How times have changed. It used to be basic skills were relegated to the three R’s of reading, (w)riting, and (a)rithmatic. A new household tool has changed all that, and it isn’t the hammer. In today’s world, it is essential that young people have a good grounding in proper use of the Internet. This is critical because virtually any career they pursue will require proficiency its use.

Young people today are natural technology users. Some people call the new Y Generation “technological natives.” This compares to their elders who are called “technological immigrants.” If students are so adept at using technology, why do we need to teach them how to use the Internet?

This is a reasonable question, and it has two answers. The first is to teach them how to use the Internet safely. Secondly, they need to know how to use Internet information critically. Neither of these two essentials necessarily comes naturally.

This column over the next two weeks will address these two Internet basic skills. Hopefully, they will help you talk to young people about how best to use the Internet safely and wisely. Though it is merely a tool, it is an extremely powerful one which can be used very positively. This same power can cause great problems.

Today’s column will focus on Internet safety. The information contained within it was provided by The Community Resource Center. The Internet site that contains the original information is www.websafe.com.

The first rule is to protect your privacy from possible predators. This includes choosing usernames and email addresses carefully. One should never give out confidential information such as names, ages, birthdays or sex through these choices. Secondly, a person should not give out confidential information such as name, address, school, or phone numbers to someone over the Internet.

Thirdly, one should be very careful about posting pictures. The safest choice is not to post any pictures of oneself. However, if pictures are posted, one should make sure they are images one would not mind a possible predator seeing. They should not be provocative, or contain features (such as a street sign) that might identify a person’s location.

The above information is even more important to remember if a person uses a webcam. One should use it only with people he/she knows offline. One must also make sure he/she also turns it off when done.

It is also important that friends’ web postings are safe. Predators could get information about a person from his/her friend’s websites.

As to chat rooms, the Community Resource Center gives three recommendations. One is to stick to public, monitored chat rooms. Secondly, they recommend chatting only when other school friends are at the site. Finally, utilizing chat rooms that are interest-based is wise. They say the more unusual or the more specialized the interest the better. “Predators can easily fit in on sites where people are just hanging out and joking around – faking a detailed interest in origami or lacrosse is too much work.”

Finally, what are some Internet danger signs to look for? The resource center gives six scenarios that could lead to serious trouble:

1. The unknown person says he/she is a teenager, but the young person thinks they are much older.

2. Someone makes inappropriate sexual comments.

3. An online contact asks a person to send pictures.

4. An individual asks one to lie to his/her parents.

5. He/she offers to give gifts or money.

6. A contact wants to meet over the phone or in person.

It is exciting to live in a time with such technological marvels as the Internet. Unfortunately, it is also a time in which many seedy characters are just waiting to take advantage of the young and innocent through these tools. So while taking advantage of the technology, it is critical for youth to also be wise and cautious. That way they can avoid the pain and sorrow that many of their peers have already experienced.

For more information, contact the Web Master.