Internet 101 should be a required class: opinion

Teacher Vera Servaty talks to pupils during a lesson in social media and internet, at a comprehensive school in Essen, Germany, Monday, March 18, 2019. Children feel stressed when dealing with the digital world, but Germany has taken a hands-on approach, with experts and teachers saying teenagers teaching younger school mates how to deal with digital stress, messaging and cyber-bullying have proven to be especially successful. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

If Americans agree on anything these days, it’s that our schools could be much better, and that Internet culture is harming our children. I have a simple proposal to address both problems: high school classes on how to use the Internet more effectively. 

By now the Internet has such far-reaching influence that such a pedagogical intervention is called for. Think of all the misinformation books have communicated over the centuries, and how hard society has worked to learn and then teach how to use printed material more effectively. This same effort is now necessary with the Internet.