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Study Finds Schools Lacking Cyber Security and Safety Education

by Terrence O'Brien on February 28, 2010 at 11:00 AM

Study Finds Schools Lacking Cyber Security and Safety Education
A new Zogby poll on cyber security and education reveals that, while 90-percent of administrators believe it's important to teach kids basic Web safety, a vast majority offer no such lessons. The study, commissioned by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Microsoft, found that only 27-percent of teachers offered any instruction on safe social networking, and less than 20-percent broached the topics of avoiding fraud and creating a secure password.

Michael Kaiser, executive director of the NCSA, told The Hill, "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." He also pointed out that President Obama has specifically called for such educational programs, and that the time to act is now.

Most high schools still offer basic technology and computer classes, most of which are focused on skills far below the students' existing capabilities. We're with Kaiser; now is the time to update these classes with lessons applicable to the 21st century, and to stop worrying about teaching them to use Word. [From: The Hill]

Tags: cyber security, CyberSecurity, education, national cyber security alliance, NationalCyberSecurityAlliance, ncsa, poll, school, top

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