Cybersecurity in the classroom and at home

So how do you manage these risks to ensure cybersecurity in the classroom and at home when browsing the internet?

Technology has so many advantages. Break down barriers and bring minds together in ways that were unthinkable less than 50 years ago. The greatest advances of our civilization in recent years have come from technological advances. However, the high speed at which we integrate technological advances into our lives is, to some extent, responsible for these cyber security problems.

Developers, companies and users sometimes make the mistake of putting benefits before security. For this reason, it is not unusual to find those responsible for the education sector that are committed to absolute control, especially within the school environment. Such control would include the blocking of websites, the supervision of domains, the restriction of browsing permissions, or the limited use and even suppression of social networks.

In the United States, for example, many of these measures have been implemented in schools, but the results have not been effective. According to some experts, this happens mainly due to the lack of harmony between the control exercised in the classroom and the permissiveness practiced at home.

Strategies for safer use of the Internet

A teacher is just one part of the equation needed to handle this problem, but there are several strategies for approaching the topic in class.

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Involve Parents: Talking to parents about the dangers of inappropriate use and encouraging them to talk to their children about it is an effective way to ensure that students are safe online, both at school and at home. Directing parents to readily available sources of information can help them in this task.

Provide resources to students: Responsible navigation is not, in principle, a subject that students are passionate about. Instead of forcing them to watch an hour-long video that they will retain little or nothing, they must look for other types of resources that captivate their attention. Games and short videos with testimonials from other children of a similar age who have had problems with the use of the Internet are usually much more useful.

Encourage students to participate in the debate: instead of limiting yourself to explaining risks and making a list of precautions to be taken and situations to avoid, creating fictitious scenarios and encouraging students to comment on them is a good way for them to find out about hazards and better understand why and how they should be protected. The goal is to allow students to reach their own conclusions and figure out the answers for themselves. These scenarios are very helpful in teaching students how to handle painful, uncomfortable, or dangerous situations.

Teachers and parents as guides

To achieve the goal of safer Internet use, teachers and parents need to do their part. In addition to the strategies already mentioned, there are other details to which these guides can and should dedicate themselves:

Monitor activity on social networks: we are not talking about being always present and looking at everything they do, who they talk to or what photos they send. But it is important, as friends, to follow the activity on social networks and to be involved in the online relationships that children maintain. Being patient and not making too many judgments can be the difference between establishing trust with children or not. The most negative thing that can happen is that a child takes refuge in lies and deception.

Make commitments: a promise is a good tool to convey to the little ones the importance of something. The commitments will serve as a constant reminder of your knowledge of Internet safety and your duty to implement that knowledge.

Practice what is said: being trust, personal and mutual, one of the key elements in this guide / student dynamic, it is especially important to set an example and do what is being taught. If a child sees that their guide does not respect the rules and advice they defend, that trust is lost and it will be much more difficult to make them understand that the danger is real.