REU project

This illustrated cartoon was created with young children aged 5-8 in mind. If your child is on the younger end of this spectrum, they may require your help reading longer, more complicated sentences. Advanced readers with levels upwards of a 1st grade reading level should have no trouble comprehending this cartoon and answering questions about it.

Welcome to the Jungle begins with an introduction from the story’s narrator, a safari guide named Franklin. Franklin begins by discussing the different possibilities for both fun and danger online, and metaphorically relates jungle predators such as a lion and a snake to much more real online predators. Franklin leads readers through a “safari,” in which they encounter both friendly and dangerous internet characters. The friendly characters, such as Pablo the Parrot, are designed to instill a sense of trust between parents and children regarding topics witnessed online. The predatory characters like Leo the Lion play the role of the most common deceptive ploys young children fall into online. There are also two ‘choose your own adventure’ style questions, in which your reader will choose between a safe and a risky online behavior. Both selections are followed up with brief explanations of what the proper solution was. The story concludes with brief messages from each friendly jungle character with the most important take-aways from their portion of the cartoon. This story is lighthearted and bright, but contains important metaphors that are designed to foster conversations with your child about internet behavior.

Assumed Trust: Franklin, the safari guide, is immediately trusted by young readers since he introduces the story and is the narrator. While this acceptance of Franklin is okay, it still introduces the important question of trusting authority figures. Your child has likely been taught to trust uniformed people in real life, but the line between false and true authority is blurred online and it is easy for predators to claim a fake position in order to gain the trust of your child.

Parental Discussions: Pablo the Parrot Parent plays the role of a friendly jungle animal who reminds readers to immediately turn to a trusted adult if they see or hear anything online that makes them uncomfortable.

Unwelcomed Pictures: In the cartoon, a predatory snake “sends pictures of things that make you uncomfortable.” This statement could include anything from drugs to pornographic material. Your child is likely not ready for an in-depth discussion about the nature of these inappropriate things, so you should simply reiterate that you are always open to a discussion about anything they encounter online.

Cyberbullying: The cartoon depicts a scene of cyberbullying in which your reader is asked to choose between standing up for the bullied character or joining the online harassment

Information Sharing: A predatory character in the story offers to send a present if the safari explorer offers their address and does not tell their parents. This is possibly the most important subject discussed in Welcome to the Jungle, and it should be followed up with an in-depth discussion about appropriate versus inappropriate things to share online.

Hashtag:

Have you ever seen anything online that made you feel uncomfortable?

Who are three adults you trust?

Have you ever seen bullying in real life? How is bullying different online?

What do you think the best thing about the internet is? What is the worst thing?

Is it safe to give your address out online? What about your school, phone number, passwords, etc…?

What are 3 things you can do outside during breaks from the internet?

Is it bad to stay online for long portions of the day?

Pew Research offers interesting data and commentary about how the internet has affected parenting methods:

Scholastic shares tips about safe internet habits for young children:

Zdnet.com offers technical tips about how to secure your child’s internet access to ensure privacy and safe browsing: