Virginia Takes Lead in Net Safety Education

According to The Washington Post, Virginia is taking the lead in promoting Internet safety education by incorporating online safety lessons in its public school curriculum as a part of new statewide program that will take effect in September. As the Post explains, "even though today's students have known no life without the Internet, only a couple of states have laws that recommend schools teach online safety."

Virginia is the first state to pass a law mandating such an effort at all grade levels, and child safety expert Adam Thierer of the Progress and Freedom Foundation believes it is a model that other state and local officials should follow (Illinois and Texas have passed laws as well).

One of the things that makes Virginia's program unique, beyond the fact that it's mandated, is that it's designed to integrate Internet safety into students' overall educational experience. So, rather than having a special assembly or one-off lecture, the goal is to weave the lessons into the curriculum so that students "have to think about [Internet safety] all the time."

In addition to teaching kids how to protect themselves from online predators, the article suggests that coursework will cover other topics like cyber bullying, copyright infringement and safe use of text messaging and social networking sites. There are also efforts to include parents through public service announcements and school meetings.