Internet Safety Month - Safe Surfing at School

Alpharetta, GA (PRWEB) June 7, 2007-- Congress passed a May 16 resolution declaring June as National Internet Safety Month. According to the resolution, 35 million US school children have Internet access and one-third of students in grades five through 12 can circumvent Internet filters. Also in the news, a Superior Court judge has granted a new trial for a Norwich substitute teacher whose faulty computer popped up pornographic images in her classroom. These facts pose many questions for educators as they try to best incorporate technology for teaching while at the same time keeping students safe from inappropriate web exposure.

Although school is out for the summer, many technology educators use this downtime to upgrade IT systems and review technology policies and procedures. While the internet itself remains a force to be reckoned with, using internet filtering and restriction solutions as well as educating students and faculty about the dangers of the internet is becoming a mandate in schools due to legislative and ethical concerns.

While no solution is 100% foolproof, there are filtering and security solutions that can be installed, web policies that can be imposed and student-safe search engines that can be utilized. Students need to be taught about internet safety ? like what to do if they come across questionable online material, not to give out personal information and to use discretion on social sites.

In addition to network level internet filtering solutions, there is a classroom level of protection available to keep students on task with their assigned curriculum while avoiding the internet?s dark side. Computer lab instruction and monitoring software, such as NetSupport School, offers instructors an additional layer of protection from the Internet and works in tandem with internet filtering software.

With the extension of NetSupport School?s previous URL monitoring to the teacher?s monitor, teachers now cannot accidentally visit an inappropriate website while their screen is visible to the class. NetSupport School also gives teachers the ability to impose SafeSearch settings on most search engines, regardless of settings on individual computers. Instant messenger monitoring and restriction also comes as standard and gives teachers have full control of chats, ensuring they don?t occur with unknown people outside of the classroom. The internet and IM settings of NetSupport School combined with new desktop security features preventing students from using unauthorized USB drives, provides technology educators with more secure, more focused lessons in the lab.

About NetSupport School
As the use of computers and the Internet in schools grows, so does the need for managing the learning process in networked classrooms. With the release of NetSupport School 9 from NetSupport, teachers can now lead a computer-based class with tighter control over what appears on student screens and over how much content gets sent to school printers. Building on 12 years as the leading classroom instruction and monitoring solution, NetSupport School 9 includes features that reduce operational costs, improve student monitoring and provide even greater security for both the students and their data (http://www.netsupportschool.com).

About NetSupport, Inc.
NetSupport, Inc. is a member of the NetSupport Group of Companies, which develops commercial software packages to manage and support Local and Wide Area Computer Networks. NetSupport products are utilized on more than 7 million desktops throughout 50 territories. Its award-winning products include NetSupport Manager Remote Control and PC Management software, NetSupport DNA IT Asset Management and Help Desk software, NetSupport 24-7 on-demand remote support and chat, NetSupport Protect desktop security software and NetSupport School, the leading interactive classroom instructional software solution. For more information or a free trial, visit http://www.netsupport-inc.com or call 1-888-665-0808.

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