A new study shows that America’s youth are not receiving enough online safety education, and that American teachers are not prepared to address these subjects within the current curriculum.

Some 1,000 teachers, technology coordinators and school administrators from around the United States participated in the survey.

According to the survey:

• Over 95% believe that cyber ethics, security and safety should be taught in public schools
• Only half of the educators lived in districts where cyber security, safety and ethics are a mandatory element of the curriculum
• 78% percent of educators saying that modeling is the best form of cyber education
• 31% of educators use presentations about protecting, identifying, and responding to cyber crime (i.e. identity theft, spam, phishing, and pharming scams, malware) in the classroom
• Cyberbullying is the most commonly discussed cyber issue in the classroom
• 44% of teachers say they have taught nothing about cyber security issues in their classroom
• Over 75% of teachers have spent less than six hours on any type of professional development education related to cyberethics, safety and security within the last 12 months

Source: Survey Shows America Needs More Cyber Education, The new new internet, February 26, 2010

Tags: Cyberbullying, online safety education, US