Kids confused about Net risks

Parents aren't the only ones not helped by scary stories about online risks to kids. Children, too, need a balanced, level-headed approach to Net safety training, the University of London's Institute of Education found. Its researchers asked UK students 8-18 about what "dangers they face online," and the students replied, "bomb-making, blackmail, HIV, asylum seekers, aliens, and blindness," according to The Guardian. "Some children confused paedophiles with hackers or thought they sent viruses via 'spam' or junk emails.... Teaching children to think critically and behave responsibly when using the Internet enabled them to gauge what risks the technology really poses, and how to handle those problems, said the researchers." More and more educators are pointing to the importance of helping children develop critical thinking skills and media literacy. Tech literacy without these skills - along with excessive parental fears - weights the balance on the risks side. "Parental fears about the Internet mean that children are not being given the information they need to behave safely and sensibly online," according to The Register. "Unfounded fears that children are meeting murderers online and that chatrooms lead to sexual abuse mean that real and more frequent dangers of Web use are ignored. Blanket restrictions on Internet use leave children unprepared and unable to protect themselves."