Why is cybersecurity important for our students?

Why is cybersecurity important for our students?

Kids today start using the Internet from an early age. With the rise in remote learning, almost all of our students have a smart device now. If they aren’t careful how they use them, they face significant risks of giving up personal information and access to their online lives.

Online safety requires good habits

No one is born knowing how to stay safe online. Schools can and should play a major role in teaching them good cybersecurity habits. The word “habits” is important. Mere “cybersecurity awareness” isn’t enough, if it’s only abstract knowledge. Children need to develop the right reflexes to avoid dangerous situations. Just as they learn to look before crossing the street every time, they need to develop habits of online caution. These habits should come into play every time they access the Internet.

Learning cybersecurity means learning when not to do as they’re told.

Trust is good, except when it’s misplaced

Children and teens have trouble imagining why anyone would bother with their phones and computers. The reality is that everyone is a target. Criminals spread their attacks as widely as they can. Every stolen password and every infected device is worth something to them.

A large part of cybersecurity is deciding when to grant trust and when not to. Children are often too free with giving out information. Secrets are more a game than a serious matter for them. If they think something came from a friend, they’ll trust it. Likewise if it sounds authoritative.

What happens on the Internet goes against the intuition that personal experience develops. Children wouldn’t naturally think opening a web page could be harmful. The cues of familiar faces, tone of voice, and body language aren’t available. The idea that strangers who live far away could harm them through their phones and computers seems strange.

What will our schools do?

On #GivingTuesday, CLEF hopes to raise enough money for a cybersecurity firm to teach our teachers a cyber safety training module. Cyber Safety Consulting will conduct four professional development workshops to train the instructional technology coordinator and teachers from our schools.

The workshops will provide in depth walk-throughs of lesson content and activities, and will discuss best practices in delivery of lessons to the students.  After these workshops, the teachers, along with the instructional technology coordinator, will teach that lesson to their students.

Being safe online has become an issue for everyone who’s old enough to use a computer or smartphone. It’s part of the schools’ job to make sure their pupils know how to stay safe.