Hand in Hand: Media Literacy and Internet Safety

Internet safety cannot be effectively taught without also teaching media literacy. The two go hand in hand, and both are necessary, but neither is sufficient. To understand why, we must first appreciate what the real risks to children are. Many of the early Internet safety programs were based on a fear of predators. Predators turned out to be a far less prevalent danger than was originally thought.

The Federal Trade Commission and other organizations group the digital dangers kids face into three broad categories: inappropriate contact, content, and conduct. Inappropriate contact is communicating with anyone whose aim is to harm. This could be a predator, a hate group or an organization that promotes dangerous behaviors, like drug use or anorexia. Contact includes not only receiving and responding to a message from someone else, but also seeking out or instigating a risky connection through which a child can cause harm to himself or others.

Inappropriate content can include pornography, hate speech, dangerous or illegal behaviors, scams, viruses, and inaccurate or misleading information, as well as making private or personal information public. Children can actively look for or inadvertently stumble across inappropriate content. They can also create it.

Inappropriate conduct includes sexting, cyberbullying, plagiarism, hacking, spreading false or malicious information, posting embarrassing or potentially harmful content about oneself or another, as well as other dangerous and unethical actions. Any of these actions can be dangerous. Some are illegal, and all can affect a child’s digital reputation.

In each of these instances, we can tell kids what not to do, but then we wind up creating a long laundry list of prohibitions. To me, that’s been a big problem with many Internet safety programs. They wind up being a series of unrelated modules addressing different risks. We need a more holistic approach.

We also do children a disservice if we don’t teach them how to act in ethical and effective ways that enhance their reputation and their ability to communicate. Even if we block, filter, and restrict access in school, the vast majority of kids are using computers, smart phones, game consoles, and other devices to connect with others outside of schools, and they will need to use digital tools in the workplace and communities they’ll inhabit when they graduate. Organizations such as the Partnership for 21st Century Skills recognize that, to be fully prepared for social, civic, and economic life, children need to know how to use digital tools to communicate safely, ethically, efficiently, and effectively.

We cannot do this without media literacy, without teaching the skills to “access, analyze, evaluate, create, and participate in” (Jolls 42) the media messages of the Internet, television, print, and other platforms. How do we do that in a K-12 classroom or library? A recent report to Congress by the Online Safety and Technology Working Group recommended promoting digital citizenship and digital media literacy as a national priority (Collier and Nigam 6). At Cable in the Classroom, we’ve been working with educators, Internet safety experts, and the companies that provide Internet service and digital content on digital citizenship, a concept that includes Internet safety and security, media and information literacies, ethical behaviors, and effective engagement in digital communities.

I’ve visited schools in the United States and Canada where digital citizenship is part of the culture of the school and the district. Media literacy, Internet safety, and digital ethics are everyone’s responsibility and are taught across the curriculum. Children are taught, from the earliest grades, about safe and responsible behavior. There are lessons on fire safety and Internet safety, playground bullying and cyberbullying. Students learn how to search for and identify reliable sources of information in the library and on the Internet. Classes talk about behavioral expectations within the classroom and school community, as well as in email exchanges, blogs, social networks, and other digital spaces. Students examine the photographs in textbooks and Web sites, determining what information and feelings are being conveyed. Children are asked to consider how different people might interpret a blog post or SchoolTube video.

If children are to identify, avoid, and protect themselves from inappropriate contact, content, and conduct, filters aren’t enough. They need media literacy skills. If children are to act responsibly, refrain from engaging in inappropriate behaviors, and be good digital citizens, rules and prohibitions aren’t enough. They need media literacy skills.

RECOMMENDED WEB RESOURCES

Cable in the Classroom: http://www.ciconline.org. Features a comprehensive section on digital citizenship, including a searchable database of resources.

Common Sense Media: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators. Internet safety, media literacy, and digital citizenship programs for parents and teachers.

Connect Safely: http://www.connectsafely.org. Anne Collier and Larry Magid offer clear and thoughtful tips, blog posts, and up to the minute insights into Internet safety issues.

The Internet Keep Safe Coalition: http://www.ikeepsafe.org. This site was originally created for young children but has expanded. It includes video tutorials, expert interviews, and the G3 Digital Citizenship Matrix (http://knowwheretheygo.org/c3matrix) for teaching cybersafety, cybersecurity, and cyberethics.

The Media Literacy Clearinghouse: http://www.frankwbaker.com. Run by award-winning media literacy expert Frank Baker, the Clearinghouse is one of the best and most comprehensive places to find media curricula, background information, and up-to-the-minute news about media literacy.

The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE): http://www.namle.net. NAMLE is a professional organization for those interested in media literacy education.