I.safe: cyber bullying and on.line predators

Just yesterday I received a friend request on Facebook from a student at my school. It is not odd that he found my name on Facebook. It is not odd that he perhaps wants to be my friend. What strikes me as very wrong is that on his profile he says his birthdate is 1986. That would indicate he is 23 years old. The picture he posted is very seductive. Does this 10 year old digital native know what he is creating? I know that this particular kid has 112 times the digital skills as I have. And he flaunts those skills every hour of every day.

Then I looked at his friends. Many I knew as either present or former students at my elementary school. Many had obviously wrong birthdates. Many had very suggestive pictures. Are their parents so digital dinosaurs or so digital tourists that they have not checked their young children's Facebook profiles? Do they get this cyber world?

I am scheduled to teach the I.safe curriculum to my kindergartners through fifth graders in the very near futue. Can I help keep these digital native children safe on.line? Can I teach two lessons on on.line predators or cyber-bullying and make an impact?

I am no longer on Facebook. I am truly frightened.