Schools : Make your Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day 2012

http://www.saferinternet.org

Safer Internet Day (SID) is organised by Insafe in February of each year to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world. 

Safer Internet Day 2012 will take place on Tuesday 7 February 2012, centred on the theme "Connecting generations and educating each other", where    SID encourages users young and older people to "discover the digital world together...safely"!

The theme 2012 is "Connecting generations and educating each other" and the slogan is

"Discover the digital world together... safely!"

"From cyberbullying to social networking, each year Insafe aims to be at the forefront of emerging online issues and chooses a topic reflecting current concerns. This year we are focusing on connecting generations, as we invite people of all ages from very young children to parents and grandparents to “discover the digital world together… safely”."

http://www.saferinternetday.org

Education:

We all know the importance of being safe online. Children and young people love to be connected all the time, on their cellphones or on computer at home, even when they are homeworking. 

Safer Internet 2012 wants that both young and old to join together in creating positive online experiences, to share knowledge and wisdom, but also to support each other when things might be risky or, indeed, go wrong. 

So this year, there are two competitions for the younger generation and  other members of the school or family.

1. SID poster competition

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• Children and young people are invited to create an Acceptable Use Policy* poster using the initials 'SID', or based around the theme of 'Connecting generations'.

2. SID video competition

Children and young people are invited to create a short video clip (maximum of 2 minutes) on the theme of 'Connecting generations'.

For both competitions, there will be three categories of entry: 

• 9 years old and under

• 10-14 years old

• over 14 years old.

Entries: 

The entries will be accepted online here from 1-29 February 2012 inclusive. 

Prizes:

Games (courtesy of our competition sponsors Microsoft) and, for older winners, the chance of taking part in an 'online safety' summer camp in Romania.

Some information:

Teachers and parents could access (until January) to a SID kit (resources and lesson plans) from here

To participate, schools can register here and individuals here

Safer Internet Day website aims to showcase the activities and events that will be taking part across the globe to celebrate the day. 

Click on the map to get started, using the zoom control to locate events in your country. 

Alternatively, visit the SID Near You section to explore news from the many countries and institutions that will be taking part.

Information +

You can read two school projects: Fighting cyberbullying with Shakespeare? (English language) and SOS! Bullying au collège (Français).

My students participated in Safer Internet Day since 2005. You can read on the school blog (Portuguese language) about 2008 participation.

Have a wonderful and exciting 'Safer Internet Day' all together, parents, teachers and students!

G-Souto

06.02.2012

Copyright © 2012G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Schools : Make your Safer Internet Day by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Steven Pinker: an important message

An interview with the Harvard psychologist and linguist on violence, language and Twitter.

New York Times

Steven Pinker is a professor of psychology at Harvard University. He is a leading expert on language and an advocate of evolutionary psychology. 

In a series of best-selling books, he has argued that our mental faculties - from emotions to decision-making to visual cognition . were forged by natural selection.

He is also a critic of those who would deny the deep marks of evolution on our minds - social engineers who believe they can remake children as they wish, modernist architects who believe they can rebuild cities as utopias. 

Even in the 21st century, Dr. Pinker argues, we ignore our evolved brains at our own peril.

http://www.renaud-bray.com/ImagesEditeurs/PG/1202/1202040-gf.jpg

In his latest book, “The Better Angels of Our Nature” (2011), he investigates one of the most primal aspects of life: violence. He argues that violence has fallen drastically over thousands of years - whether one considers homicide rates, war casualties as a percentage of national populations, or other measures.

Read the article on New York Times here

Photo: Huffington Post | Education

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/education/

Education:

As educators, we  know that students are vulnerable to high rates of hate, discrimination and violence at school or cyberbullying, most of the time, from their colleagues.

It's natural for kids and teens to worry about whether this type of incident may someday affect them. 

Young people say that they are verbally or physically abused at school. And that violates the right of young people to education and safe learning environments.

How can we help them deal with these fears? Talking with kids about these violences and what they watch or hear about them, can put frightening information into context.

Steven Pinker's book and words give us a hopeful message about violence falling.

If you're looking for a book or other how-to document, perhaps it will be a good choice reading the book in order to help students at school and online.

G-Souto

06.12.2011

Copyright © 2011G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Steven Pinker: an important message by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

References:

Human Nature Pathologist

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/science/human-natures-pathologist.html?ref=science