Teacher Awareness of Student Behaviour on Internet

I'm posting this because I would like some advice on whether to bring this to the attention of the administration. A student asked me today to show her how to delete an item from her search history. She told me that she didn't want to delete everything because that would make her net-savy parents suspicious. Well this made me suspicious, too.

This grade 10 student, incidentally, is a straight-A kid, sweet and sociable. My gut instinct tells me that she was just being a kid and maybe looked at something on the internet that her parents wouldn't like. On the other hand, she is trying to hide something from her family. Then again, I am glad she came to me and trusted me. I did show her how to right-click on an item in Google's history to delete an item. I also tell my students to delete their cache, especially if they are on a public computer and doing banking, etc.

I don't want to overreact but then again, since I'm in a position to see what the kids are doing on the computer, sometimes I'm not sure what I should report. When kids post inappropriate clips on youtube (pictures of teachers without permission, full names of their friends) I usually ask them to take it down (explaining why I think it's not appropriate) and they are good about it. And when they ask me how to hack, I just laugh. But this one has me puzzled.

Tags: internet, safety

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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Foote on April 19, 2007 at 7:37pm

I don't know that if it is something she's doing at home that it's right to involve the administration. Can you talk to her about wise and safe internet use? It sounds like she trusts you enough to ask the question in the first place. I'd just ask her to be straight. Then if you get the sense from her conversation with you that something is really amiss, refer it on? Maybe what she needs is someone to provide her with some guidance without too much judgment.

Other opinions?

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Permalink Reply by Shayne Train on April 19, 2007 at 9:25pm

The class knows that their safety is one of my BIG issues! I'm constantly reinforcing it by showing them how to turn on their security settings on Facebook, giving examples of ways that inappropriate contact can go wrong, etc. She is actually someone who seems to have her head on straight. Strangely enough, two incidents happened today that put it in perspective - I found a package left in a washroom in our building and nobody knew where it came from. I called the police and it was an empty box, but still... THEN another student showed me where she had been cutting her arm. Aack. I believe the admin knows about this, but I'm going to make sure. Just yesterday, another student who was working on a PowerPoint on Internet Safety came up to me upset and said that she found instructions for cutting yourself on the Internet. Never a dull moment :-o

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stange on December 6, 2009 at 9:53pm

I think you cannot do much more than advise her on appropriate internet use and suggest honesty with her parents is important. Unless you have reason to believe she is in danger, I think you need allow yourself some boundaries. You are not responsible for her home internet use. You might be wise to tell her that you are not comfortable helping her conceal things from her parents.

The student cutting herself is definitely an example of intervention.