In this lesson, students will explore their parents’ and/or guardians’ concerns about safety in cyberspace. The result will be a single WORD document that you will e-mail to me. The subject will be CIC
Student STEP 1:
Copy these survey questions to WORD and answer them HONESTLY:
| A. Is it acceptable
for parents or guardians to read their teenager’s email? Yes/No B. Is it acceptable for parents or guardians to read their teenager’s instant messages? Yes/No C. Is it acceptable for parents or guardians to read their teenager’s chat room conversations? Yes/No D. Is it acceptable for parents or guardians to listen in on their teenager’s phone conversations? Yes/No E. Is it acceptable for parents or guardians to read their teenager’s diary? Yes/No F. Do you think that your parents or guardians believe that it is acceptable to read your email? Yes/No G. Do you think that your parents or guardians believe that it is acceptable to read your instant messages? Yes/No H. Do you think that your parents or guardians believe that it is acceptable to read your chat room conversations? Yes/No I. Do you think that your parents or guardians believe that it is acceptable to listen in on your phone conversations? Yes/No J. Do you think that your parents or guardians believe that it is acceptable to read your diary? Yes/No K. Do you think it is more acceptable for a parent or guardian to read a teenager’s emails and/or instant messages than it is to read a teenager’s diary? Yes/No L. Are there reasons why a parent and/or guardian might benefit from “listening in” on their teenager’s conversations either online, in their diary, or on the phone? Yes/No M. Are there reasons why teenagers might benefit from having their conversations monitored by their parents or guardians? Yes/No |
Answer these questions and ELABORATE !!
| What are the differences
between the modes of communication mentioned in the survey? -Are any of them more acceptable for parents or guardians to monitor? Is it more acceptable to “listen in” on one mode of communication than another? Why or why not? -How might parents benefit from “listening in” on their teen’s Internet activity? -How might teens benefit from having their parents’ “listen in” on their Internet activity? How might both parties be harmed? |
Student -Step 2:
Student Step 3
Copy and Answer these questions:
a. What is spyware?
b. Why do you think that most parents wouldn’t consider putting spyware
on their teen’s computer?
c. Why does Harlan Coben, the author of the article, believe that it is a mistake
to confuse the government and the family? What does he mean? Do you agree? Why
or why not?
d. Do you think that parents should “fight their kids’ battles on
the playground, berate coaches... and fill out college applications”?
Why or why not? Under what circumstances might any of these actions be acceptable?
e. How do the above “overprotective” actions relate to installing
spyware? Do you think this is a helpful comparison? Why or why not?
f. Why does Mr. Coben believe that not installing spyware is akin to negligence?
Do you agree or disagree? Why?
g. Why does Mr. Coben believe that parental blocks are not enough?
h. Why does Mr. Coben want to know the content of his children’s email
and instant message conversations? Do you think these reasons are acceptable?
i. What is the “difficult ethical ground” that Mr. Coben speaks
of? j. Do you think teenagers need to learn that the “Internet is not
a haven of privacy”?
k. Why is posting on the Internet not the same as writing in a diary?
l. What does Mr. Coben mean when he says that parents should be “listening
for dangerous chatter”? How might a parent go about this?
m. What are Mr. Coben’s thoughts about how teenagers might get around
spyware? Does this argument make sense to you?
n. What does Mr. Coben suggest parents do with the knowledge that they acquire
from spyware?
o. What would you do if your parent or guardian told you that he or she had
been reading your emails and instant messages?
Student Step 4
Read these two articles:
Protecting Teens Online: http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Filters_Report.pdf
Social Networking Sites and Teens: http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_SNS_Data_Memo_Jan_2007.pdf
Answer these: ( ELABORATE !!)
Is there anything in these
reports that surprises you?
-Is there anything considered dangerous either to the physical or emotional
health of teens discussed in this report? Are there ways that teens can limit
these dangers?
-If you were the parent or guardian of a teen, is there any information in this
report that would concern you?
-If you were the parent or guardian of a teen and you read this report, would
you want to do something to limit potential dangers? What would you do?
-Do parents have a greater right to spy on their children than the government
has a right to spy on citizens? Why or why not?
-Are there other ways of dealing with issues of Internet safety than using spyware?
What are they?
Student Step 5
Write a detailed essay explaining your thoughts about this topic.