Technology is rapidly changing, as is its importance in the role that it plays in our society. With the recent changes, it is not too surprising to hear that not everyone is prepared to deal with what this means for personal safety, yet I doubt anyone would disagree that internet safety is an important topic. In the end, finger pointing does no good, it does not matter if parents or teachers or technology coordinators were supposed to be teaching on this subject. What matters is that change occurs and people are educated on this topic. Technology is not going away, so students need to be equipped to protect themselves whether it be from identity theft, cyberbullying, sexting, or the viewing of inappropriate websites. Schools need to step up, including teachers and SLMS, to ensure that students are being educated on this very important topic.
In addition, I feel that students are not the only ones that need to be taught internet safety. With 26 percent of teachers not prepared to teach the subject (Pruitt-Mentle, Davina, and Pusay, 2010), it is an indicator that many adults are not well educated in the area of internet safety. Perhaps parents and teachers would have more of a role in this area, if they were knowledgeable. There is an opportunity right now for libraries (school, public, and academic) to fill this gap in knowledge. Let’s start classes, have workshops, and do anything we can to provide a valuable service to our patrons to make sure they understand cybersafety, cyberethics, and cybersecurity.
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