On the Internet, as anywhere else in life, people have differing attitudes and personalities. There isn't much difference between how boys and girls, or men and women, use computers to communicate. But there are individuals who at times try to take advantage of the "anonymity" of the Internet to harass people, particularly in chat rooms, which is why I don't recommend them unless they are meant for students and carefully monitored.
There are ways to deal with unwanted e-mail or messages. The best way is to inform someone in authority, generally the postmaster of the site where the offending message was posted from, of the message and the sender. If your child or student has any problems of this sort, they need to let you or someone responsible for Internet communications on the computer know about it immediately, not try to deal with it themselves. Warn children about the possibility of receiving unwanted e-mail or other contact, and let them know you care about them and want to know if anyone is doing anything to make them uncomfortable. Global SchoolHouse Network's Al Rogers has written up the "Ballad of an E-Mail Terrorist" at the GSN web site, which is an excellent example of how to deal with rude or inapropriate messages.
The problem has become worse as more people who are unfamiliar with Internette "Netiquette" have come on-line. I believe it will get better as the Internet community continues to enforce the existing Netiquette, and as new users become aware that they don't have to become victims of this sort of abuse on the Internet.
The Internet is a very public place, and as in any public place, you have to be careful about who you are talking to. Students need to learn that while some places on the Internet are "safe" for a chat with a friend, or to give out your e-mail address, others may not be.
SIDEBAR: Guidelines for Online Safety
Another important issue is how to conduct your own behavior on the Internet. Here is a brief description of Internet "Netiquette" from one of the k12 news groups FAQs:
The following are some comments and pointers from RFC 1855, a freely distributed Internet document that describes proper "Netiquette".
In the past, the population of people using the Internet had "grown up" with the Internet, were technically minded, and understood the nature of the transport and the protocols. Today, the community of Internet users includes people who are new to the environment. These "Newbies" are unfamiliar with the culture and don't need to know about transport and protocols. In order to bring these new users into the Internet culture quickly, this Guide offers a minimum set of behaviors which organizations and individuals may take and adapt for their own use. Individuals should be aware that no matter who supplies their Internet access, be it an Internet Service Provider through a private account, or a student account at a University, or an account through a corporation, that those organizations have regulations about ownership of mail and files, about what is proper to post or send, and how to present yourself. Be sure to check with the local authority for specific guidelines.
User Guidelines for mail:
- Unless you are using an encryption device (hardware or software), you should assume that mail on the Internet is not secure. Never put in a mail message anything you would not put on a postcard.- Never send chain letters via electronic mail. Chain letters are forbidden on the Internet. Your network privileges will be revoked. Notify your local system administrator. if your ever receive one.
- A good rule of thumb: Be conservative in what you send and liberal in what you receive. You should not send heated messages (we call these "flames") even if you are provoked. On the other hand, you shouldn't be surprised if you get flamed and it's prudent not to respond to flames.
- Know whom to contact for help. Usually you will have resources close at hand. Check locally for people who can help you with software and system problems. Also, know whom to go to if you receive anything questionable or illegal. Most sites also have "Postmaster" aliased to a knowledgeable user, so you can send mail to this address to get help with mail.
- Remember that the recipient is a human being whose culture, language, and humor have different points of reference from your own. Remember that date formats, measurements, and idioms may not travel well. Be especially careful with sarcasm.
- Use mixed case. UPPER CASE LOOKS AS IF YOU'RE SHOUTING.
- Use symbols for emphasis. That *is* what I meant. Use underscores for underlining. _War and Peace_ is my favorite book.
- Use smileys to indicate tone of voice, but use them sparingly. :-) is an example of a smiley (Look sideways). Don't assume that the inclusion of a smiley will make the recipient happy with what you say or wipe out an otherwise insulting comment.
- If you include a signature keep it short. Rule of thumb is no longer than 4 lines. Remember that many people pay for connectivity by the minute, and the longer your message is, the more they pay.
NetNews Guidelines
NetNews is a globally distributed system which allows people to communicate on topics of specific interest. It is divided into hierarchies, with the major divisions being: sci - science related discussions; comp - computer related discussions; news - for discussions which center around NetNews itself; rec - recreational activities; soc - social issues; talk - long-winded never-ending discussions; biz - business related postings; and alt - the alternate hierarchy. Alt is so named because creating an alt group does not go through the same process as creating a group in the other parts of the hierarchy. There are also regional hierarchies, hierarchies which are widely distributed such as Bionet, and your place of business may have its own groups as well. Recently, a "humanities" hierarchy was added, and as time goes on it is likely more will be added.
