Risks and Dangers with when dealing with students computer use

"If you open yourself to the benefits and opportunities of the internet, you expose yourself to its risks and dangers at the same time. "
This is the opening statement on Mark's e-language wiki on digital safety. A statement that is certainly not exclusive to only internet use. If we open ourselves to the opportunities of stepping outside our house each morning then we also expose ourselves to risks and dangers. With any aspect in life that we expose ourself to the risks exist as well.
its about how those risks are managed and dealt with that makes the difference. If you can control for some of the dangers, prevent some of the risks by teaching the skills to manage these issues then you signifcantly reduce the risk attached.

to cross a road we look both ways - skills which we drum into children from the moment they first put a foot out the door.
In managing the same concerns for internet use in education we apply the same basic prinicples. This is inclusive of information literacy skills but also with outlining the explicit dangers of using the internet - inappropriate content, time online, contact, privacy, cyberbullying, misinformation. These should start to be introduced as soon as students start engaging in these tools