Korea to Strengthen Online Etiquette Education

Officials from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology have announced plans to strengthen online etiquette education in South Korea’s grade schools. Currently students receive instruction on internet ethics beginning in the fourth grade. Starting next year, such instruction will be given in the second and third grades. According to the Donga Ilbo, “Twenty-two pages on Web etiquette will be included in ethics textbooks and supplementary teaching material. The chapter “My Friend, the Computer” will cover prevention of overuse and addiction to the Internet, and teach students to use polite words on the Web. The ethics textbook for fourth graders to come out in 2010 will have 20 pages on Internet etiquette. That for fifth graders to be introduced in 2011 will also contain 20 pages on preventing Web addiction.”