Cybersafe Young Children
Teaching Internet Safety and Responsibility, K–3

Barbara Sprung (Author), Merle Froschl (Author), Nancy Gropper (Author)

9780807763742

Paperback / softback, published 27 March 2020

128 pages
22.8 x 15.4 x 0.5 cm, 0.19 kg

“For young children to be CyberSafe, their parents, caregivers, family members, teachers, and teacher educators need to embrace the developmentally—informed knowledge, skills, and evidence-based strategies found in these pages. With guidance from well-prepared media mentors, young children can learn to safely and mindfully use digital devices at home and in school as powerful tools for their learning, social-emotional development, communication, and collaboration to become effective digital citizens in their real and digital worlds.” —Chip Donohue, principal, Donohue and Associates, founding director, Technology in Early Childhood (TEC) Center at Erikson Institute, senior fellow and advisor, Fred Rogers Center

Learn how to integrate lessons about good digital citizenship into the daily life of the early childhood classroom. Based on reviews of empirical research, this book addresses the need for a new educational paradigm that will enable educators to help young children develop the skills and ethical behaviors they will need to thrive in both the real and digital worlds. Cybersafe Young Children provides a rationale for addressing issues of cyber safety and children’s usage of social media in the early grades to prevent later harmful behavior, such as cyberbullying. Written from a developmental perspective, it offers practical classroom strategies for fostering positive digital citizenship in young children.

Book Features:

• Addresses cyber safety before children become fully immersed in digital communication.
• Reviews important research with practical applications for K–3 teachers.
• Grounded in social emotional learning, literacy, executive function, and conceptual skill development.
• Provides suggested readings and annotated lists of children’s books and organizational resources.

• Contents
• Foreword Michelle Ciulla Lipkin ix
• Acknowledgments 
  xi
• Preface 
  xiii
• Purpose 
  xiii
• Background 
  xiii
• Technology and Young Children 
  xiv
• What You Will Find in This Book  
  xv
• Introduction 
  1
• The Case for Starting Early 
  2
• A Focus on Development and Experiential Learning in Grades K–
  3 
  4
• Part I: Premise
• 1. 
  What the Research Tells Us: Preteens and Teenagers in the Digital Age 
  9
• Gender Concerns 
  10
• Cyberbullying, Self-Harm, and Suicide 
  12
• Summary 
  13
• 2. 
  Digital Citizenship and Cybersafety: A Priority Early Education Concern  
  15
• Summary 
  19
• 3. 
  Cyberbullying Bystanders: Active and Passive Responses 
  21
• Summary 
  23
• 4. 
  Preventing Cyberbullying: A Social–
  Emotional Perspective 
  25
• Social–
  Emotional Profile of Children in K–
  3 
  26
• Early Childhood Practice in Support of Social–
  Emotional Development 
  27
• The Social–
  Emotional Risks If Cyberbullying Is Not Addressed 
  28
• Summary 
  28
• Recommended Readings  
  29
• Part II: Practice
• 5. 
  Implications for Teacher Education  
  33
• Familiarity with Federal and State Mandates 
  33
• Incorporating the Issue of Cyberbullying into Education Course Content 
  34
• 6. 
  Message for Teachers and Administrators 
  37
• Summary 
  40
• 7. 
  A Curriculum Map for Good Digital Citizenship 
  41
• Gathering Information at the Beginning of the School Year 
  43
• Establish Classroom Rules 
  44
• Conduct Activities to Provide or Refresh Shared Language About Face-to-Face Teasing and Bullying 
  45
• Conduct Classroom Discussions About Digital Technology and Social Media 
  45
• Establish Classroom Rules and Provide Direct Experiences About the Meaning of Good Digital Citizenship 
  46
• Part III: Classroom Activities
• Introduction to Activities 
  49
• Activity #1: Discovering What We Know 
  51
• Activity #2: Creating Rules for Good Digital Citizenship 
  53
• Activity #3: Word Webs and Charts: Building Vocabulary for Digital Citizenship 
  56
• Activity #4: Doing the Right Thing: A Form of Courage 
  59
• Activity #5: What Does Permanent Mean? A Word Experiment 
  63
• Activity #6: Understanding Privacy: An Important Concept for Online Activities 
  65
• Activity #7: Building Good Digital Citizenship 
  68
• Activity #8: Working with Partners 
  70
• Part IV: Resources
• Picture Books About Face-to-Face Teasing and Bullying 
  75
• Children’
  s Books About Online Safety and Cyberbullying Prevention  
  79
• Organizational Resources 
  81
• Appendix A: School Statement  
  87
• Appendix B: Letter from Computer Teacher 
  91
• Appendix C: Parent Letter and Questionnaire 
  93
• Appendix D: Glossary 
  95
• References 
  97
• Index 
  101
• About the Authors 
  108