Internet safety taught to young Windsor-Essex students

A new internet safety program is teaching elementary school students as young as four about privacy,passwords and the reality of online bullying in a pushby school boards across Ontario.

The program is designed to help kids become safe and responsible internet users.

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David Ceuca, 9, is a Grade 3 student in the Greater Essex County District School Board near Windsor, Ont. He hasGmail and Google Plus accounts, and spends his evenings playing Minecraft, an online video game against users from around the world.

TheDr. David Suzuki Public School student knows never to divulge personal information online.

"Some people might ask you where you live or what's your address," said Ceuca. "You should never tell them."

In Canada, nearly one in four children ages nine and 10 has his or her own cellphone, a 2014 MediaSmarts study of 5,400 children found.

Students also learn how to be responsible on social media websites, such as YouTube, where the comment section which can get particularly nasty at times.

"I don't read the comments because they can be really rude," said Ciyennah Dennis, who is also in Grade 3.

Kelly Moore, a digital learning team facilitator, said it's important for students to learn how to be safe online at an early age.

"Just not jumping in with two feet into all of the different social networks for example, learning to put a pin code on their phone so that they have that private area," said Moore. "So they're not passing that phone along from friend to friend and all their apps are logged in."

The course uses role play and discussion to teach the kids about what can go wrong online.

It is covered by a provincial education grant with the money coming from Ontario's $150 million technology and learning fund.

The fund, announced at the beginning of the school year, will give kids more opportunities to become technologically savvy with tools, such as tablets, netbooks, cameras and software.

Teachers learning new software

While students were given a lesson in safe online practices, teachers were were being trained on new software rolled out across the Greater Essex County District School Board.

The software gives every student in the board an email account. It also gives teachers the ability to plan lessons from an iPad.

"Some of the advice that we're learning in the workshop is to just learn to roll with it and take your role as a learner with the students," Moore said. "They have a lot that they could teach us as we have a lot that we can teach them about how to be appropriate online."

The training sessions started about a month ago in Greater Essex County District School Board elementary school and will run for three years.

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