Internet Safety at Reeds

Reeds Elementary, along with every school in Davidson County, takes measures to ensure the safety of our students when using the Internet with filters, policies and procedures. It takes a coordinated effort between home and school to help our children be aware of the proper way to use this resource.

These are excellent websites to educate parents about Internet Safety:

• Web Wise Kids

Click the Parent options for good downloads on Internet Safety Tips.
http://www.webwisekids.org/

• I Keep Safe

Parent section has videos and downloadable Internet Safety Tips.
http://www.ikeepsafe.org/

• NC Wiseowl Parent Resources

http://www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/parents.html

• Get NetWise

Tips on Safety and Keeping your Personal Information Safe
http://www.getnetwise.org

• NC Dept. of Justice - Attorney General

Under Parents and Guardians there is a section for viewing and downloading Internet Safety Video and Guides.
http://www.ncsbi.gov/icac/icac.jsp

There are also some wonderful sites for kids:

• Kidz Privacy

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/kidzprivacy/kidz.htm

• Get Net Smart Quiz

http://techcorps.org/resources/Internetsafety/getnet.htm

Reeds Elementary aims to ensure Internet safety for our students in a number of ways:

• Permission from Parents

We want parents to be aware that we often use a variety of Internet resources when presenting lessons to the children. A completed parental permission form is required to be on file before any student can use the Internet. Your child either has one on file now or the permission form will be sent home at the beginning of the year to be completed.

• Filtered Internet System

Internet access in all Davidson County schools is filtered to block inappropriate content. Filtering software resides on the
district web server and is updated daily to keep current.

• Monitoring of Internet Lessons

Teachers are required to monitor the students closely when they are using the Internet and are instructed on how to handle situations that arise. When an inappropriate site is found, it is given to the Technology Department to be added to the list of blocked sites.

• Planning Internet Lessons

The Internet should be used to support the instructional program. Training is provided to all of our staff members on how to select, retrieve, analyze, and evaluate information from the Internet and to effectively use this information in the classroom. Teachers are required to carefully plan lessons that require the Internet. They must review the site before sharing it with the students. There are many of our websites already bookmarked or prepared on a favorite sites page that the students use. This allows for easy access to sites and helps students avoid viewing an inappropriate site by entering an incorrect website address.

• Teaching Students to be Safe Online and Evaluate Websites

The North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Computer Skills addresses the issue of Internet safety and proper use of online resources. The curriculum has objectives for teaching students about Internet safety and how to evaluate websites to determine if the content is valid, appropriate and up to date. It also addresses copyright law and ownership rights.