget to protect your computer by installing virus protection software, personal firewall, and anti-spyware and adware protection. The following sites can be trusted for security information and products.

Symantec

McAfee

Dakota City Web Page Policy

As I develop the classroom web pages, I will be including pictures of some of the student activities. In order to protect our students and your children, I will not post pictures with student faces visible. If students create artwork, poems, etc. that will be posted, I will ask their permission first, and then the work will be identified by first initial only. If you have any questions or concerns in this area, please contact me by e-mail or school phone.

For any of you old enough to remember the series "Hill Street Blues", Sgt. Phil Esterhaus would perform morning roll call and then give out the daily assignments to his police officers. Before dismissing them, he always gave this advice; the same advice I gave my students,

"Let's be careful out there!"

Safe surfing!