FCPS grooming ‘cyber-survivors’
Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Safe Schools Week (Oct. 16-22)
Amid ever-expanding and interconnecting technology, keeping students secure not only in the classroom but also online is a priority for Fayette County Public Schools.
That growing emphasis fits well with Kentucky’s 2011 theme for Safe Schools Week – Cyber-Survivor, which covers such topics as virtual bullies, sexting, online predators, inappropriate use of social networking and gaming.
FCPS already requires Internet safety and digital citizenship be taught to all students in grades K-12, and each school has an Internet safety coordinator. This year, Safe Schools Week simply provides another focused opportunity to engage the youngsters.
“It’s a reality, and it’s their future. They’ve got to understand how to use the Internet in a safe way. It’s part of their world,” said Paula Setser-Kissick, a district technology resource teacher. “We have to look at the Internet like crossing the street. It’s another skill we have to teach for them to survive and prosper in society.”
Among efforts this week:
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The Learning Center at Linlee is rolling out schoolwide training as mentors meet with teens to discuss the Cyber-Survivor Pledge, which encourages everyone to Surf Smart, Share Less and Think First as they explore online.
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William Wells Brown Elementary students are reciting the pledge on the school’s morning show and learning from Internet safety posters around the building.
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At Cassidy Elementary, students are taking home a booklet to share with their families, and the school is stressing online safety at a PTA event.
Resources for Kentucky Safe Schools Week
As Setser-Kissick noted, a lot has changed in just the past 10 years. For instance, even some of the younger classroom teachers were already out of college themselves before social networking took off. That means ongoing training and refreshers are necessary.
From appropriate cell-phone use to Facebook privacy issues to the perils of sexting, “Every year we’re adding to it,” said Setser-Kissick, who taught Internet safety in schools for eight years before moving this fall to “It’s About Kids” Support Services.
She is on call for schools requesting assistance, resources or training – especially for parent sessions. Increased news coverage has put cyberbullying in the forefront lately and spurred interest among families.
“It’s made people here be a little more reflective and take a look at their kids and their school,” she said.
Setser-Kissick suggested that students are more likely to target a classmate in a cyber-environment than on the playground because they feel detached and anonymous.
“To some degree it’s traditional bullying that’s moved into the online world,” she explained. “The biggest differences are that one, kids never escape it. It’s coming into your email. You get instant messages. You don’t get relief. It’s relentless. And two, it’s the whole idea that it can go viral. So rather than one or two bullies, now you’ve got 30 bullies or 50 bullies.”
Other prime areas of concern are youths’ using cell-phone cameras to record real or staged fights and uploading the videos to YouTube, and their sending inappropriate pictures and messages.
“They don’t stop and consider the consequence of what they’re doing,” said Setser-Kissick, who cited the impact on students’ privacy.
Overall, she reiterated the importance of presenting a united front for the children’s sake.
“We’re working as hard as we can to keep up with the changing scene, but it takes everybody,” she said. “You can’t rely on just the teachers or just the parents. We’ve all got to reinforce it so no matter where kids go, they always have somebody reinforcing Internet safety.”
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