447 Bulletin UASVM Horticulture, 67(2)/2010 Print ISSN 1843-5254; Electronic ISSN 1843-5394 Risks and Positive Effects of Internet Use for Education Cristina BACIU 1) , Andrea MULLER FABIAN 1) , Dorottya DOMOKOS 2) 1) Babes Bolyai University, 2 Kogalniceanu Street, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 2) University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 3-5 Calea Manastur Street, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; ddomokos@usamvcluj.ro Abstract: Teens can ask their online friends for help with homework. This may be important for teens who do not have older siblings or parents who can help them with their schoolwork. To protect their children, there are parents who use filtering software such as CyberPatrol, NetNanny and IPrism to block unwanted sites. Some parents insist that the computer be located in a space at home so that they can physically monitor their children online behavior or ask their teens to agree on using the Internet strictly for school-related purposes. The reality is that even parents succeed in denying access to a particular site at home, adolescents may find alternative ways by using, for instance, the computer at a friend’s house. This is why parents and teachers must use the teens themselves as defense. They may allow and encourage teens to use Internet for educational purposes and make them aware of the risks in online socializing and help them to develop their own strategies for staying safe in cyberspace. Keywords: teens, internet, education, risks, positive effects INTRODUCTION Many Internet experts suggest that parents should prohibit their children from social networking and other online spaces where dangerous persons may aggress them For instance, D. R. Hughes, who launched the National Internet Safety Awareness and Parental Empowerment Program in USA, argues that parents should disallow chat rooms, limit instant messaging, and monitor teen online behavior (apoud. Tynes, 2007). Tynes (2007) consider that we may do adolescents a disservice when we curtail their participation in these spaces, because the educational and psychosocial benefits of this type of communication can outweigh the potential dangers. Adolescent participation in social online environments can foster learning that reinforces and complements traditional teaching (Tynes, 2007), many spaces offering training in how to develop critical thinking and argumentation skills, usually through informal training delivered through peer interaction. Teens can ask their online friends for help with homework. This may be important for teens who do not have older siblings or parents who can help them with their schoolwork. To protect their children, there are parents who use filtering software such as CyberPatrol, NetNanny and IPrism to block unwanted sites. Some parents insist that the computer be located in a space at home so that they can physically monitor their children online behavior or ask their teens to agree on using the Internet strictly for school-related purposes. The reality is that even parents succeed in denying access to a particular site at home, adolescents may find alternative ways by using, for instance, the computer at a friend’s house. This is why parents and teachers must use the teens themselves as defense. They may allow and encourage teens to use Internet for educational purposes and make them aware of the risks in online socializing and help them to develop their own strategies for staying safe in cyberspace.