Internet Safety Tools for Teachers

What can teachers of 13- to 15-year-old adolescents do to help keep them safe?

Discuss with students how activity online leaves a trace, so it is important to be mindful of what they are doing.
Reinforce the public nature of the Internet and explain to students how easily information shared can be misused by others (i.e. sending private information shared with one person to someone it is not intended for).
Explain to students that once a picture is sent online, you lose control of what is done with it. Pictures may never be completely removed from the Internet.
Although adolescents can appear as though they can handle things, they require and unconsciously seek adult guidance and supervision.
Explain to students where it is appropriate for them to have privacy — for example, confiding in close friends face to face, writing in a journal, being in the privacy of their bedroom, etc.
Discuss with students the concept of dignity and self-respect and how it can be preserved or destroyed by messages sent online.
Teach students that it is illegal for people to manufacture, possess or distribute naked or sexually explicit pictures of children under 18 years of age.
Reinforce to students the importance of protecting their friends' and their family's personal information and pictures. This should apply even when they are upset with a friend or family member.
Encourage students to be leaders and not to forward messages or pictures of others that they may receive.

Explain to students that it is illegal for adults to offer gifts or money to them in exchange for sexual pictures.
Explain to students that it is illegal to threaten someone online or offline. If someone threatens them, they need to tell a safe adult.
Explain to students that there is no need or urgency to respond to any messages. Teach them not to respond to messages that make them feel uncomfortable.
Discuss with students the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. Adolescents should never meet someone in person that they first met online without an accompanying parent.
Discuss with students high-risk behaviour both online and offline and create 'what if' scenarios together to help them anticipate dangerous situations and possible solutions.
Teach students how to get out of relationships.
Encourage open communication and be conscious of students' sensitivity to social judgment. They may be hesitant to share personal experiences.

Adolescents have access to vast amounts of information online. This offers incredible opportunity, but it also offers exposure to explicit and harmful content. Talk openly to students about the hidden negative messages that may be found online (e.g. the glorification of violence, sexual harm, power and control, and gender stereotypes).
Provide a standard of measure about healthy relationships and healthy sexuality that students can compare to when trying to make sense of media messages.
Encourage students to think critically about information rather than assuming it is an accurate representation.