Hello, After School Provider - good to have you with us! If you have a connected computer or two at your after-school facility, it might be fun to go around the room and ask everybody if they use the Internet and, if so, what their favorite activities and sites on it are. Have them take everybody to their favorite sites/pages and point out what they like about them. If the site or activity involves communications (a blog, comments, IM, discussion board, etc.) maybe ask its fan (and the group) if they've thought about whether there were any safety risks involved. I just think it's great to get them talking about what's meaningful to them and try - where appropriate - to find teachable moments for discussion in which everybody can be a "teacher." Kind of like developing a neighborhood watch program in which we're all in this together, so how/where can we help each other out, in terms of awareness as well as protection when it's needed. Does that make sense?

Other questions might be, "Have you heard any of this stuff in the news about 'predators' on the Internet? What do you think that means? What can kids do about it? Do you know any cyberbullies? What happened with them? If someone was hurting someone you know, would you just stand around and let it happen, or would you get help from friends or grownups? Why do you think there are bullies? Do you think about how other people might react to things you say online?" Some great resources for discussions like these are Cyberbully.org and Cyberbulllying.org in Canada. On "predators," check out some of the articles on the right-hand side of this page, including the ones on grooming and what parents can do about online safety. Social influencing is something for everyone to think about, as is critical thinking about what we see online, in posts, IMs, comments, and Web pages. Hope you find something helpful in the above. All best,
Anne
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Anne Collier
BlogSafety co-director