Internet safety is a family activity at Morningside Branch Library. At least it will be at the second Family Tech Day on Saturday, Aug. 24, starting at 2 p.m.
“It is a family event,” said Jesse Wilson, digital specialist. “Parents and kids come together and have a good time and learn something useful.”
Wilson, who puts together technology education programs at Morningside, didn’t have to go far for inspiration for what she’d do at the upcoming Family Tech Day.
“As a parent – looking at my daughter and tech she experiences and is around – you have to think about how do I maintain safety for my children these days,” Wilson said.
Her child is 9. Wilson was born in 1981, the start of what most demographers dub the millennial generation.
“When I was a kid growing up, we didn’t have computers,” said Wilson. “I remember the 8-bit and floppy disk.”
As tech was hitting homes, schools and workplaces in the 1990s and early 2000s, Internet safety was a huge topic. Parents, teachers and other adults were learning it as they went along and passing it onto youths and children. Numerous law-enforcement agencies, schools, libraries and others put on Internet safety programs. One of the most common bits of advice was not to let youths and children access the family computer in private and for parents to control all the passwords.
Society is way past that advice now.
Generation Z, the current crop of children and young adults in school and college, grew up with computers as ubiquitous as color TVs. Most were carrying miniature, Internet-accessing computers in their pockets – smartphones – by middle school. These days the younger folks know more Internet best practices for securing information and staying safe than their parents, teachers and older co-workers. Albeit, they may not practice it consistently, if at all.
Wilson looked around for a way to teach adults, and remind youths and children, some technology best safety practices. She found it on Google. Not as in the dominant search engine helped Wilson locate a great safety program. As in Google has it: “Be Internet Awesome.”
“It’s a program they put together to promote to families and educators to teach (children) how to be safe online,” Wilson said.
It goes way beyond explaining that prince who emailed out of the blue isn’t a prince, so don’t give him your bank account information. The Google offering is split into sections that cover a wide range of safety and security concerns. Family Tech Day won’t have nearly enough time to do the entire online course.
“We only have time enough to do one section,” Wilson said. “We might to another section a couple months down the line.”
In the meantime, Family Tech Day will introduce parents, children and youths to the Google program at www.beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com. Wilson hopes it will spark at-home activities.
“It would be great for the parents to have a resource to refer to – here are some guiltiness to stay safe online,” Wilson said. “Both sides now have a common starting point to talk about safety.”
The library is at 2410 SE Morningside Blvd., Port St. Lucie. Registration isn’t required to attend Family Tech Day.