This document discusses effective cyber-parenting strategies for teachers and parents. It recommends that teachers choose age-appropriate technology uses to help children learn, while parents set boundaries and communicate expectations. Both teachers and parents should prepare students to make good decisions online and stay safe. The document outlines specific online safety measures and guidelines used at school, such as restricting personal information sharing and using web filters. It also discusses challenges parents may face with home internet use, like less supervision and curiosity, and recommends parental controls, time limits, and open communication to promote safety.

1. Effective
Cyber-Parenting
@ LS
RBS
December, 2014

2. Who’s in Charge of
Child Computer Activity?
• Teachers
– Choose age-appropriate, academic uses of tech at
school to help children learn now & also prepare them
with skills for future
• Parents
– Stay in touch with kids, set boundaries, and
communicate expectations
• Teachers & Parents
– Prepare students to make good, healthy decisions
(ethical, values-based)
– Keep children safe while they’re learning to be
responsible and independent

3. Safety Instruction at School
• Reading and discussion of Appropriate Use Policy.
– Focus on protecting personal identity, not sharing too
much personal info: name, address, phone number
– No typing of URLs at school, No Google
– Search in closed databases (encyclopedias)
– Block ads
• Use of internet safety games and activities: Carnegie
Cadets, NetSmartz Kids, Disney’s SurfSwell Island
• Practice Netiquette – guidelines for appropriate online
communication and commenting, especially among
peers

4. Safety Measures at School
• Adult supervision in room – frequent visual check
• Desktops in use in lab and early childhood rooms
• Laptops on tables, not on laps
• Web filters – firewall and Netsweeper
• Limited use of email in second half of fourth grade
- Spam Filter
• Monitoring software available (but seldom used)
• “Walled garden” – on-going attention to permissions
and eye on public nature of any activity outside walls

5. Online Activities at School
with a Social Component
• JK/SK – listen to other students through class
VoiceThreads
• 1st – student-student interaction (Shidonni)
• 2nd – Individual VoiceThread accounts include
commenting, teacher-led
collaboration/communication with other school,
outside experts. ZooBurst, Animation software
accounts
• 3rd- Google Apps for Education, especially Drive
and Sites
• 4th – Introduction of email accounts

6. Examples of Home Use
w/ Entertainment / Social Aspect
• Online Games - Webkinz, Poptropica, Club
Penguin, ToonTown, Minecraft
• Google searches, especially image searches
• YouTube searches
• FaceTime – video, text messaging

7. Risk Assessment
• Shaping the amount of use, time, location and on what device may
be a more challenging job for the parent than the teacher.
• Where are students most likely to run into problems?
• Stranger Danger
• Accidental exposure to graphic material, mature content, heavily
biased articles
• Intentional exposure to inappropriate content
• Peer criticism & attack, hurt feelings
• Over-sharing in the moment, poor commenting that can’t be taken
back, loss of privacy
• Backlash, consequences at home, school

8. Safety Challenges At Home
• In general while at home…
• Children have more freedom with devices
• Children have more portable devices and
more freedom to use them in unsupervised
areas and times
• Children are curious and may be eager to
explore exactly what is forbidden at school

9. Safety Measures for Home
• Communicate rules & values
• Set limits
• Observe children’s computer use
• Parent as admin on machines/devices, not
child
• Parent as account holder in App Store, iTunes,
etc.

10. Software Tools
• Use Built-in Parental Controls
– For Mac, Windows, portable devices
• Filter your network
– http://www.opendns.com/
• Block Advertising
– http://adblockplus.org/en/
• Additional filtering/blocking/monitoring/control software
should be a second line of defense (NetNanny)

11. Parental Controls
Mac OS

12. Parent-Child Conversation
• Safety Pledge / Promise
• Internet safety should be an ongoing conversation at home: Discuss
your values!
• Teach and discuss with your child appropriate social skills for online
communication
• All activities under open and direct supervision. Desktop computer
in a public place. Mobile devices used in agreed-upon areas at
acceptable times
• Limit expectations of online privacy with your child. Child shares
usernames and passwords with parents. Check history.

13. Resources for Parents
• commonsense.org
– https://www.commonsensemedia.org/privacy-and-
internet-safety
• onguardonline.gov
– http://www.onguardonline.gov/articles/pdf-0001-
netcetera.pdf
• safekids.com
– http://www.safekids.com/contract_kid/