Virginia Makes Internet Safety A Mandatory Course In Schools

With the huge temptation of the Internet and the multiple possibilities for children and teens to "explore" (Facebook, MySpace, Orkut ... keep going), while it's true that I've always felt that teaching begins at home, except perhaps for geeks like me, a lot of parents may be relatively clueless about all the technological dangers out there.

The Virginia Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology has a set of guidelines (.PDF). The first paragraph outlines their concerns:

Today’s students will be the first generation to use the Internet for their entire lives. This unprecedented access to resources will enhance their learning, research, communications, explorations for new ideas, and expressions of creativity. Unfortunately, this remarkable resource has become susceptible to abuse that often targets young people.
While the Megan Meier case has become a prime example of such abuse, most of the concern is obviously not about death or suicide, but about sexual predators. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) says on its site:

Approximately one in seven youths (10 to 17 years) experience a sexual solicitation or approach while online.

That's a higher percentage than I would have thought. Trolling through the .PDF above, I found that spyware, viruses and the like are covered to an extent; I hope they make this part of the program because based on the parents I know, viruses, malware and trojans are all a big problem on their children's computers.

Yet another reason to invest in good antivirus software. What do you readers think? Are you pleased that some states are mandating this sort of program? Or not?

Source: Tech Ex