Kids' safety is the most important consideration when they venture into cyberspace. They must learn to competently manage themselves online, how to deal with various situations, and when to seek adult help.

It is clearly not enough to hand kids a list of rules and have a single class discussion - any more than you would tell a child to 'be careful out there' and expect them to stay forever safe in the offline/real world.

Ensuring children's safety is a continuing process of awareness. It needs to be an on-going topic of in-class discussion all through the school year. Internet Guides, Tutorials, and Training Info for teachers are helpful.

Schools carry the responsibility of teaching online safety and Internet awareness. Yet, parents/guardians must be involved, and accountable - especially when computer access is available to children at home.
http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm

Some youngsters abuse that unique characteristic of cyberspace - anonymity - to commit cyber-crime or otherwise exhibit irresponsible, offensive behavior. If you send threatening e-mail, or post illegal images on the Internet - you can and will be located by authorities. Youngsters who behave inappropriately because they think they are cloaked by the anonymous nature of the Internet - are mistaken. There can be direct legal repercussions, as well as personal safety issues because sources are tracked by a variety of methods, and people. To put it simply - it is wise to behave appropriately at all times, whether online or not.
http://kids.getnetwise.org/safetyguide/

While computers for study are now in nearly all schools, educators should be aware of the assistance that is available to ensure that all U.S. students receive the opportunity to learn computer science. Justice for Schools is the U.S. Department of Justice's program to assist schools in building computer infrastructure.
http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/fass/index.html

CyberSpacers' Sponsors, the DOJ, and ITAA, place safety concerns for children atop their Cyber-Citizenship Awareness Campaign.
http://www.cybercitizenship.org/4kids/4kids.html

SUGGESTED TOPICS/QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1) What are the best and worst things about cyberspace?
2) Who is responsible for YOUR online behavior?
3) Is there anything magical about computers?
http://www.cyberspacers.com/exclusive/04120101.html