[ insider_reports_insider ]
U.S. Schools Fall Short On Cybersecurity Education
Mike Sachoff
Staff Writer
2010-02-25
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Young U.S. Internet users are not receiving enough education about being safe online, according to a new poll by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and supported by Microsoft.
 | | U.S. Schools Fall Short On Cybersecurity Education |  |
More than three quarters of teachers have spent fewer than six hours on education related to cyberethics, cybersafety, and cybersecurity in the last 12 months; more than 50% of teachers reported their school districts do not require these subjects as curriculum; and only 35% taught proper online conduct.
Key highlights of the survey include:
*More than 90% of technology coordinators school administrators and teachers support teaching cyberethics, cybersafety and cybersecurity in schools. However, only 35% of teachers and just over half of school administrators report that their school districts require cyberethics, cybersafety, and cybersecurity in their curriculum.
*Low levels of integration of key cyberethics, cybersecurity, and cybersafety topics into everyday instructional activities. For example, only 27% of teachers taught about the safe use of social networks, only 18% taught about scams, fraud and social engineering, and only 19% taught about safe passwords in the past 12 months. Additionally, 32% of teachers indicated they had not taught cyberethics, and 44% of teachers had not taught cybersafety or cybersecurity.
*Differing opinions between teachers and administrators as to who is or should be responsible (parents vs. teachers) for educating students about cyberethics, cybersafety, and cybersecurity. For example, while 72% of teachers indicated that parents bear the primary responsibility for teaching these topics, 51% of school administrators indicate that teachers are responsible.
"The study illuminates that there is no cohesive effort to provide young people the education they need to safely and securely navigate the digital age and prepare them as digital citizens and employees," said Michael Kaiser, Executive Director of the National Cyber Security Alliance. "Unfortunately, we are not meeting the needs of schools, teachers, or students.
The survey also found schools rely on shielding students instead of teaching behaviors for safe and secure Internet use. More than 90 percent of schools have built up digital defenses, such as filtering and blocking social networking sites, to protect children on school networks. Those measures may help reduce the online risks children face at school, they do not prepare students to act more safely when accessing the Internet at home or on mobile devices.
View All Articles by Mike Sachoff
About the Author:
Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.
More insider_reports_insider Articles
Insider Reports RSS Feed
|
|
iEntry 10th Anniversary
RSS
Archive