- In NetNews parlance, "Posting" refers to posting a new article to a group, or responding to a post someone else has posted. "Cross-Posting" refers to posting a message to more than one group. If you introduce Cross-Posting to a group, or if you direct "Followup-To:" in the header of your posting, warn readers! Readers will usually assume that the message was posted to a specific group and that followups will go to that group. Headers change this behavior.- Read all of a discussion in progress (we call this a thread) before posting replies. Avoid posting "Me Too" messages, where content is limited to agreement with previous posts. Content of a follow-up post should exceed quoted content.
- Send mail when an answer to a question is for one person only. Remember that News has global distribution and the whole world probably is NOT interested in a personal response. However, don't hesitate to post when something will be of general interest to the Newsgroup participants.
Information Services (Gopher, Wais, WWW, ftp, telnet)
In recent Internet history, the 'Net has exploded with new and varied Information services. Gopher, Wais, World Wide Web (WWW), Multi-User Dimensions (MUDs) Multi-User Dimensions which are Object Oriented (MOOs) are a few of these new areas. Although the ability to find information is exploding, "Caveat Emptor" remains constant.
User Guidelines
- Do NOT assume that ANY information you find is up-to-date and/or accurate. Remember that new technologies allow just about anyone to be a publisher, but not all people have discovered the responsibilities which accompany publishing.- Since the Internet spans the globe, remember that Information Services might reflect culture and life-style markedly different from your own community.
- When bringing up your own information service, such as a homepage, be sure to check with your local system administrator to find what the local guidelines are in affect.
A lot of the media's attention has been focused on the "dangers of the Internet". I'm not trying to ignore these issues, but there is so much good information available over the Internet that I think the media's attempts to play up the "scare" issues have frightened a lot of people away from using a very important resource for education, both at home and at school. The "dangers" of the Internet are not much more than letting your child take a walk down to the corner newstand or the library - they might be harrassed by strangers as they walk to the library, they might see some magazines you wouldn't approve of them reading on the newstand, or they might find a book you wouldn't want them to read in the library. If anything, the Internet is actually safer in most ways, because kids are accessing it from a protected environment - their home or classroom. You have the physical control of the space where the computer is, and you need to give your kids the correct information for protecting themselves and the guidelines you want them to follow for properly accessing the Internet. Beyond that, try to ignore the negative spin of the media.
Simply put, if you are aware and alert, it isn't much of an issue. I have never been harassed on the Internet in all the years I've used it, because I don't participate in chat rooms and I am careful of where I post and who I respond to. I also know how to reply to an offensive message, with a well-worded response to "postmaster" at whatever site the offender is posting from. As for pornography, yes, it's out there, but you have to make an effort to find it. If you are aware of your child's activities, and know what they are doing on the computer, it won't be a problem. They can most likely find more explicit materials on their neighborhood newstands or on cable television. Talk to your child or students and make sure they understand that there is inappropriate material out there, and that you don't want them to go looking for it. But don't deny them the advantages of using the Internet.
There are programs available for blocking access to materials you don't want your child to access. More important is that you have discussed the issue with them and that they understand your attitude about the issue. There are computer games I have purchased with many games on the disc, some of which I took offense to. I discussed this with my kids and simply told them I don't want them to play that particular game. And since their computer use is supervised, and they will lose privileges if the rules are abused, they don't play that game. It's that simple.
If your child has unsupervised access, you have a different issue. You will have to make very sure that you've discussed the issue with your child and they know how you feel. You can keep a log of their activities on the computer if necessary. If kids are going to get in trouble at this point, however, then the answer is to deal with their value system, not their computer access.
Here are some resources for blocking and logging programs that can help you monitor your child's interactions on the Internet. But, there is no substitute for adult supervison, or for teaching and enforcing values for your children. Parents and teachers need to be alert about what is going on and aware of what children are doing while on the Internet. Programs for Safety
"I don't have open Internet access. I am on a free Unix system. To access most things you must go through a series of menus to enter the WWW and then find ways to search for the information you need. As of now, I usually spend time in the Yahoo News Network, because it has a lot of educational information, and it connects me to University web pages, so I am able to research different universities. This really aids me in my search for the "perfect" college for me." --Shana
There are a few companies starting to set up search engines geared just for kids. Yahoo recently started a search site specifically for kids, Yahooligans. This is a good idea since it screens out a lot of the sites that parents or teachers might not want kids to access. But other search engines are easy to use as well. Once you get started, navigating the Internet is very easy and it doesn't take more than a few attempts to get familiar with how to get around. SIDEBAR: Searching the Internet
Copyright © 1996 Donna Woodka All Rights Reserved.