I-Safe Program at WJHS

Dear Parent or Guardian:

i-SAFE Inc. is partnering with educators around the country to provide a prevention oriented Internet safety education program for students in grades K-12. We are excited to announce that we have partnered with i-SAFE, Inc. to bring Internet Safety education to Wellington Junior High School.  

i-SAFE Inc. is a government funded non-profit foundation whose mission is to educate and empower youth with the ability to take control of their Internet experience by giving them vital knowledge that will enable them to recognize and avoid dangerous, destructive, or unlawful online behavior and to respond appropriately.

The integrated teaching and learning activities are age appropriate and vary from grade to grade.  The core topics discussed in the i-SAFE curriculum include:

Cyber Community Citizenship: Compares the cyber community to the physical community with a focus on cyber citizenship and safety rules.

Cyber Security: Understanding computer security, e-mail, viruses, flaming, spyware, etc;

Personal Safety: Recognizing online communication dangers; e-mail and text messaging safety, revealing personal information online.

Intellectual Property: Understanding legal and ethical behaviors related to information and technology; such as downloading music/movies, plagiarism, etc.

Cyber Bullying: Focuses on online etiquette and identifying and responding to cyber harassment and threats.

Predator Identification: Strategies to recognize suspicious online communication, the grooming process and proactive techniques to reduce risk.

The lesson topics in grades K-4 are presented by i-SAFE's character "i-Buddy." Each lesson provides young students with exposure to Internet concepts and vocabulary through engaging hands-on activities. Activities for grades 5-8 involve discussions and participatory activities to foster discussion, cooperative learning, concept development, and opportunities for school and community outreach. High school participatory activities and discussions revolve around topic-centered webcast videos as well as traditional lesson plan formats. Lesson plans for grades 5-12 also include service learning projects and activities.  Students in grades 5-12 are also encouraged to become i-SAFE Student Mentors and participate in community and school based events and activities aimed at increasing Internet safety awareness.

We believe that this curriculum is necessary to protect and empower our students and hope that you can offer your support to this program by continuing the discussion of these topics at home.  Should you have any additional questions, please contact Mary Swanson, Media Specialist at Wellington Junior High School.