Blog
Technology Tip- Online Safety
shareOne of our core values is Community—creating a caring and nurturing environment by fostering interactive, supportive partnerships with the home.
We desire to be helpful to our school families in this in many ways, and one area is technology. Our Technology Director, Jeff Loy, is developing a series of technology updates to help our school families. Below is his first update regarding Online Safety. You may read the full article at the link, but Mr. Loy has highlighted the two main points below.
1. Discuss online safety measures and foster open communication: Protecting self and protecting others is a large part of our Responsible Use Policy. The main idea here is to impress on the child the need to come forward with issues such as cyberbullying. It may embarrassing to the child so they may not want to talk about it. Please be proactive and discuss how to be safe online. This is key to stopping a problem before it gets out of hand. Take the time to sit down and let the child know you care.
2. Block access to certain types of content: This can be done with a piece of hardware like Disney Circle or a piece of software like OpenDNS, NetNanny, built in parental controls, and many others. At FCS we use our firewall for this function. The important thing here is to let your child know what your thoughts are. Even the best filters are not perfect, so setting those expectations will improve any filter’s effectiveness.
Of all the items mentioned, I would most endorse sitting and talking with your child. Open communication is key to a healthy discussion in this area.
Philippians 4:8
Jeff Loy
Technology Director