Internet Safety
As the Internet continues to make advancements, classrooms have become more digital. These days, it is nearly impossible to teach without having some form of technology involved in students' daily lives. Because of this, kids have access to much more information as well as the possibility of having their data collected and stored. With this in mind, it is important for educators to keep our students safe in their online learning and know about the laws that are in place to protect the underage population of Internet users. A blog from the Prey Project outlines the laws that were put into place in order to protect children on the Internet.
CIPA
The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law that was signed into effect in 2000 and updated in 2011. CIPA requires libraries and K-12 schools to use web filters and other measures to protect children. CIPA applies to all schools that receive E-rate funds. Throughout the school year, schools must provide a mandatory online safety class for how students should act online.
COPPA
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is a law that was passed in 1998 and revised in 2013. COPPA regulates how website operators and online services can collect personal data for users under the age of 13. The law gives parents the control of what information is collected. This video from Student Privacy Compass further explains how schools can work around the necessity for parental consent for children under the age of 13. Schools can act as the guardian as long as the data collected is only used for educational purposes.
Reflection
Both laws were put in place over 20 years ago and revised 10 years ago. In that time, the Internet has evolved and become a major resource, especially in classrooms. The most revision was with COPPA in 2013. At this time I was still in high school and I was not using online resources as much as I use in my classroom today. Because of this, I think that it is important that we continue to revisit these laws in order to stay up to date with online services.
CIPA protects students in grades K-12 and requires that online safety classes are provided to students. I believe that it is important that students are taught how to act online in order to protect their personal information.
COPPA requires parental consent for children under 13, but there are no measures in place to prove that they are not lying about their age. I do wonder, why was 13 chosen to be the required age? A comment danah boyd made about COPPA teaching kids to lie is somewhat accurate. COPPA may not be intentionally teaching kids to lie, but it is encouraging them to in order for them to access online services. Kids want to have access to online services and social media. Companies and online services can find a way filter ads/posts that may not be considered "kid-friendly" if they indicate they are under the age requirement. This way kids can still access these products without feeling the need to lie about their age in order to use them.
Frustrating is the fact that our government is so invested in blocking the other political party that we can't get laws through easily. With the increased expansion of the capabilities of technology we definitely need to keep these laws current.
ReplyDeleteAbigail, I also found it wild that the laws have not been updated in ten years. After Covid, most students have one to one technology in the classroom that is often also sent home where there is limited monitoring happening. I agree that is important to have digital citizenship taught in schools. This year my district did this not just at the beginning, but as a refresh after winter break. I think even a monthly or weekly lesson would be so beneficial especially for our upper elementary/ middle school students. How often does your school do online safety training?
ReplyDeleteThe laws not being updated for 10 years after all the remote learning seems crazy to me! I think students need to take safety classes of some sort from an early age when they start using iPads, chrome books, phones, or anything they have access to internet. I think the comment about teaching kids to lie is an important one to look at. I did a poll with my students in middle school. Majority of them decided to create a fake birthday to get a Snapchat account when they are not 13 years old.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of "kid friendly" content from websites. This absolutely would minimize the amount of "lying" from children because they would still be able to access the sites/online services without posing as something they are not.
ReplyDeleteImagine what "kid friendly" Facebook could look like. It would be an awesome way for young students to connect!