The Internet Safety for Elementary Students Handbook

Educate Before it’s Too Late

40 of the Web’s Best Internet Safety Sites for Kids, Parents and Educators

Keith D. Ferrell M.S.

International Educator – Technology Integration Specialist

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Introduction:

With the inception of the mainstream Internet in the nineties, identity theft, viruses, cyber-
stalking and internet predators were not known phrases. However as the world wide web grew,
so too did the annoyances, dangers and fear.
I’m a firm believer in talking vs. blocking. Kids will inevitably stumble upon inappropriate material
at some point. Our job as parents and educators is to give students the skills to know what to do
when that happens. The first unit I start out with in my technology integration classes each year is
that of internet safety. I teach 24 classes of third, fourth and fifth graders each week and I believe
that we do not need to ban children from using the Internet, but instead, give them the tools to
become smart Internet users.

3 Basic Rules to Live By:

1. Never give out your name, age, address, where you go to school, birthday, phone number,
or other facts about you to anyone you meet online.
2. Never agree to meet with anyone in person you meet online.
3. If something you see or read makes you uncomfortable, go and tell a trusted adult right
away.

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Online Resources for Students, Parents and Teachers

1. Get Net Wise

Online Safety Guide, Tools for Families, Web Sites for Kids, and Reporting Trouble section.
Also a fantastic “How to Video Tutorial” section that houses the largest online repository
of instructional how-to video tutorials that show parents and users how to keep their
family's online experiences safe and secure.

2. Kid Safety On the Internet

Created by the University of Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, this site is presented
in a "slide-show" fashion, containing questions and answers to help kids protect
themselves and handle emergencies (Parents may wish to help guide younger kids
through the pages and discuss how these ideas apply to them around the home and at
school).

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3. SafeKids.com
Continuously updated blog with relevant useful information and a ton of resources.

4. Kids Rules
A pdf document with rules you can post next to your computer as a constant reminder of
cyber safety for your child.

5. Kids Health
Information site for Parents, kids and teens. Mainly articles written about being safe
online and geared more towards parents than kids. Would be a good reference site for
students doing research for an online safety project.

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6. NY State Division of Criminal Justice Services
Lots of solid information here. Contains the 102 page “State of Online Safety Report”
compiled by the Family Online Safety Institute.

7. A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety

The FBI’s guide to being safe online has a lot of great tips and information.

8. Privacy Playground
Situational game and quiz for kids (ages 7-9) and a 34 page teachers guide. A bit of a slow
moving game, but it brings up some very important issues that kids often don’t know, or
tend not to think about.

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9. Wired Kids
Site with information and resources for kids, tweens, teens, parents and educators.

10. Disney’s Online Safety

Some rules, resources and videos here. This used to be the home of Surfswell Island,
which was a fantastic game for teaching kids different aspects about staying safe online.
The game, as of December, 2009, has disappeared, making Disney’s online safety site
much less kid focused.

11. Protectkids.com
Lots of useful information organized in a way that makes it easy to browse the site.
Sections devoted to Internet Dangers, Empowering Parents, Youth Safety Rules, Online
Predators, and much, much more.

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12. Enough.org
The national Enough is Enough (EIE) campaign was formally launched in November of
1992 by a group of women concerned about the harmful effects of illegal pornography
and its link to the sexual exploitation of children, women and men. The EIE mission is to
make the Internet Safer for Children and Families, and this well-connected site has vast
amount of useful information, statistics, resources, and programs.

13. FBI Kids

Not a whole lot of information here, but the fact that the information comes from the FBI
gives this site more clout with the kids.

14. NetSmart Kidz

I really love this site and find myself using it year in and year out with my third and fourth
graders. Lots of fun, interactive games, excellent rapping videos by Clicky the Robot and
just a lot of great messages and lessons throughout.

