Are You Web Aware? - Web sites

Backgrounder

Fifty per cent of students say surfing Web sites is their favourite online activity.
(Source: Media Awareness Network, Young Canadians In A Wired World, 2001)

The Great News

The Web has many advantages. It offers:

• Plenty of resources and up-to-date information on almost any subject you can imagine
• A fun and entertaining place to play games, listen to music, watch videos and pursue hobbies
• The opportunity to create personal Web sites where you can post your writing, drawings or poetry

The Not So Great News

Unfortunately, there's also:

• Information that's misleading or incorrect, and online hoaxes or scams
• Pornography
• Threats to privacy from Web sites looking for personal information
• Hate sites containing racist, bigoted or sexist content
• Sites that promote dangerous or illegal activities

You can sometimes put yourself at risk on Web sites when you:

• Post personal information or photos of yourself on your Web pages
• Use Web sites to spread rumours or make threats

Some Quick Facts

• Forty-five per cent of students use the Internet for homework
• Two out of ten kids and teens have their own personal Web sites
• Over half of Canadian students ages 9 - 17 say they've ended up on a porn site accidentally
• More than half of the students who have Web sites post their e-mail address, 26 per cent post their full name and 22 per cent post a photograph of themselves
  
  (Source: Media Awareness Network, Young Canadians In A Wired World, 2001)

Cool Uses of Web Sites

Plan your family vacation
You can now plan an entire vacation from your computer chair; research your destination spot, pick your hotel, reserve a campsite and canoe, buy your plane tickets. Offer to plan you family’s next holiday from start to finish!

Enter your Web site in an international awards program
Each year the British organisation Childnet International gives awards to young people who have developed innovative Web sites. See what other kids are doing by visiting their winners section at: http://www.childnetacademy.org/winners/

10 cool ways to attract people to you website. The following link offers creative ideas on how people can increase traffic to their Web site: http://www.simplejoe.com/web-site-traffic-10-cool-ways-to-attract-people-to-your-web.asp

Take a virtual field trip. Visit a far away place, or see the inside of a volcano, or learn more about photography by visiting one of the websites dedicated to virtual field trips. Want to take a specific virtual trip but cannot find it anywhere? How about creating your own.

Guidelines for Web Sites

Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the Web.

Bookmark sites you like. Over half the students who end up on an adult site by accident get there by misspelling a Web address. When you bookmark your favorite sites, it's easier and faster to get where you want and it lessens your chances of ending up some place you'd rather not be. Don't know where to begin? There lots of portal sites that have been created by teachers and librarians to help you find great Web sites.

Use kid-friendly search tools and proper searching techniques. If you don’t want a lot of trash in your Web searches you can use kid-friendly search engines or activate the filtering option which most popular search tools such as Google now offer. Remember to use a minimum of seven words in your search query; this will help weed out irrelevant results.

Respect Web content. On the Internet, there's little to prevent "lifting" someone else's software, art or written work. But it's important to remember that real-world laws against copyright infringement still apply on the Internet and many schools practice "zero tolerance" when it comes to online cheating. Remember, if you can find something online, your teacher can too. Avoid problems by asking your teacher how to properly document online sources.

Watch your Web site. If you create a personal Web page be careful about the content. Sometimes what you think is funny may cross the line into bad taste - or even break the law.

Take care to protect your personal info on your Web page. Avoid posting your name, photograph, address, phone number and e-mail address (or those of your friends).

And don't forget to respect the copyright of pictures and images on your Web page - be sure to ask permission before you post.

Check out the privacy policies on Web sites. Before you submit any personal information to a Web site, read the privacy policy to see what's going to be done with what you submit. Make sure that the site doesn't give your personal information to third parties or put it where it can be viewed by others.

Put out the trash. If you come across inappropriate content, don't panic. Just turn off the monitor and report it to a teacher. If an adult isn't nearby, turn off and then restart the computer.

So what's the big deal about explicit adult Web sites?

The Internet, like any medium, offers all sorts of materials for all sorts of people - including "explicit" or "pornographic" Web sites for adults. The problem is that you can occasionally end up on these sites - whether or not you want to. This can be a problem because:

• The material that's posted may make you feel uncomfortable or embarrassed.
• Most pornographic Web sites don't reflect normal, healthy sexual relationships. They may include images that are violent, degrading or obscene.
• You can get into trouble with parents - or even be suspended from school - when you access explicit sites on the Web.
• The creators of some of these sites use all sorts of tricks to get "clicks" on their pages. (That way they can attract more sponsors to support them.) Because of this, you can easily end up on adult sites when you're looking for something else. Some adult sites will use names that sound like other popular Web sites; some will take advantage of common misspellings of Web addresses; and others will include links or ads on Web pages that they know teens - especially teenage boys - like to visit.

Think about it... What do you think should be done about online porn?

Web Site Work Sheet

1. In your own words, what is a Web site?
2. What do you think is the biggest benefit about the World Wide Web?
3. In your opinion, what's the biggest problem relating to the World Wide Web?
4. List five things you can do to minimize the negative side of the Web.
5. List three examples of "kid-friendly" search engines or search engines which offer filtering options.
6. Take a look at this student's Web page and list seven ways that she has compromised her privacy.
7. Why - or why not - should you respect the copyright of material you find on the Internet?