Parenting is hard. Like really hard. There are so many things to worry about. Parents worry not only about making sure their kids get the right nutrition, get enough sleep, and have clean clothes, but also that they don’t stab themselves with a knife or go running off a cliff. Add in the worries created by 21st century technology – cyberbullying, online predators, internet privacy – and it seems virtually impossible to protect your children from all the threats that are out there.
One way for parents to help their kids navigate the wild, wild web (ha, this joke never gets old) is to teach them about what threats they may encounter when using technology and what they can do to protect themselves. The CyberSmarts database aims to do just that. Geared toward kids in grades 3-6, this selection of ebooks explains in a straightforward way what dangers kids may encounter via technology – including playing games online, stopping cyberbullying, and using social networks.
Being an ebook, this resource also includes supplemental content that books cannot. There is a section on each page that links you to examples of the issues, with a simple two-choice quiz to help kids decide what the best choice would be in that situation.
There is also a section in the main menu area for “Extras,” which links to vocabulary terms, videos, and other supplemental resources for dealing with the issue.
Is this resource going to ease all parenting worries? Absolutely not. But it does give parents one more tool in their arsenal to help their kids grow up into awesome adults.
Richelle @ Sewickley Public Library