Parents

Translation of post "Genitori" of March 30th 2008 on "Il deserto dei tartari 2.0".

On Classroom 2.0 a few discussions about how to manage internet-worried parents are opening.

Looks like in the States some parents (especially of younger students, primary school level) are worried that using internet exposes their children to risks.

The answers I am reading are usually optimistic: teachers involved seem convinced that sooner or later the parents will understand that their children are exposed to risks anyway, and being educated to live in a responsible and ethical way on the net is much better than falling in it completely unaware.

An interesting line of conduct is to involve as much as possible the parents in using the net together with their children. I think this goes in the direction stated before: the net is as any other place children can go, and adults should accompany them as long as they feel reasonably sure about the children's autonomy.

However, I think this is an important point: parents must know about the use is made of the internet and about which security and privacy measures are taken during these operations at school, about which tasks their children are assigned for home work and which tools they are required to use. The information can be the more effective, IMHO, the more involved, or at least open, the parents are in/to the activities; if cooperating directly with them is not possible, at least the results of their children's work can and should be shown to them. A post on one of the forums above mentioned made me smile: think fridge! What do parents proudly stick on the fridge hatch? Their children's masterpieces. Can't seeing and showing that a small piece of the net has got their children's name, or the name of their class, on it, be reason for an equal pride?

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