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15. I Keep Safe
I Keep Safe is another site I keep going back to, and the I Keep Safe Blog
(http://ikeepsafe.blogspot.com) is a fantastic resource for teachers and parents. Faux
Paw’s Adventures in the Internet movie is a great way to kick off a unit on Internet Safety
(you can watch the one on YouTube to show a full screen version
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=D0pue0KoCPk).

16. I Keep Safe Digital Citizen C3 Matrix

The Digital Citizenship C3 Matrix is provided to assist educators in integrating the
essentials of cyber-safety, cyber-security, and cyber-ethics (C3 concepts) into existing
technology and literacy standards and curricula.

17. Woogi World

Woogi World, a unique venue within the virtual social network, was created to teach a
generation of elementary-age children to safely and effectively use the Internet to 1)
enhance their academic skills, 2) build positive character traits, and 3) inspire them to
work together to create a better world community.

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18. Cyber Safety Guide
16 page pdf handbook for parents

19. Kidsmart
Fun, colorful, interactive site broken down into categories such as: Social Networking, File
Sharing, Safe Searching, Digital Footprints, Games, Music and more. Also includes a
teacher section with great information and a fantastic resource section which includes
lesson plans, games, student surveys and projects.

20. Digizen
Good information for tweens and teens about social networking and cyberbullying.

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21. Don’t Believe the Type
Know the dangers, situations to avoid and surf safer. An informative site for tweens and
teens.

22. Get Your Web License

Take this "Rules of the Road" test to earn your official PBS Kids Web license!

23. Wired Safety

A plethora of resources here geared mainly towards parents There is also a section for
educators and a kids, tweens and teens section.

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24. Face Chipz
A free site, but kids (parents) will need to buy FaceChipz at your local Toys R’ Us. Lots of
similarities to Facebook. Kids login and have friends they can communicate with. The
difference is that they can only become online friends with someone they’ve physically
exchanged FaceChipz with. Once a FaceChipz token is registered by both the giver and
receiver, it cannot be used again. The code on the back of the chip becomes unusable –
guaranteeing that if a stranger gets a hold of a chip, they could not link it to the previous
holders. There is no internal search function, and the platform is designed to prevent
search engines from picking up on kids’ postings.

25. Cyber Tipline

From the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Information regarding child
sexual exploitation entered into this form will be forwarded to law enforcement for
investigation and review.

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26. Student Guide to Cyberbullying
6 page pdf with questions at the end for students to answer.

27. Internet Safety Connections Game

Sponsored by ATT, this game site for younger kids has students answer internet safety
questions to help Captain Broadband fight the nasty character. When they get all the
questions correct, the nasty character is taken to jail and the student becomes a certified
hero.

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28. Cyber Tree House
Nice graphics in this 4 story tree house consisting of: Be Cyber Safe, Smart and Uncool,
Games and Videos.

29. The Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use

The Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use has a range of professional resources to
assist schools in addressing the challenges of safe and responsible Internet use and the
important shift to 21st Century learning environments.
Most of the resources that are in the form of video presentations - with accompanying
presentation handouts. Other documents will also be provided. Some will be available for
use at no charge for non-profit educational purposes.

30. ThinkQuest
Great interactive resource that allows for secure collaboration. Lots of information about
cyber bullying, predator warning signs, and personal information sharing.

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31. Internet Safety – Facts vs. Myths
This resource blog was made for 7th graders at Berkshire Country Day School in Western
Massachusetts. Lots of great information in this blog including cyberbullying, sexting,
media awareness, and some videos as well.

32. Common Sense Media

Geared towards parents and educators, this website provides trustworthy information
and tools, as well as an independent forum, so that families can have a choice and a voice
about the media they consume.

33. Cybrary Man’s Cyber Safety Resources

Fantastic list of links to internet safety sites. The ethos of this site is that it is essential that
parents and teachers work with their children/students to make the internet a safe
environment.

