Computers & Internet

Teach your elementary schooler how to evaluate online sources

“I read it on the Internet.” Many kids (and adults) think anything they read online must be true.

A new survey found that parents talk with their kids about online safety. However, they’re less likely to help kids judge if a source is biased or not.

As the number of websites increases, it’s even more important to give kids the tools to evaluate what they read.

Ask your child to choose a topic you can research together. It should be a topic that interests your child, on which people might hold differing views. Pull up links to several sources. Together, look at those sites. Then ask some questions:

• Who wrote the site? Most websites will identify the author on the front page.
• Can you tell the author’s point of view? A company that sells toys will have a different viewpoint than a group working for toy safety.
• Can you verify any of the details? Do other reliable sites include the same information?
• Is the information current? The website should have a date when it was revised.

Reprinted with permission from the May 2008 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2008 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: ESchool News, “Survey: Parents Talk to Their Kids About the Web,” October 2007, www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstoryts.cfm?Articleid=7391.