We can all agree that children need to be taught best practices on how to use the Internet and technology. There are many common pitfalls, and we want children to learn how to steer clear of those problems. Just as important, we want them to be kind and respectful in their online interactions, to guard their privacy and their reputation, and learn to be good digital citizens. Too often, the responsibility for this education falls in the hands of parents, who may not have the background or information to handle this effort. Some schools have added lessons and assemblies about online safety and digital citizenship into their curriculum, but still many others have not.
Symantec employees believe that our school-age children deserve to be taught these lessons and that they should be designed in a way that is appropriate for their age and their maturity level. To assist in this effort, we’ve partnered with respected parental advisory and educational nonprofit, Common Sense Media, to create a program of easy-to-use materials that employees can use to help local schools and youth groups educate their students and members. Currently, Common Sense Media has 80,000 schools and 190,000 educators registered as members. This employee volunteer program, tailored by age and topic, is designed so that anyone, anywhere in the United States, can select lesson plans for classrooms or other community groups.
All the lesson materials are designed by educational experts but are broken down, step-by-step, so that anyone can deliver the plans with ease. Our employees can teach the materials alone, join together with a co-worker, or partner with local teachers to help them deliver the materials. Each lesson is designed to last about 45 minutes, but employees can choose to break them into shorter segments, making them easy to tailor to classroom and workplace schedules. The lessons are also designed to adhere to Common Core educational standards, so they fit right into a school’s instructional time, instead of competing with it.
For those more comfortable presenting to adult groups, options include organizing a teen panel for your PTA, where a selected group of local teens discuss their online lives, or organizing small discussion groups, perhaps of sixth grade parents, to share a guided conversation on a single topic.
It is so important to teach our children how to be good digital citizens. But who is going to teach our children unless we have the proper tools? The right training materials are crucial for passing knowledge down to our youth. Our employees are always eager to find ways to contribute to their communities, and we’re excited to offer them this chance to combine our expertise as a business with their personal passion to give back.
For more information about the program, please contact us at Online_Safety@symantec.com.
Marian Merritt is Symantec's Director of Cyber Education and Online Safety Programs