34. Safer Internet

The mission of Safer Internet is to inform parents about the ways they can protect
themselves as well as their children from the dangers caused by improper use of the new
interactive technologies, such as the Internet and the mobile phones. This is achieved
through a variety of polymorphic events and activities, organized on a 2-year basis. This is
a Greek site, but there are other country nodes as well.

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Safety Videos:

35. Internet Safety

A Public Service Announcement on Internet Safety. You never know who you're talking to.
A young girl instant messages with another “girl” gives away too much personal info and
agrees to meet in person.

36. Internet Safety

The internet is a valuable resource tool for a child's education and a great way to keep in
touch with family & friends. But there are hidden dangers lurking... This video shows kids
giving away personal info and the implications this can cause.

37. Cyber Bullying

This video illustrates the dangers of cyber bullying and offers solutions to the problem.

38. Bullycide in America

Moms speak out about the bullying/suicide connection. From www.Bullycide.org

39. Bulletin Board

What you post can be seen by anyone.

40. Real Life Digital Reputation

From ikeepsafe.org video shows how having an online reputation can either work for or
against you.

Special thanks to the following educators who graciously contributed to this compilation:

Jerry Blumengarten - Cybrary Man - http://cybraryman.com

Lydia Leimbach – http://rsu2teachertech.wordpress.com
Vicky Loras - http://vickyloras.wordpress.com
Paksorn Runlert
Maureen Tumenas - http://mybcd.org/mrstumenas

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 List of URLs

1. Get Net Wise http://www.getnetwise.org

2. Kid Safety On the Internet http://www.ou.edu/oupd/kidsafe/start.htm
3. SafeKids.com http://www.safekids.com
4. Kids Rules http://www.safekids.com/safekidscontract.pdf
5. Kids Health http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/net_safety.html
6. NY State Division of Criminal Justice Services http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/missing/i_safety/i_intro.htm
7. A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm
8. Privacy Playground http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/games/privacy_playground
9. Wired Kids http://www.wiredkids.org/wiredkids_org.html
10. Disney’s Online Safety http://home.disney.go.com/guestservices/safety
11. Protectkids.com http://www.protectkids.com
12. Enough.org http://enough.org
13. FBI Kids http://www.fbi.gov/kids/k5th/safety2.htm
14. NetSmart Kidz http://www.netsmartzkids.org
15. I Keep Safe http://www.ikeepsafe.org
16. I Keep Safe Digital Citizen C3 Matrix http://knowwheretheygo.org/c3matrix
17. Woogi World http://www.woogiworld.com
18. Cyber Safety Guide http://www.cyberangels.org/docs/cybersafetyguide.pdf
19. Kidsmart http://www.kidsmart.org.uk
20. Digizen http://www.digizen.org
21. Don’t Believe the Type http://tcs.cybertipline.com
22. Get Your Web License http://pbskids.org/license/index.html
23. Wired Safety http://wiredsafety.org
24. Face Chipz http://www.facechipz.com
25. Cyber Tipline https://secure.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/CybertipServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US
26. Student Guide to Cyberbullying http://cyberbully.org/cyberbully/docs/cbstudentguide.pdf
27. Internet Safety Connections Game http://www.att.com/Common/images/safety/game.html
28. Cyber Tree House http://www.cybertreehouse.org
29. The Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use http://csriu.org/professionals
30. ThinkQuest http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/01158/home.html
31. Internet Safety – Facts vs. Myths http://mybcd.org/internetsafety
32. Common Sense Media http://www.commonsensemedia.org
33. Cybrary Man’s Cyber Safety Resources http://cybraryman.com/cybersafety.html
34. Safer Internet http://www.saferinternet.gr/Default.aspx?tabid=254

Safety Videos:

35. Internet Safety http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZHq4CQekTY

36. Internet Safety http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlAgTAWGGi4
37. Cyber Bullying http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNumIY9D7uY
38. Bullycide in America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53xKVl-paI8
39. Bulletin Board http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDUOg-Obkvo
40. Real Life Digital Reputation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvA8zza6njA

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