Whether you are surfing the Web for pleasure or to complete a research paper, it’s best to visit sites with good reputations. In Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens, author Nancy E. Wil- lard says it is important to know what organization has cre- ated a particular site. For example, the well-respected Mayo Clinic in Minnesota founded a site (www.mayoclinic.com), so people can feel confident visiting it to find health information. To determine what kind of organization is behind a Web site, it is helpful to learn to decipher a uniform resource locator (URL). Site addresses that end in .edu are academic institu- tion sites, .gov are government sites, .mil are military sites,
.com are generally commercial sites, and .org are usually
private or nonprofit sites.
The Internet has many positive Web sites to visit that can inspire responsible behavior. Discover the stories of real- life heroes at www.giraffe.org. This Web site is home to the nonprofit The Giraffe Heroes Project, which tells the stories
of heroes who “stick their necks out for the common good.” Here you can read about people like Michael Munds, a young boy who suffers from Treacher-Collins syndrome, which causes skull and facial malformations. When Michael heard about the April 9, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Fed- eral Building in Oklahoma City, he organized a bowl-a-thon that raised $37,649 to help the victims. It was the most money donated to the cause by anyone in the United States.
On the Giraffe Heroes Web site, you can also learn about Mimi Silbert, who founded Delancey Street, which as of 2008 had five locations across the United States. This is a two-year program that helps ex-convicts, recovering drug addicts, and homeless individuals learn job skills and earn at least a high school equivalency diploma. To date, Delancey Street has helped 14,000 people to become productive members of society.
Another inspiring Web site is myhero.com, sponsored by the nonprofit My Hero Project. On this site you can browse stories about heroes from all walks of life, from teaching to science. For example, one of the articles highlights Chief Wilma Mankiller, who was the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. Another tells about the life of Dian Fossey and her study of mountain gorillas in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Rwanda. Fossey’s stand against gorilla poachers led to the protection of the gorillas by the Rwandan government.
You can visit Web sites that help you connect to volun- teer opportunities and offer ideas for charitable outreach. Do Something (www.dosomething.org) is an organization that challenges visitors to chose a charitable cause and sup- port it. It lists projects in which people can become involved and highlights celebrities and their outreach choices. Surf to www.idealist.org, supported by the nonprofit organization Action Without Borders, where you can investigate volunteer opportunities and chances to participate in internships. At the Ziv Tzedakah Fund Web site (www.ziv.org) you can click
Wilma Mankiller, seen here in 2005, became the fi rst female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. Her strength and determination helped her change the way her people viewed women and their roles in leadership positions.
on “Useful Articles” and find Danny Siegel’s 116 practical ideas for charitable projects. It suggests, for example, going to the area dry cleaners and offering to distribute unclaimed items to the needy. Another suggestion is to buy extra food during each trip to the grocery store to give to the hungry.
Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens also discusses some of
the negative Web sites that exist. These Web sites are created by harmful groups and should be avoided. Some Web sites spread hatred against others based upon race, ethnicity, reli- gion, or sexual orientation. Other Web sites preach violence toward schoolmates. There are also pro-anorexia and pro- bulimia Web sites that encourage behaviors associated with life-threatening eating disorders. In most cases, emotionally troubled individuals are behind these kinds of Web sites.
iLLegaL inTeRneT acTiviTies
Acting responsibly on the Web also includes giving others the proper credit for their ideas and creations. While doing Inter- net research for school papers, be certain not to copy and paste the ideas of others and represent them as your own. This is plagiarism, and it is unethical because it is stealing another’s intellectual work. It is also illegal—you can be sued