There was one concept that really caught my attention in Jesse Miller’s presentation during our Ed Tech class on Tuesday, and that is that the internet is safe. The internet is a safe place, but it is people who make it unsafe. This is something I have never really considered before. Generally, the internet is a place where folks can connect with friends, do research, play games, and so much more. It is people that create unsafe environments on the internet such as the dark web and try to hack your computer.

This concept is exactly why it has made me realize that children should never be on the internet unattended. When I was a kid, I had social media such as MSN and Facebook at the age of 10 years old. I do not think my parents fully understood the dangers of being on the internet at this age because they were quite older and did not use technology like this themselves. It is so easy for a child to receive a link from their friends and click on it without thinking twice. This link could always be another person who is not your friend, trying to hack into your account without you knowing. This creates so many dangers.

As a future educator, it is my duty to converse with my students about the dangers of social media. It is my duty because they may not have people at home that express these dangers to them either because they do not know, or they do not care. At very young ages children are being exposed to the internet, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but they need to know the risks (as do their parents/guardians), and they need to be monitored.

Here is a great video on internet safety for young children.