The Internet is as safe as houses, say school boards

THE US NATIONAL School Boards Association has decided that the Interweb isn't as dangerous as people think, and teachers should let students use social networks at school.

The Association said that many fears about the internet are just overblown. School district leaders seem to believe that negative experiences with social networking are more common than students and parents think.

The Association has just done a survey of students, teachers and school boards and found that the fear of the Internet was much worse than the reality.

More than half the districts think sharing personal information has been "a significant problem" in their schools however only three per cent of students say they've ever given out their email addresses, instant messaging screen names or other personal information to strangers.

According to techblorge.com, students seemed to have the Internet thing down pat, while Teachers and parents were biting their nails obsessively.

Only 20 per cent of students said they'd seen "inappropriate" pictures on social networking sites in the last three months. Only 18 per cent of the students said they'd seen "inappropriate" language, and just seven per cent said they had been "cyberbullied," or asked about their personal identity on a social networking site.

Only four per cent of students said they'd ever had an online conversation that made them uncomfortable. Only two per cent of students said an online stranger tried to meet them in person.

Out of 1,277 students, only one who reported they'd actually met a person from the internet without their parents' permission.

In other words only a minority of students has had any kind of negative experience with social networking sites in the last three months.

Yet schools have draconian rules to protect children at the insistence of parents. More here. µ