Andrei Kamardin, a former teacher of computer science and the school principal, now an employee of a telecommunications company, compiled and systematized the rules for safe online behavior, adapted them for schoolchildren, and organized an educational course at several schools in Theodosia in Crimea.
The course is divided into two parts. The first is a lesson for high school students, where they are told how to protect their personal data, to protect their device from hacking and what should be the behavior on social networks.
- Andrey Kamardin - author of the course “Safe Internet”, Feodosia, Crimea.
The second part of the course is a lesson that high school students themselves teach in the sixth and seventh grades. Victoria Kochubei, the director of school No. 9, where classes are held, calls this format extremely successful.
“When Internet security lessons are taught by the children themselves, that’s logical. Then the older ones learn this knowledge better, besides they try on the role of mentors, and the children perceive the information differently when it comes from the lips of the children themselves, their school colleagues, ”she says.
A significant part of the course is devoted to the protection of personal data: students are reminded of the importance of not opening suspicious links, installing antivirus and anti-spyware programs, regularly updating complex passwords, backing up important information and protecting access to it. This is one of the most frequent cybercrimes, says Andrei Kamardin.
“Since my password was only stolen from my playground, this did not affect my life very much,” says Nikolai Tuzov, a ninth-grade student. “But attackers can also steal passwords from my personal pages on social networks, assign my identity on the Internet, and this will harm not only me, but also other people.”
- “Parents need to go to meetings with online friends”: how students are taught safe online behavior
If almost all the lesson participants faced unauthorized actions in relation to their devices, then they are familiar with personal security threats mainly from peer stories or from media publications.
The author of the course gives several examples, which he witnessed during his work as a teacher. One of his students, when they began to write unpleasant things to her peers on her behalf, was forced to flee to another city, fleeing persecution. Another girl almost became a member of one of the "death groups".
In order not to become a victim of cyberbullying, schoolchildren are advised not to publish their contacts, post photos less and limit their commenting.
“Do not tell strangers your biography. Block "bad" users. Inform the site administration or write a statement with the police together with your parents. Learn to share this information with adults, ”the presentation notes.
Particularly important are trusting relationships with close adults to combat “grooming,” that is, with the actions of “Internet predators” to search for and lure their victims, usually minors, through the Internet.
- Victoria Kochubey - Director of School No. 9, Feodosia, Crimea.
“A virtual friend should remain virtual. Meet with online friends with your parents. In the case of a proposal to perform unpleasant or indecent actions, interrupt communication, ”the course author lists the basic safety rules.
According to Andrei Kamardin, children are the most vulnerable group of Internet users.
In order to protect them from mistakes, it is important to give them an algorithm for safe behavior on the network, to teach them to critically treat their own actions and actions of their virtual friends.
“A child can find almost any information on the Internet. The main thing is that he use it prudently, consciously and carefully, ”summarizes Kamardin.